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HE managed to do what most chefs dream about - work at British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Fifteen.

Oliver, popularly known as The Naked Chef, is the author of many cookbooks and his television shows are a staple in more than 50 countries.

Tables at the trendy Fifteen restaurant are booked three months in advance.

Mr Benny Se Teo, 47, is the only Singaporean so far to have worked in the restaurant. He was there in April last year.

Mr Se Teo, who became a chef in 2005, worked there as a kitchen helper for a month.

But it wasn't just cooking skills he wanted to pick up at Fifteen.

He also wanted to see how the non-profit restaurant helps disadvantaged youths and juvenile delinquents by training them as chefs to keep them away from crime.

A former drug addict, Mr Se Teo was in and out of jail four times between 1980 and 1993. His life changed for the better after he went to a drug halfway house in 1993.

The experience at Fifteen inspired him to open a similar restaurant late last month.

Called Eighteen Chefs, it's located in Eastpoint shopping centre near Simei MRT station.

Mr Se Teo said: 'I feel proud to know that I was the first Singaporean to work there. It was a humbling experience because I had to learn many things, not just in cooking but also in helping juveniles.'

Fifteen's director, Mr Liam Black, confirmed that Mr Se Teo was the only Singaporean to have worked there.

The restaurant's website states that it does not recruit trainees outside the UK, but Mr Black said they made an exception for Mr Se Teo.

Mr Black said over the phone from London: 'He said he was keen to come over and we said, 'Why not?'. We always welcome similar-minded people from around the world.'

JAMIE WHO?

Mr Se Teo admitted he came to know about Oliver and his work only in late 2005 through a patron at the now-defunct Goshen restaurant in Lorong 23 Geylang, where he was working as the executive chef.

During a chat with Mr Black on the Fifteen website, Mr Se Teo asked if he could spend some time as an apprentice and got a swift welcome from Mr Black.

It also helped that several Singaporeans who were chatting in the forum confirmed his credentials as the executive chef of Goshen, a social enterprise started by the HighPoint halfway house in early 2005 to provide jobs for ex-offenders.

During his stint at Fifteen, Mr Se Teo said he worked with chefs in different departments.

Unfortunately, he couldn't meet Oliver as he was abroad.

Mr Se Teo said: 'I thought I knew a lot about cooking but over there, I realised that there was so much I didn't know, especially about Western food.'

He said the chefs were very meticulous while preparing each dish - down to minute details such as the fire's intensity and the type of ingredients used.

Besides cooking, Mr Se Teo, who spent around $7,000 for the trip and received no pay, also became a mentor to the trainee chefs, recounting his life experiences.

He developed a close bond with the trainees and even went with them on a study trip to Wales.

Mr Black said: 'We really liked him. He was a hard worker. He also looked after the young people here and went on trips with them.'

Mr Andrew Parkinson, Fifteen's executive head chef, praised MrSeTeo as someone 'very dedicated to his vision'.

Mr Parkinson said: 'I also can't fault his cooking and attention to detail. I'd rate his cooking as very good.'

Mr Se Teo said he too gained through his work with the trainees.

He said he formed a close bond with Italian chef Gennaro Contaldo, widely known as Oliver's mentor.

Mr Contaldo owns the Passione restaurant in London's West End, but he spends time almost every day at Fifteen to guide and nurture the trainees.

After knocking off at Fifteen, Mr Se Teo said he would walk with Mr Contaldo to the subway station to take the train home.

Besides exchanging cooking recipes and techniques, Mr Se Teo, who stayed in a $90-a-night room at a youth hostel, said they also discussed Fifteen's work in helping disadvantaged youths.

'He was supportive of my vision in setting up a restaurant here, like Fifteen,' recalled Mr Se Teo.

But when he returned home, he found himself jobless as Goshen had closed down.

He then joined a restaurant chain here before quitting late last year to set up Eighteen Chefs with two partners, who are also his church friends.

The restaurant, with a seating capacity of 50, has a $200,000 start-up capital, said one of the partners, Mr Bambang Widjaja, 27.

Its menu, mostly Italian dishes, and concept are influenced by Mr Se Teo's experiences at Fifteen.

He said he has hired an ex-convict, who is a former drug addict, as part of his current seven-member staff.

And he is open to hiring and training more in the future.

He said: 'Like Oliver, I hope to train 17 other chefs to set up branches all over Singapore. I hope they will employ ex-offenders or train delinquents as chefs.'

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