Kenny Hills Bakers

October 27, 2021

You don’t have to be a baker to start a successful café bakery like Kenny Hills Bakers.  

Au Tai Hon, owner of the popular Kenny Hills Bakers in Bukit Tunku, just wanted his own small place that serves the dense artisan crafted breads that he loved together with old world coffee. He was a film maker before turning F&B entrepreneur. Why would you find a team of trained artisan bakers? 

Au learned of the closing down of a British bakery called Craft Bakers. A few well-trained artisan bakers would soon be out of job. Au likes people who are passionate about what they do. So he took the bakers with him to start a 65sq m corner bakery in the Bukit Tunku neighbourhood. That is why the breads there are so good. Bukit Tunku was formerly known as Kenny Hills. Not long after Kenny Hills Bakers opened in March 2015, word of mouth went round, and the queues began.

 Three years later, Kenny Hills Bakers opened at Desa Park City and is just as popular. Au never planned to grow the brand but he had stakeholders with him and he cared for their future. So there are now Kenny Hills Bakers at Jalan Ampang and Taman Tun Dr Ismail plus a kiosk selling artisan breads, specially crafted pastries and cakes at Bangsar Shopping Centre, Kuala Lumpur.  

The only setback for Au was when he invested in a Vietnamese restaurant called Nam in January 2020 at Bukit Damansara. The MCO began in March 2020. So he had to close it and moved his chefs to a new restaurant called “My Humble Bowl” where great comfort food is served like roast duck rice, Vietnamese pho, laksa, sambal prawns and other Malaysian favorites are served. The thing about Au is that he will ensure his customers get the real thing, not some chin chai boh chai kind of food. And so the crowd follows him. It's great but there are headaches. Sometimes very big headaches. Ask any restauranteur.  

Now and then perhaps Au must ponder if he would have been happier just having his little place (the original Kenny Hills Bakers) where he can savour his artisan breads with his favorite old world coffee and  just watch the world go by. With some jazz music playing in the background.  

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

  1. The Malay Mail. 22March 2015. Lee Khang Yi. https://www.malaymail.com/news/eat-drink/2015/03/22/kenny-hills-bakers-where-creativity-meets-bread-and-coffee/863345 
  2. The Straits Times. 31 May 2018. Abirami Durai. https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/great-bakes-at-kls-kenny-hills-bakers 
  3. Selangor Properties. The Buzz. November 2016. Kenny Hills Bakers. https://www.selangorproperties.com.my/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/spb-buzz-4.pdf 
  4. The Star. 27 September 2021. Abirami Durai. https://www.thestar.com.my/food/food-news/2021/09/27/ordering-in-kenny-hills-bakers039-owner039s-latest-eatery-pays-tribute-to-local-comfort-food 
  5. The Star. 7 January 2020. Abirami Durai. https://www.thestar.com.my/food/eating-out/2020/01/07/inspired-by-vietnams-rich-history 
  6. www.kennyhillsbakers.com. Our story.