Chef Biography
Born and raised in Hawaii, Robert Eng graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts with a degree in history, and returned to Honolulu to attend Kapiolani Community College where he graduated in 1994 with a culinary degree. He apprenticed at Ryan’s Grill and the bakery operation of Vim N’Vigor Foods, both in Honolulu.
After a short internship with U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, he joined Sam Choy’s Diamond Head Restaurant as pastry cook. Great Chefs showed up in 1995 to tape Chef Eng for their Great Chefs of Hawaii television series for the Discovery Channel.
Chef Eng left Sam Choy in 1998 to join Great Chef Mavro in his new Honolulu restaurant, MAVRO’s, as administrative assistant for 3 years, then moved back to Massachusetts to be lead cook at Sylvester’s Restaurant in Northhampton for another five years. In 2001, he left the restaurant business to enter the online gaming industry where he was the Vice President and Treasurer of Game Table Online for the next thirteen years. In 2014, he changed careers again and became the assistant controller for American Lease Insurance in Springfield, Massachusetts.