This TikTok Star is Slicing His Way to the Top

We all have that guilty-pleasure content that we love to indulge in on social media. For some, it’s the lip sync videos; for others, it’s watching your favourite goofy pets get up to their usual antics. For those who love ASMR, you’ll definitely be familiar with The Six Pack Chef, Wallace Wong.

Known for the soothing sounds of his skilled slicing, Wong has made quite the name for himself chopping everything from a cucumber, to a cookie, to even a yellow M&M. His page is full of not only ASMR content, but a range of recipes, fitness and motivational videos as well. But Wong has been slicing and dicing fruits and veggies since way before TikTok existed. We got the chance to sit down with Wong, where he told us all about the Chinese-Canadian boy who grew up in Mississauga who became the amazing chef, professional bodybuilder, and content creator he is today.

The Early Years for Wallace Wong

As a young boy growing up in a Chinese-Canadian household, Wong was instilled with–as many Asian households are–a profound tie to his family. His memories growing up are always surrounding a meal. Some of his fondest times as a child were spent steaming up the windows of the kitchen making dumplings as a family. By the time he was in high school, Wallace Wong was so passionate about cooking that he decided to enter a culinary competition. Through this experience he would not only solidify his confidence in his culinary abilities (moving forward to represent Ontario at the National level), he also found he has an incredibly competitive side.

Throughout this time, Wong would start to experience several different health problems, the first of which surrounding his weight. Wong was always a skinny child, but when he had to have his tonsils removed, everything changed. While in recovery, he was introduced to foods that were not part of his regular diet until that point. He recalls eating mashed potatoes for the first time, as well as lots of congee, ice cream and popsicles. Not being used to all these carb heavy, sugar-filled foods, Wong quickly started to grow.

“I was to a point where the doctor told me I was clinically obese. I wore 38 size jeans, for my size, my height and my weight, I was obese.”

But that’s not all, at the end of high school, Wong would get some of the worst news a person can get. He had been diagnosed with cancer. Undergoing a gruelling 6-month treatment, he came out the other side of it with a different mindset. He fought for his second chance at life, and Wong wasn’t going to waste it.

“Nothing will ever be as hard as having cancer even though it was the best thing that has ever happened to me… It changed my lifestyle, it changed my viewpoint on life, and who I am today.”

From that point on, Wong was determined to live his life to the fullest, and that meant finding his version of a balanced lifestyle.

Chef Wallace Wong

While attending University at Laurier for marketing, at the same time Wong was attending culinary school at Conestoga College. On the first day at Conestoga, he signed up for another culinary competition. During his time off school, Wong interned at some of the top restaurants in the world including NOMA, Alinea, and Langdon Hall. He fell in love with Michelin star dining, and once Wong graduated he opened Momofuku in Toronto. After opening his last restaurant Shōtō, he came to the realization that being a restauranteur was not the future for him. And so Six Pack Chef was born.

After completing a food science diploma and spending some time teaching, Wong still felt the itch to be in the kitchen, but this time on his own terms. He decided to challenge himself by going on the popular television show Chopped. And guess what… he won. But Wong didn’t get the level of recognition he was expecting from his time on the show.

“I thought I was going to be some rock star… I didn’t learn anything about promoting… I got maybe a couple follows, and over the years I just started to figure things out.”

Wong spent a few years after Chopped trying to figure out what he really enjoyed doing, and what he didn’t. He was teaching culinary classes, going to professional body building competitions and doing personal training sessions. It was during this time that he really decided to dedicate himself to the Six Pack Chef, and getting his brand to where he wanted it to be.

The Six Pack Chef

Six Pack Chef is all about delicious food, health and fitness, and spreading positivity. To jumpstart his following, Wong took his experience from Chopped and used it to his advantage, competing on both Fridge Wars (2017) and Top Chef (2018). He already knew that he had the culinary skill to win the competition, now it was about “squeezing as much juice” out of the exposure the television shows gave. He didn’t need to win, he simply needed to cook good food, be authentic, and have fun.

This was the moment when his marketing experience was going to come in handy. He was able to garner a following through viewing parties and an e-book. He created custom merchandise for Six Pack Chef, and was intentional with his branding.

