Kylie Kwong’s much anticipated new eatery opens next week

One of Australia’s most loved chefs Kylie Kwong, will open her new eatery, Lucky Kwong on Tuesday, 25 May.

Kwong has been quiet since she closed Billy Kwong in Sydney’s Potts Point two years ago.

Her new venture located in South Eveleigh in Sydney (near Redfern station) is highly anticipated.

"After closing Billy Kwong in Potts Point two years ago, I can't wait to have a space where I can cook for people again and tell the stories of the amazing collaborators I work with," Kwong told Good Food. "Just look for the big yellow doors on Locomotive Street."

Kwong will bring her philosophy of nurturing and collaboration to the new venue, which is not a restaurant but a cafeteria that is open for lunch Monday to Friday.

Lucky Kwong is an order-at-the-counter service, with a no-bookings policy that can seat up to 38 diners.

You can find the cafeteria in the heritage annex of an old locomotive workshop. Its tables are made from plywood and sustainable cork surfaces can control the noise in what will no doubt be a noisy, happy venue with an open kitchen.

Customers can dine in or takeaway and Kwong has partnered with online ordering platform Mr Yum to meet demand.

The location should provide a boon for Kwong as Lucky Kwong, the Commonwealth Bank, Channel 7 and other companies are all residents of this $1 billion South Eveleigh redevelopment site.

Mirvac property group's is behind redevelopment.

Kwong is renowned for using native ingredients in her Chinese cuisine and she is heavily involved with collaborating producers, Aboriginal leaders and community pioneers. This will not change for her new venture.

The chef is also looking forward to harvesting the thousands of native plants at the South Eveleigh redevelopment for new dishes.

"I wanted to do something that was reflective of what I used to do at Carriageworks Farmers Market," Kwong told Good Food.

"For me, LK is all about true nourishment," said Kwong. "It's named after the angel baby son my wife Nell and I sadly lost in 2012 and I want it to be a celebration of everything I love. Community, collaboration and life-giving food are at its heart. 

"We didn't get the opportunity to live with Lucky in a way we would have liked to, but this is a way we can. It's a way to integrate him into our life. That's why every person and producer involved, and every detail of the design, has to be about goodness, because that's what Lucky Kwong means to me."

One the menu is likely to be steamed savoury pancakes topped with fried egg, Thai basil and red-braised beef brisket and raw yellowfin tuna with XO sauce, white-cooked chicken from Saskia Beer Farm Produce served with ginger, sea parsley and shallot dipping sauce and a vegetarian plate with rice, tofu, tamari and ginger stars stir-fried organic goodness from Palisa Anderson's Boon Luck Farm in the Northern Rivers. 

"We'll also have a plate for meat-eaters, perhaps featuring pork belly from [regenerative Taralga farm] Tathra Place, black bean, greens and chilli,"  Kwong said.

Tuna, ocean trout and Murray cod will be supplied by Saint Peter chef Josh Niland from his Paddington seafood butchery.

Biodynamic beef and lamb will be provided by Paul and Tammy Kurtz, who is the founder of Lynden Lamb.

Kwon will also be collaborating with Cudgenburra and Bundjalung man Clarence Slockee, who is the director of Jiwah, an Indigenous company specialising in cultural landscape and design. 

Jiwah grows more than 60 species of native plants around South Eveleigh, which Kwon will be harvesting for Lucky Kwong dishes.

"I first met Clarence 10 years ago when I started really exploring the use of Australian native ingredients in my cooking," says Kwong. 

"I wanted to learn more about bush foods and speak to the Indigenous community about how they were traditionally used. All roads led me to Clarence, who was the Aboriginal educator and environmentalist at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens at the time.

"The man is just so incredible, generous and passionate. Watching him mentor young Indigenous horticulturalists is inspiring. It's incredible to have that expertise and knowledge on the ground here every day."

19th May 2021