Globally renowned chef Louis Tikaram returns to Sydney to open Northern Beaches restaurant

Sydney’s run of landing big-fish chefs continues, with Louis Tikaram to open his seafood-skewed Cantonese restaurant, Stanley, at Manly Wharf in September.

Hot on the heels of the news three-Michelin man Björn Frantzen is opening a restaurant at Crown, and Curtis Stone’sconfirmation for the incoming Waldorf Astoria Sydney, Tikaram’s move is a win for the Northern Beaches. Stanley is to slide into the space Merivale’s Queen Chow occupied for seven years before it pulled up stumps last year.

“It does feel like home,” Tikaram said of Sydney. Raised on a farm “down a dirt track” in Mullumbimby, the chef worked at Bentley and Tetsuya’s before joining seminal Thai restaurant Longrain, where he was named The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide young chef of the year in 2013.

A six-year stint in the US followed, where he steered the acclaimed E.P & L.P. in West Hollywood. Much like the work of the late Bill Granger, Tikaram’s Asian fusion food helped tell the story of Australian food globally. It also turned him into a celebrity chef in the US.

But Cantonese food is Tikaram’s first love, courtesy of his Chinese-Fijian grandmother, and in 2019 he opened Stanley, at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane. Whenever he caught a fish in his youth, Tikaram’s thoughts turned to how his grandmother would later dress it up in ginger and shallots. “We always had to save her the eyeball,” he said.

“When you open a restaurant, you don’t choose the signature, but it’s become the seafood,” he said of Stanley, a critical success since its opening with dishes such as tropical crayfish tossed through buttery lo mein noodles, kung pao prawns and steamed Queensland coral trout with white soy, ginger and shallots.

The 200-seat Manly Wharf restaurant, which takes its name from Hong Kong’s Stanley Bay, will include live seafood tanks and some new menu additions: “I do miss the cold-water crays and the local tuna from Ulladulla,” said Tikaram. There will also be plenty of options beyond seafood, with a big sweep of meat-based dishes, tableside Peking duck service and dim sum.

With Howard Smith Wharves and Manly Wharf both owned by the Artemus Group, a deal was more easily reached to bring Tikaram to Sydney, and he had the luxury of testing the water by operating a low-key pop-up at Manly last summer. It reminded the chef what a unique location it is.

“People used to say why don’t you catch a taxi here. No way. Catching a ferry to Manly is one of the great Sydney experiences. It’s a great way to spend a day. I used to go over there to surf.”

Tikaram’s other activity when he first arrived in Sydney was scouring for the best Chinese food. “I didn’t know anyone, so I’d go to a movie in the city, and head to Chinatown. I loved Golden Century and Chinese Noodle Restaurant, and I really explored the food courts.

“Sydney shaped me as a chef. To return with Stanley – a restaurant that reflects my Chinese heritage, my travels and everything I’ve learned over the years – feels very special.”