For one night only, Kylie Kwong returns to kitchen with an ‘extended family’ of cooks

Renowned Australian-Chinese chef Kylie Kwong is returning to the kitchen, and she’s excited. For one night only, on October 28, Kwong is set to collaborate on an “extended family dinner” at Marrickville restaurant Baba’s Place.

It’s a culinary celebration of Sydney’s vibrant multicultural community, with cooking and conversation from Kwong; Palisa Anderson, the farmer-restaurateur behind Chat Thai and Boon Luck Farm; Blanca Mejia and Blanca Perera, the mother-daughter duo who run Newtown taquería Olotl; and Karima Hazim and Sivine Tabbouch, the digital creators, cooks and educators from Lebanese cooking school Sunday Kitchen.

Kylie Kwong is bringing together Karima Hazim and Sivine Tabbouch of Sunday Kitchen, Blanca Mejia and Blanca Perera of Olotl and Palisa Anderson of Chat Thai and Boon Luck Farm for an extended family meal at Baba’s Place, pictured with co-owner Alex Kelly and restaurant manager Joy Della El Toum.Dion Georgopoulos

“I feel so privileged to be working with these incredible women and to hear their stories of resilience, resistance and adaptation,” Kwong says.

“We have all come from immigrant families, and we all have an inherent respect for our elders, where we’ve come from, and our culinary heritage.”

Kwong, who called time on her 30-year career in the hospitality industry with the closure of Eveleigh restaurant Lucky Kwong in June 2024, plans to serve her signature crispy saltbush cakes as part of a shared nine-course menu inspired by family recipes, personal stories, and seasonal produce.

Kylie Kwong at Baba’s Place.Dion Georgopoulos

It’s a welcome initiative following recent displays of division in Sydney: “This dinner will bring people together,” Kwong says. “Food brings people together, no matter where we’ve come from, what we believe, or who we are.”

Kwong says she was inspired by Baba’s Place, the restaurant named as the inaugural Bill Granger Trailblazer in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide for its work in honouring and amplifying the migrant experience in Sydney suburbia.

She visited Baba’s for the first time in August last year, dining solo at the bar beside a photograph of co-owner Jean Paul El Tom’s parents. Kwong was so mesmerised by the dining room with its heavy Persian carpets, Rococo furniture, and crocheted doily tablecloths, she spent the first half hour wandering around taking photos.

L-R: Blanca Mejia (Olotl), Sivine Tabbouch (Sunday Kitchen), Kylie Kwong, Palisa Anderson (Chat Thai), Karima Hazim (Sunday Kitchen), and Blanca Perera (Olot) at Baba’s Place.Dion Georgopoulos

“I left thinking, what an incredible singular business … marrying beautiful food with this creative, cultural voice,” Kwong says. “It was an enriching experience.”

Now, Kwong wants to share that feeling of connection and community with Sydney diners.

“That’s our goal, to hold space for cross-cultural pollination, from the ground up,” says Baba’s restaurant manager Joy Della El Toum.

Baba’s Place restaurant manager Joy Della El Toum.Dion Georgopoulos

For the past year, Kwong has worked as an associate for Powerhouse Parramatta, sharing stories of Western Sydney chefs, producers and restaurateurs through curated dinners, cooking classes and talks.

“I enjoy my new role … but I’ve been missing the essence of my craft, which is collaborating with food producers, thinking through dishes, cooking the dishes, ... and watching [people] eat my food in a beautiful setting,” Kwong says.

The veteran chef assembled the group of women, some of whom she’d met at Lucky Kwong, others of whom she’d mentored.

“They are really my favourite types of chefs: they’re deeply passionate, they’re women who know exactly who they are and what they stand for, and they have deep cultural pride,” Kwong says.

Sivine Tabbouch and Karima Hazim of Sunday Kitchen at Baba’s Place.Dion Georgopoulos

Hazim says the proposal was a no-brainer: “For me, serving food that’s unapologetic, authentic and a reflection of how we eat at home is really important.”

For starters, there will be birria tacos from Mejia and Perera; kibbeh nayeh, lamb mince hand-beaten with spices and served with sliced radish, shallots and mint, from the Sunday Kitchen team; and salad made with organic produce from Anderson’s Byron Shire farm. And for the mains? That remains a secret, for now.

“This is what food is all about,” says Anderson. “It’s too easy to live in our own realities, without finding common ground, but when you’re all sitting around a table and sharing a meal, that starts to shift.”

An (extended) family dinner at Baba’s Place will be held at 6.30-10pm on Tuesday, October 28 in Marrickville. Tickets are $120 per person and on sale now. Click here for the booking link.

Blanco Mejia and her daughter Blanco Perera at their restaurant Olotl in Newtown. Louise Kennerley

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