Kylie Jane Kwong (born 31 October 1969) is an Australian television chef, author, television presenter and restaurateur.

Early life and education

Kwong attended Epping North School and

Cheltenham Girls High School Cheltenham Girls High School, is a public, comprehensive, high school for girls, located in Cheltenham, a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1957 and operated by the New South Wales Departm ...

. As a third-generation

Chinese Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chines ...

, she learned the fundamentals of

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

cooking by her mother's side. She undertook much of her

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

at Neil Perry's Rockpool and Wockpool, and later at Restaurant Manfredi.

Career

Kwong opened her first restaurant, ''Billy Kwong'', in the Sydney suburb of

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Surry Hills is surround ...

. 'Billy' in the restaurant's name derives, not from the name of a family member, but from the partnership with Sydney celebrity chef Bill Granger under which the restaurant was founded. Kwong later became the sole owner of the restaurant under the original name. In 2014 Kwong relocated the restaurant to larger premises at Potts Point. ''Billy Kwong Potts Point'' was co-owned with Sydney and Hong Kong chef and restaurateur Andrew Cibej and seismologist and businessman David King. The restaurant made a commitment to use organic and biodynamic food: ''"We now use only organic and biodynamic fruit and vegetables, poultry, meat and noodles. All the soy sauces, sugar, vinegar and oils we flavour our food with are organic, and we serve Fair Trade tea, coffee and chocolate."'' The restaurant made this transition in 2005. Kwong is quoted as saying ''"I wanted my work and social life to reflect my

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

. Offering my customers healthy, life-giving, precious food is the best way for me to help them. Whether it's my books, restaurant or TV show, I'll always ask, ''Is this sustainable? Is this about uplifting and elevating the energy rather than depleting?''"''. ''Billy Kwong'' received the inaugural Sustainability Award in 2009 from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, in recognition of Kwong's environmental initiatives, including the option for diners to donate to a renewable energy credits program, purchased from a wind farm in the Chinese province of Hebei. The restaurant serves only filtered Sydney tap water, offering no bottled water. At a public lecture by the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current D ...

on 3 December 2009 at the

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the ...

, Kwong acted as master of ceremonies. On 1 October 2011, Kwong's first ever tableware range went on sale in Oxfam shops around Australia. The range, which includes a soup bowl and rice bowl with matching plates, soup spoon, teapot, teacup and coffee cup, is a joint project with Oxfam Australia and is hand-crafted by one of Oxfam's fair trade producer partners in Vietnam, Mai Vietnamese Handicrafts. In 2019 Kwong announced the closure of her restaurant citing a desire for change in her fiftieth year. In November 2019 Kwong was appointed Ambassador for food, culture and community for the newly revitalised South Eveleigh precinct. Formerly known as the Australian Technology Park, an established technology and innovation hub, the area was developed to include diverse office, retail, dining, wellness and cultural areas. Kwong’s role is to encourage workers, visitors and the wider community to engage with the precinct through food, culture and community activation. In 2020 Kylie Kwong participated in the 22nd Biennale of Sydney. Her original plan was to hold a behind-the-scenes event exploring “the concept of ‘true nourishment’ through preparing food, serving community, and sharing respect for the people, stories and places behind the food that we eat”. As Ambassador for Food, Culture and Community for South Eveleigh and also as Ambassador for the Wayside Chapel, events were planned to be held at the Wayside Chapel and at Eveleigh Green in South Eveleigh. With the onset of Covid-19 restrictions she refocussed on cooking and delivering weekly meals over two months as a gesture of support for seven community and health leaders. The essence of the project was captured in conversations with three of these leaders and documented under the title ''True Nourishment'' for the Biennale. In May 2021 Kwong opened her own cafeteria-style dining venue, ''Lucky Kwong'', in the precinct. The venue, named after the son she and her wife lost in 2012, was established with a focus on quality, ethically sourced ingredients and nourishing dishes.

Television and books

In 2003, ''Kylie Kwong: Cooking with Heart and Soul'' was published by

Penguin Viking Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.ABC Books in October 2003 to coincide with her first TV series which was screened on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

at the same time. Her first cookbook Kylie Kwong: Recipes and Stories was published by Penguin in April 2003. The television series was screened both on the Australian ABC, but also on Foxtel, on the

LifeStyle Channel Lifestyle (formerly known as The LifeStyle Channel) is an Australian television channel. The channel launched on 1 September 1997. The channel has an emphasis on contemporary lifestyle interests. Its programming covers topics including food an ...

, and on Discovery Home in the United States. In late 2001, the

released a statement revealing that a second Kylie Kwong series would be released. The 6 part television series would be named Kylie Kwong: Simply Magic. This series was then televised in January 2006 on the

and later in 2006 on Discovery Home. A new Kylie Kwong book was released in 2006 under the name of Simple Chinese Cooking. The book aims to make Chinese cooking as easy as possible, with every recipe accompanied by a full-page colour photograph. A third series to accompany her new book ''My China: Stories and Recipes from My Homeland'' will be shown on UKTV Food in Summer 2008. Kylie Kwong 2009

In 2012 she appeared as a guest chef in the fourth series of '' MasterChef Australia''. She returned as a guest judge in the sixth series and guest mentor in the eighth series. She appeared on Anh's Brush with Fame 17 July 2019.

Personal life

Kwong's wife is Australian mononymous artist Nell. Kwong and Nell married on 17 March 2019. Kwong was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the

2023 Australia Day Honours The 2023 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2023 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

for "significant service to the hospitality industry, and to the community".

Summary of publications

To date, Kwong has released five books, all of which share her love of cooking and explore many different facets of Chinese culture and cuisine. In order of release, these include: * Kylie Kwong: Recipes And Stories - 2003 - 184 pages. * Heart and Soul - 2003 - 204 pages. * Simple Chinese Cooking - 2007 - 313 pages. * My China: A Feast for All the Senses - 2007 - 482 pages. * My China: Stories and Recipes from My Homeland - 2008 - 496 pages. * Story in Growing up Asian in Australia - 2008

References

External links

Kylie Kwong official website

Kylie Kwong's Oxfam fair trade tableware range
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kwong, Kylie 1969 births Australian Buddhists Australian television chefs Australian people of Chinese descent Living people People from Sydney Women chefs Lesbian entertainers Australian LGBT businesspeople Cookbook writers Australian lesbian writers LGBT chefs Members of the Order of Australia