The Move to TikTok

One day while scrolling TikTok, Wong saw a video of a guy chopping different vegetables to music. Knowing he could do the same type of content–but the Six Pack Chef way– Wong decided to give it a shot. He took off his shirt, set up his phone, and got to slicing. After posting his first video, he awoke the next morning to over 4 million views.

His TikTok following continued to grow, especially through 2020, amassing over 500k followers. Throughout this time, Wong was trying out different types of content. He still did his epic slicing videos, but he was now mixing in recipes and fitness content. All the while keeping a close eye on how each video was performing, and striving to be better with every piece of content he produced.

To date, Six Pack Chef’s most successful TikTok video is his cucumber slicing video, which currently sits at over 90 million views.

Success Born from Pain

While Wong’s social media presence was growing, he was (like all of us) struggling with the effects of the pandemic. On one hand, his TikToks were going viral, and he was finally the full-time content creator he wanted to be. At the same time, he lost 3 of his beloved family members to COVID-19 in an extremely short period of time. He was both on top of the world, and deep in a hole all at the same time.

To honour his family who passed Wong did what he does best, he cooked. He wanted to share their favourite meals, so that’s exactly what he did. By teaching his community about traditional Chinese flavours and foods that his family loves, he is able to show people who he is through food.

“[Food] is all I know, it’s who I am, it’s my language…I don’t want to make healthy food delicious, I want to make delicious food healthy.”

Currently, Wong is engrossed in his latest project, a meal-prep service called Spatula. Each meal is created by professional chefs, with the intention of providing delicious and healthy meals to the masses. All made with the freshest ingredients, and a prep time of only 10 minutes. Utilizing a flash-freezing process, Spatula and their chef partners are able to provide high-quality cuisine, all while preserving the taste and texture of restaurant grade dishes. After seeing a huge amount of success in Toronto, Wong and his team are gearing up to make Spatula meals available across Canada.

Connecting with his Community

Wallace Wong’s favourite aspect of social media is the community he is able to connect with. He replies to every message he can, spending hours a day reading and replying to his community. He’s made friends with people he never would have been able to meet without social media, and knows firsthand the impact that creators can have on the lives of others. He loves hearing from his followers that their day has been brightened by watching his content, or helped to relax them after a long day at work with his ASMR videos.

Wong’s main goal on social media is to continue being creative with his food, teaching his followers about food that he loves, all while having fun and simply being himself. And we have to say, he’s definitely killing it!

Wallace Wong in The 6ix

Wong spends most of his time these days in Markham, where he loves to shop at different grocers for interesting food to create with. He’s not only a food-lover, but a fashion enthusiast as well. According to Wallace Wong, he can tell a lot about a person by the way they treat and wear their shoes, which is one piece of clothing he particularly loves. His go-to outfits usually consist of athletic wear, but loves the look of a crisp dress shirt, a well-fitted pair of jeans and a set of Jordans.

When asked about his favourite food, he simply replied: any meat with a bone. He gravitates towards the same foods we do, even with his Michelin Star training, he still loves himself a good Domino’s pizza–without the cheese that is.

Wong did set up his own at-home gym to get him through the pandemic, but he also loves Fitness Element in Markham and Pure Muscle and Fitness in Burlington. He also recommends Forge in Mississauga for the powerlifters out there.

Asian Heritage

Wong honours his Asian heritage with every video he makes inspired by a traditional flavour or dish from his childhood. His favourite restaurant atmospheres are the louder, more chaotic vibes you would get in a good Dim Sum restaurant. Wallace Wong feels that the best way for him to support the Asian community is by teaching others about the foods, flavours, and techniques he’s learned. For him, spreading positivity is always better than promoting incidences of hate.

At the end of the day, it’s all about eating good, looking good, and living great.

Credits

Producer, and Creative/Art and Editorial Direction: STEVEN BRANCO; Photography: NICK MERZETTI; Words by: MERRILL FLYNN; Hair & Makeup (HMU): ANGELA LEE; Styling Assistant & PA: SHARAD MOHAN; BTS Photographer and Videographer: NIC HASSON; And a very special thank you to our wardrobe partners, NORDSTROM CANADA and INFINITI CANADA, for providing us with the 2022 INFINITI QX55 for the shoot.

Originally published: May 4, 2022