Kei de Freitas
Co-Founder and Chef Patron
- Professional Chef Member of Chaîne des Rôtisseurs
- Author of cook book: Flavours of Portuguese Spice Trade
- Melaka Portuguese Gastronomy Ambassador for the Korsang di Melaka, Portugal
- Guest Speaker at Macao Institute for Tourism Studies for 4th year student 2023
- Macanese recipe contributor for Macao News, 2023
Growing Up
Growing up in Portugal with a Portuguese father and Eurasian mother, Chef Kei’s world always revolved around food. He spent time with family gathering at Macanese and other Portuguese-Asian gatherings in Portugal and worked at chicken and steak restaurants during the school holidays, including his mother’s restaurant.
Searching for New Life
He moved to London in 1993 and got his first job at Pinocchio, an Italian restaurant in Earl's Court and other Portuguese Churrasco restaurants. After working at these for a couple of years, He learned that most restaurants that He worked for were very commercial, run in a way that lacked passion and creativity.
College Drop-Off
He joined a culinary arts degree and very quickly decided that the course was not for him, and the kitchen work at these very commercial restaurants was not for him as well. Unfulfilled by his professional life he decided to move away from the kitchen and have a break, taking his time to decide what to do.
Home Sick
In 2002, Kei moved back to Portugal to open his first restaurant and private catering business with his sister. After two years He decided to go back to London.
The Life Changing Path
In 2005 Kei decided to take another break from the restaurant world, and decided to study Anatomy and Physiology, alongside with foundation acupuncture and Chinese medicine at London Acumedic Centre brunch of Beijing University of Chinese medicine. Kei graduated in Tuina medical massage Masters and with a higher diploma in orthopaedic acupuncture from the College of Chinese Medicine in London. He specialised and worked for many years in the field of Chinese and Thai medical acupressure for muscle, tendon and other sports injuries.
The Cooking Passion
The passion for cooking was always there and inspired by his mother’s Eurasian roots, he began exploring the world of cuisines and cultures that had been influenced by the Portuguese Spice Trade in Asia leading him to Goa, Malacca, and Macau. This slowly opened a world of gastronomy. He learned more about Malacca Portuguese, Goan Portuguese, and Macanese cuisine – all cuisines that were shaped from the Portuguese Spice Trade, as much of Kei’s family was.
The Big Return to The Kitchen
Kei made a return in 2008 creating his popular supper clubs in London called 'Kei's Kitchen'. This supper club specialised in these cuines. Then, Kei trained and worked with various Goan, Malacca Portuguese and Macanese chefs such as chef Mel Nunis from Malacca, Goan chef Savio Azaredo and travelled all across these countries too.
He had also met Hoeyyn during this time and began learning from her family. When in Malacca, Kei was lucky enough to learn from the late Noel Felix - holder of many Malacca Portuguese traditional recipes. He was also lucky enough to learn from Sara Santamaria, another recipe holder in Malacca.
When Kei moved to Edinburgh, he then began doing pop-up restaurants in Edinburgh in 2009. He started in the Edinburgh Larder, Maki and Ramen and Ong Gie – with clients always saying ‘you need to start a restaurant!’. The intention was always to push Malacca Portuguese cuisine.
After going to Macau for research, everything changed! He knew it was Macanese cuisine, and its inconnection to Malacca, Southern China and Portugal that he really wanted to pursue. Eventually, that calling led to Macau Kitchen in 2019.
