i. Biography
At AKAME, wood-fired barbecue and modern aboriginal cooking have been built into a single restaurant language since 2015. Alex Peng’s work there is grounded in Rukai traditions and seasonal foods, with smoke and fire used as structure rather than effect. The result is a menu that reads as place-specific craft: ingredients in direct conversation, and the season setting the pace.
The Climb
Classical training at Le Cordon Bleu gave Alex Peng a technical base that could hold a more local, more personal direction without losing discipline. That foundation shows up in the way his cooking is framed: not as a break from structure, but as a use of structure in service of heritage and landscape. Since 2015, he has held the role of chef-patron and chef of AKAME, and that continuity gives the restaurant a clear line of authorship from first prep through service.
Today
At AKAME, the same hands have carried the cooking, the direction, and the long view. Alex Peng has served there as chef-patron and also as owner-chef, and those overlapping roles explain the coherence of the place. Fire-driven methods, indigenous cuisine, and seasonal ingredients are handled with restraint, with modern aboriginal cuisine used to reinterpret Taiwan’s indigenous foods through wood-fire cooking. The work stays centered on technique and timing, with tradition treated as a working framework rather than an exhibit.
Recognition
The main measure of recognition here is continuity: from 2015 to the present, Alex Peng has maintained the same restaurant voice across chef, chef-patron, and owner-chef roles at AKAME. That persistence has allowed the cooking to deepen around indigenous cuisine, the reinterpretation of Taiwan’s indigenous foods, and the use of a traditional wood-fire brick oven. The recognition is not in a single pivot, but in the discipline of keeping Rukai traditions, seasonal foods, and fire-cooked methods aligned over time.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Alex
Where did Alex Peng train or study?
Alex Peng trained at Le Cordon Bleu.
What is Alex Peng known for?
indigenous cuisine.
