David Whitley meets Malaysian-born chef Cheong Liew at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide.
The most famous immigrant on the Adelaide food scene is Cheong Liew. The occasional TV star is in charge of the menu at the city’s most lavish dining experience – the Grange Restaurant at the Hilton.
Cheong was born in Malaysia, but came to Australia to study engineering in 1969. He quickly decided that it was food he cared about, and ended up working in sandwich cafes, wine bars, Greek restaurants and pseudo-French steakhouses. He made a few improvements to the food wherever he could, such as introducing crunchy Asian-style vegetables instead of the boiled-to-death Anglo variety.
Eventually, he opened his own restaurant – the wildly popular Neddy’s on Hutt Street – and it was there that he became regarded as the founder of Asian fusion cuisine.
Cheong says that he still reads voraciously to take in ideas from across the world – he’s never had any formal training – and he’s just as likely adapt a recipe or technique from his Lithuanian mother in law as an old Asian tradition.
“Adelaide is very fortunate,” he says. “It has very good ingredients. And you can get them directly from the source, rather than through a middleman as in Melbourne and Sydney. You know more about the product.”
Cheong also argues that Adelaide has a fantastic restaurant scene – particularly in the medium price range. He regards it as a great sign that the locals don’t to have a particular loyalty to one spot – people will eat everywhere.
He’s particularly keen on the Bridgewater Mill in the Adelaide Hills and the foodie strip of Gouger Street.
But it’s his Migration of Ideas menu at The Grange that is regarded as the city’s major gourmet splurge. It features his breathtakingly intricate Four Dances of the Sea signature dish plus seven other courses of thorough indulgence. It’s the sort of menu where poached Wagyu beef with Pinot Noir sauce can be thrown in almost as a flighty aside.
It takes five chefs to produce the meal, each working to their own speciality and while Cheong ostensibly watches in a relaxed manner, he’s clearly paying hawk-like attention to what’s going on. When he’s not certain about the wine that’s been matched with a dish, he immediately calls out for a glass of it to make sure someone hasn’t made a mistake.
But while Cheong rules the roost at the Grange, his former haunt is in new hands. Neddy’s is now GoodLife Pizza, and it’s clearly one of the most popular eateries in town. A good few steps above your average Dominos, GoodLife beats its chest about high quality, locally produced and organic ingredients. Naturally, the pizzas taste terrific – in Adelaide, even the pizza joints are run by people who care about their food.
Copyright David Whitley
