The Woman Who Cooks from Memory: Celebrating Puan Sri Nisa Bakri

Some people cook to feed. Others cook to express. And then there are the rare few who cook to remember — to honour a lineage, to carry a culture forward, and to share something of themselves with every single person who sits at their table.

Puan Sri Nisa Bakri belongs to that rare few.

At the ASEAN Food & Travel Awards 2026, held at the Manhattan Ballroom of Berjaya Times Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, she was named the AFT Personality of the Year (Culinary Excellence & Leadership) — a recognition that feels less like a surprise and more like an inevitability for anyone who has followed her remarkable journey.

Spice Routes and Soul Food

Puan Sri Nisa Bakri’s Persian and Yemeni heritage is not something she wears lightly. It is the very architecture of her culinary identity. Long before she became a celebrated name in Malaysia’s food industry, she was shaped by the bold, generous, deeply aromatic traditions of Middle Eastern cooking. The slow-cooked depth of Yemeni spice. The elegance of Persian flavour. The unspoken belief, passed down through generations, that food prepared with love carries a meaning that transcends the meal itself.

It is this foundation that gave birth to Nisabakri Gourmet, that inspired her cookbook “I Am Not A Chef”, and that carried Malaysian cuisine to the international stage at London Fashion Week. Her food has always been a conversation between worlds, and she has always known exactly what she wanted to say.

Where Two Worlds Meet on One Plate

Nowhere is this more beautifully expressed than in her signature Kabsa Shepherd’s Pie. A dish that grew organically from her Yemeni roots, it takes the fragrant, slow-cooked soul of a traditional Kabsa and grounds it in the warm, familiar comfort of a Western Shepherd’s Pie. The result is something quietly extraordinary. A recipe that bridges East and West not as a gimmick, but as a genuine expression of a woman who has always lived beautifully between cultures.

That dish is now available across 27 O’Brien‘s outlets nationwide, a partnership that speaks to both the commercial strength and the cultural resonance of her vision. Her artisan cakes, crafted with the same depth of care and heritage, are also proudly featured at the Wyndham Acmar Klang Hotel, cementing her place within Malaysia’s most respected hospitality circles.

A Table That Always Has Room for One More

In 2026, she opened Tepuk Tepung Café at Hartamas Shopping Centre, and it is perhaps the most personal expression of her philosophy yet. A space that reflects the warmth of her heritage, the precision of her craft, and the genuine joy she takes in bringing people together over food that means something.

It is the kind of place you return to. Not just for the food, but for the feeling.

A Legacy Still Being Written

Beyond the kitchen, Puan Sri Nisa Bakri serves as Culinary Director at Wang Dimsum Restaurant, mentor to Universiti Malaya students, advisor to women entrepreneur foundations, and a tireless advocate for the next generation of culinary talent across the region.

Her guiding vision for 2026, what she calls The Impact Factor, is rooted in three things: value, connection, and sustainability. It is a philosophy that runs through everything she does, from the partnerships she builds to the communities she nurtures to the dishes she puts on the table.

The ASEAN Food & Travel Awards 2026 honoured a woman who has spent years quietly, purposefully, and beautifully proving that the most powerful ingredient in any kitchen is knowing exactly who you are.

For Puan Sri Nisa Bakri, that has never been in question.

Experience Tepuk Tepung Café at Hartamas Shopping Centre. Follow the café on Instagram at @tepuktepung.my and discover the world of Puan Sri Nisa Bakri at @nisabakriofficial_