Celebrity chef David Thompson to open new Thai restaurant in Melbourne
Ex-pat Australian chef David Thomson plans to open a new Thai restaurant in Melbourne.
Thompson, whose Nahm Asian restaurant was recognised as Asia’s best, plans to open a new casual Thai restaurant, Long Chim Melbourne. His Nahm Bangkok, ranks at 22 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Long Chim means to “come and taste”.
Thompson, who left Australia to open Nahm in London in 2001, is intent on rolling out the Long Chim brand across Australia.
He already has a restaurant in Martin Place in Sydney and another in Perth so the Melbourne outlet will be number three.
“I have always wanted a place here and now soon I will,” Thompson told Business Insider.
I am delighted to open in Melbourne,” Thompson says, “and to be part of the city’s fantastic restaurant scene. I have always wanted a place here and soon I will have one,’’ he told the Weekly Review
Sydney-born and classically trained. Thompson discovered a cuisine close to his heart in Thailand in the 1980s. His cooking style comes from many sources and he has taken inspiration from the street food and markets of Bangkok.
Thompson is now recognised as one of the best, if not the best proponents of Chinese food in Australia. He has already won the coveted James Beard Award. He has also claimed his place in the upper echelons of the global culinary hierarchy.
Thompson discovered there was more to Thai food than the odd takeaway when he went on holiday to Thailand in the 1980s. He fell in love with the cuisine but because there weren’t that many Thai cookbooks, he educated himself about Thai food by spending time with old women who made the best food. He also bought the books of the dead, put together for funerals. These books were as good as cookbooks because they contained the deceased's favourite recipes.
by Leon Gettler, 7th July 2016
