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Matt Chen
Executive chef
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Cantonese banquet cooking rewards length of practice more than sudden movement. In Matt Chen’s case, the line runs through seafood work in Taiwan from 1988, the early discipline of an uncle’s restaurant from age 14, and the formal kitchen of Le Palais de Chine Hotel in Taipei. The craft is built on repetition: judging freshness, holding texture, seasoning without cover, and carrying service standards into a dining room later awarded Three Michelin stars.
Coming Up
Seafood cookery formed the first hard standard. At a seafood restaurant in Taiwan from 1988, Matt Chen worked in a setting where quality showed quickly and mistakes had little cover. Timing, texture, and restraint were not stylistic choices there; they were the work. Restaurant labor came earlier than the professional title. As Matt has put it, he began working from the age of 14 at his uncle’s restaurant. That kind of start teaches pace, station discipline, and the physical memory of service before a cook has language for technique. Cantonese cuisine at hotel level now carries those early habits into a more formal register. As executive chef of Le Palais de Chine Hotel, Matt works inside a tradition where banquet structure, ingredient selection, and finishing standards have to hold together across the whole meal.
Where They Are Now
Cantonese banquet cooking in Taipei demands both ceremony and appetite. At Le Palais, Matt Chen is associated with a dining room where seasonal produce supports a style built on generosity under control: richness balanced by lift, familiar forms tightened by execution, and service shaped for the table rather than the plate alone. Traditional Chinese technique remains the frame, while innovative Western techniques are used as extensions rather than replacements. In Matt’s kitchen, that means the work can move through sauces, textures, fillings, roasting, steaming, and pastry-like precision without leaving the Chinese culinary structure behind. The continuity is Chinese culinary practice: Macau-born, Taiwan-formed, and developed through kitchens where craft is carried by repetition.
Signature
The signature set shows the range expected of a Cantonese kitchen working at banquet level. In Matt Chen’s repertoire, Peking duck four ways and Cherry Valley ducks from Yilan point to roast work, carving, and service rhythm; Chinese spinach and salted egg dumplings, Crispy Char Siu Bao (BBQ pork bun), and Har Gow - King Prawn Dumpling point to skin work, filling balance, barbecue sweetness, and clean prawn texture held inside precise wrapping.
Honors
Matt Chen has received MICHELIN Guide Taipei: Three Michelin stars for Le Palais (2018). Recognition came through the dining room rather than detached from it: Three Michelin stars for Le Palais (2018).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Matt
What is Matt Chen's current role?
Matt Chen is Executive Chef.
Where did Matt Chen work before?
Earlier in their career, Matt Chen worked at a seafood restaurant.
What recognition has Matt Chen received?
Three Michelin stars for Le Palais (2018).
