Kai Ward and MUME
Summer Tables Collection 2026

About the Chef

Kai Ward is an Australian chef whose early career included Quay in Sydney, where he worked with Peter Gilmore and rose to the role of pastry chef. That kitchen also connected him with Richie Lin, a relationship that later became part of MUME’s founding story.

Ward, Lin and Long Xiong opened MUME in Taipei in 2014. Public accounts of the restaurant’s early years describe three chefs bringing different international experiences to Taiwanese products, applying modern techniques while remaining attentive to season, texture and place.

For the 2026 Collection, Ward is identified as MUME’s Culinary Director in connection with the restaurant’s recent public collaborations. The role places him within the restaurant’s wider creative direction rather than presenting the July menu as an isolated personal statement.

MUME continues to be publicly associated with Richie Lin and its wider team. This participant chapter therefore focuses on Ward while preserving the restaurant’s collective authorship and the producer relationships at the centre of its philosophy.

About the Restaurant

MUME sits at 28 Siwei Road in Taipei’s Da’an District. Its name comes from the Latin word for plum blossom, Taiwan’s national flower, and also carries a personal meaning within founder Richie Lin’s family story.

The restaurant opened in 2014 and became one of Taipei’s defining contemporary dining rooms. MUME uses refined European cooking techniques to present Taiwan’s unique local ingredients, while its own concept emphasises close relationships with farmers, fishermen and producers.

In the 2026 MICHELIN Guide Taiwan, MUME was promoted to One MICHELIN Star. The recognition confirms a dining language that is internationally legible but deeply dependent on Taiwan’s own supply chain, climate and producers.

Summer Inspiration

The July 2026 menu reads like a seasonal map of Taiwan. It begins with millet, fermented tofu and truffle, then moves through blush prawn with cucumber and camellia, bamboo shoot with Matsu mussel and lardo, and kinmedai with perilla and chayote shoot.

Squid with Penghu XO and betel nut flower may be the clearest expression of the MUME summer language: local waters, depth, heat and a flower that belongs to Taiwan’s sensory landscape. Wagyu striploin with winter snowflake and preserved green chilli gives the menu a sharper passage before Tainan 11 rice brings it back to grain, terroir and memory.

The sweet courses continue without losing clarity. Watermelon, yogurt and lychee bring freshness and perfume, while millet koji, Eureka lemon and bee pollen close with fermentation, citrus and the quiet sweetness of summer fields.