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Miss Chu slows on expansion plans

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

Nahji Chu at her Cha Li Boi launch.
Nahji Chu at her Cha Li Boi launch.Esteban La Tessa

Nahji Chu's attempt to reboot after losing control of her Miss Chu empire has hit a major hurdle, with plans to open two high-end Vietnamese Cocochine restaurants – in Ward Avenue, Potts Point, and York Street in the Sydney CBD – under a cloud. Chu recently opened Cha Li Boi restaurant in Bondi Junction, but says her investors in that venue have jettisoned a planned joint-expansion of Cocochine.

"I've come to realise they're not the right investors for me. I'd like to do it (Cocochine) somewhere sometime, but right now I'll concentrate on catering and Lady Chu."

A spokesman for the investors doesn't believe it's quite so clear-cut, saying "a decision hasn't been made to discontinue" and that a lease is in place at the Potts Point site. Chu says she is also in talks with investors concerning her ongoing involvement in Cha Li Boi, which opened in May and has already lost its key kitchen signing, ex Billy Kwong dumpling guru John Leong. Cha Li Boi has drafted chefs to replace him.

The original Miss Chu outlet, in Darlinghurst, has also been a moveable feast. Since Chu's departure from the business, the Bourke Street operation was renamed Saigon Lane. Last week it rebranded again, this time as Mam Mam.

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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