35-year-old hotel chef dies 3 months after getting married, 4 days after promotion

A 35-year-old chef at a five-star restaurant has died only three months after getting married.

He had also been promoted just four days before his death, Shin Min Daily News reported on Saturday (June 29).

According to the Chinese evening daily, chef Daniel Teo's interest in F&B was piqued at an early age. His parents ran a coffee shop where he would often help out and also get to interact with the hawkers.

When his parents later opened a chicken rice stall, Teo became in charge of developing the recipes and training employees. He subsequently entered culinary school to further his studies

In the past 10 years, Teo worked in different different hotels and restaurant groups, rising through the ranks, reported Shin Min.

It added that Teo is currently working at a five-star restaurant and had recently been promoted to executive chef just four days ago.

Teo's profile on LinkedIn showed that he was the executive sous chef of JW Marriott Singapore South Beach, since May 2022.

Married just 3 months ago

According to Shin Min Daily, who spoke to Teo's wife Jeanette Ong, Daniel unexpectedly died on Thursday from coronary artery disease.

The newlyweds had known each other while working at an international culinary school, where Daniel was a sous chef. Ong, 29, described him as a talented but unassuming individual.

"It was precisely because of his calm and hardworking nature which won me over," she told Shin Min.

The couple dated for six years before getting married three months ago.

They were also looking forward to getting their keys to their new home at the end of the year, and had even dreamt of opening a home-based business one day.

Shared Ong: "We'd just said our marriage vows three months ago, I didn't expect that three months later I'll have to give a eulogy."

The funeral will be held at block 314 Woodlands Street 31, with the cremation on Monday (July 1), Ong shared on Instagram. 

Writing that Teo's death was "very sudden", she added: "Words cannot even describe the pain and the void I feel."

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On social media, many colleagues and friends also paid tribute to Teo.

One friend, Annil Ravindran, stated that they had just been texting on the morning of his passing and had been planning a trip to Johor Bahru.

Speaking to AsiaOne, he shared how Teo had pulled him out of a depressive phase during the Covid-19 pandemic by visiting him every week with Ong and messaging his family just to check up on him.

"He's an amazing person with a gold heart and someone who'll show up for you," said Annil, 30, who got to know Teo eight years ago and described the latter as his mentor.

Annil shared that Teo was also the one who encouraged him to set up his own business, expressing his belief that Annil could do more with his life.

The pair were also in the midst of co-creating a recipe for Annil's food catering business, in time for Deepavali later this year. Annil added that Teo had only recently passed him a recipe idea for the event.

"I feel it's his way of saying 'I'm leaving the world and this is a little parting gift from me to you' and I take solace in that fact. I feel a recipe is very timeless so whenever I miss him and yearn to see him, the recipe [is a nice reminder] and it feels like he's still here with us," said Annil.

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candicecai@asiaone.com