Billy Kwong restaurant collaborates with community gardens

When chefs can identify where the produce they use comes from and share that with their customers, we all benefit.

Consider the carrot. Delicious when fresh but it so often plays second fiddle on the plate to flashier mates like lotus root or zucchini flower. A carrot with a story, however, is a different matter.

"A carrot suddenly becomes very interesting and even more delicious when we know it was grown down the road by such-and-such and what their life story is," says Kylie Kwong. "We want to tell those stories; rehumanise the food chain."

In 2014, the highly-praised, postage-stamp-featured chef, relocated her Australian-Canto restaurant Billy Kwong from Surry Hills to Potts Point. With the new double-sized digs came a new Billy Kwong mantra of "celebration, collaboration and community". A large part of this involved working with community gardens in the local neighbourhood which could supply produce for the kitchen. "I had a kind of hit list, I guess, of local services and businesses which I hoped to forge a relationship with," Kwong says.

One of these groups was Wayside Chapel, about 500 metres from the restaurant. Wayside has been providing care and support to its visitors marginalised by homelessness, mental health issues, and substance abuse, since 1964. On the rooftop is a 200-square metre fruit and vegetable garden tended to by the visitors and local residents.

Kwong buys herbs from the garden and honey from Wayside's beehives which is used to marinate pork for Billy Kwong's barbecue pork buns.

"It's a wonderful relationship," Kwong says. "The Wayside visitors are very proud of giving me the honey because they've tended to the Billy Kwong hive and I buy it back from them. My staff can tell the story to all our customers and it's a lovely, fulfilling practice."

Wendy Suma is the programs manager at Wayside. "We're proud of what we do here, but when we see what Kylie does with our produce, it's even more amazing," she says. "The visitors who take down a jar of honey to Kylie or bunch of herbs are always so excited to meet her and she's always so welcoming."

"For my business, community is at the heart of everything that we do," says Kwong, who also collaborates with Woolloomooloo Community Garden, St Canice's Rooftop Garden, Plunkett Street Public School, Rushcutters Bay Preschool and St Vincent's College. These gardens supply the kitchen with the likes of wild weeds, warrigal greens, dill, coriander, Vietnamese mint, and sweet Thai basil.

"I had 13 of the Woolloomooloo community gardeners in for dinner last Thursday as a thank you for allowing me to come in and use their garden and their produce," Kwong says. "It was really nice. They're all locals and getting to meet all these mad and crazy characters - I think that's what it's all about.

"And very simply, too, the food just tastes better. It's produced locally, without chemicals, and with lots of love and care. It doesn't get any better."

WHO Kylie Kwong.

WHAT Collaborating with community gardens to source produce for the Billy Kwong kitchen.

WHERE Potts Point and Kings Cross.

WHY To support local community groups, rehumanise the food chain and serve delicious food.