Luke Nguyen to oversee the menu at new look Botanic Gardens Restaurant
Red Lantern owner-chef and TV food presenter Luke Nguyen is set to lead the menu at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens Restaurant.
The restaurant is currently undergoing a significant revamp and will be renamed Botanic House after Trippas White secured the new tender for the site.
While Nguyen will oversee the overall menu, long-standing Red Lantern on Riley head chef Pakphom "Em" Meechai is moving across to Botanic House to head up the kitchen.
"The menu will be modern Asian, not straight Vietnamese. Given I was born in Thailand and discovered my Chinese grandfather's family on TV show Who Do You Think You Are, there's plenty of inspiration," Nguyen said.
"The opening menu will have fish with lemon myrtle infused coconut milk and there'll be wok-fried warrigal greens. I really want to trawl the Botanic Gardens for inspiration; unfortunately I can't forage there."
Sheridan Randall, 31st July 2019
