The ‘real’ food critics? Australian chefs on the toughest restaurant reviewers of all
It’s an honour to be well reviewed by a professional,But for these restaurateurs and chefs, the ultimate verdict comes from the harshest diners: migrant eldersMy mother, in all the decades we’ve dined out, has never liked a single restaurant I’ve taken her – even though I’ve written about food for nearly 20 years,Then we went to Yan, an Asian smokehouse in Sydney,Instead of dropping typical complaints about price (too expensive) or the cooking quality (inferior), she gave something rare and unexpected: hard-won Asian-parent praise,For this alone, I consider it an award-winning restaurant.
In Australia, dining guides and restaurant awards have become more culturally diverse over time, after criticism in recent years that Euro-style, fine-dining establishments with designer fit-outs, postcard views and internationally recognised chefs receive the highest accolades, while non-western cuisines are relegated to the “cheap eats” sections.But one group of diners is tougher on restaurants than professional reviewers: migrant elders.Owner Narada Kudinar is proud his restaurant has been well-reviewed by major Australian food publications, but winning over sceptical migrant diners is a special achievement.When younger diners bring parents (or older “aunties” and “uncles”) to Yan, he notices how elders view the restaurant with suspicion: there’s no thick, picture-filled menu typical of Asian eateries, Yan (Mandarin for “smoke”) chars dishes in non-traditional ways, the kitchen is open and doesn’t use woks.“Sometimes we don’t even have Asian people in the kitchen,” Kudinar says.
Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morningBut it’s the food that wins them over.“Because I’m Chinese, I don’t want to bastardise anything beyond recognition … The flavours we stick to are true to our culture,” says Kudinar.Yan’s mushroom “noodle soup”, for example, might look like a lasagne but it contains familiar flavours like mushroom broth, handmade noodles, mustard leaf, black vinegar and chilli.Requests for hot water (an Asian cure-all and dining must) are also accommodated without judgment.Kudinar recognises why older Asian migrant-background diners are harsh critics.
“I think it’s got to do with spending your hard-earned money … [and feeling] like you could’ve done better yourself.That’s a really difficult thing to overcome.”So when non-believers become happy fans before the table’s cleared, “it’s a double hit of that great feeling of hospitality that you get,” he says.“We’ve had parents out-visit our restaurant compared to their kids over time.”Like Kudinar, chef Neville Dsouza has felt honoured when established food critics sized up his skills.
But the ultimate verdict on his cooking came in 2022 at Irene’s, his pop-up restaurant inspired by his Mumbai upbringing, where he served a goat curry to an Indian grandmother.“She’s going to tell us if the curry is good or not,” he remembers saying to his sous chef.She was the “real” restaurant critic: she’d cooked more curries than he’d ever had.At the meal’s end, the chef nervously asked for her verdict.“This is probably one of the best curries I’ve had in Australia,” she said.
Dsouza couldn’t believe he had her approval,“I think we won,” he thought,Sign up to Saved for LaterCatch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tipsafter newsletter promotionIrene’s was named after his late aunt, and the winning goat curry had come from her hand-written, decades-old recipe that Dsouza managed to track down after her death,Dsouza has jostled the pans at European-leaning restaurants such as Pellegrino 2000 and Cirrus, but says cooking the food from his culture – and family – has a special meaning,“It’s very different than cooking a piece of fish with carrot puree and putting nasturtiums on there, because that’s a job,” says Dsouza.
That goat curry, with its green mango hint, could power him back to childhood Sundays in his aunty’s Mumbai apartment.“When you cook something like that, it’s more.”That “more” hasn’t always been recognised by dining guides and restaurant awards.“You’re never going to be restaurant of the year if you’re someone’s favourite place that they visit on a weekly basis,” says Nancy Lee, who wrote her PhD on celebrity chef culture.“Those kinds of awards are targeted at those special-occasion places.
”Food publications have long celebrated “white tablecloth type” establishments with big-name chefs, but Lee says the culinary knowledge of migrants can get overlooked, or be seen as a given: “Surely he can make a pad Thai because he’s Thai”.But being a Chinese dumpling master, for instance, requires incredible skills.“I make pasta at home,” she says.“I could never do xiao long bao.”For Ashley Vola, who runs Melbourne restaurant Vola Foods, it’s important to stay true to her food culture.
“Everybody just thought African food was Ethiopian and that was it.” Her plan to highlight West African cuisine was met with enthusiasm when she launched in 2021: 300 people turned up, and were willing to wait two hours for food, she says.Vola has gradually shifted to focusing on the food of her birthplace, Cameroon, but it’s been challenging.“Customers will call up and be like, ‘Is this a Nigerian or Ghanaian restaurant?’” she says.“I’ll be like, ‘It’s Cameroonian.
’ And they hang up,”But she credits tough diners in the community, including her sister Kelly (“one of the most pickiest eaters I know”), for helping fine-tune her food – and develop a backbone for criticism,“I also worked in childcare,” she says,“Kids are the hardest people to please,”Recently she took a call from an older Nigerian man who wanted to leave a review for a meal he’d had a month ago.
His tone was aggressive: the kind your boss uses when you’re about to be fired.She braced for the worst.Because he was using words in his language to name the dishes, she had trouble understanding him.“[I said] ‘I’m so sorry uncle.I literally have no idea what that means’ … Then he went, ‘Your food is fantastic!’ Oh my god! I literally just fell down.
”Because of this feedback from her community, she says, “I’m constantly reminded, every day, why I should stay open,” This article was amended on 13 November 2024,Chef Neville Dsouza did not work at Saint Peter, as stated in an earlier version,
Most UK TV ads for sweets and snacks shown before children’s viewing watershed
Most TV adverts for sweets, crisps and chocolate shown when children are likely to be watching are placed by firms who claim not to promote their products to that age group.The disclosure, in new research by the University of Liverpool, has prompted claims that food giants such as Mars, Haribo and PepsiCo are in “flagrant” breach of their own codes of behaviour.The academics found that 80% of all ads for confectionery and snacks shown on UK TV before the 9pm children’s viewing watershed were from those three firms, plus Kellogg’s and Mondelez.Their analysis of ads shown on 76 channels also revealed that 49% of all such ads are broadcast between 5.30am and 9pm, when viewing by children is at its highest
Why have diabetes rates doubled over the past 30 years – and what can be done about it?
Diabetes rates worldwide have more than doubled over the past three decades, with more than half of cases untreated, a global study has found.Diabetes is a chronic disease caused when the pancreas does not produce enough (or any) insulin (a hormone that regulates blood glucose) or the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Uncontrolled diabetes can cause hyperglycaemia, or raised blood sugar, which over time can cause serious damage to many of the body’s systems, especially the nerves and blood vessels.Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder which stops the body using insulin properly
More than 800 million people around the world have diabetes, study finds
The number of people with diabetes has doubled over the past 30 years to more than 800 million worldwide, according to a groundbreaking international study.Global analysis published in the Lancet found that rates of diabetes in adults doubled from about 7% to about 14% between 1990 to 2022, with the largest increase in low and middle-income countries.The study is the first global analysis of diabetes rates and treatment in all countries. Scientists at NCD-RisC in collaboration with the World Health Organization used data from more than 140 million people aged 18 or older from more than 1,000 studies in different countries. They applied statistical tools to enable accurate comparisons of prevalence and treatment between countries and regions
Legalisation of assisted dying may force NHS cuts, Wes Streeting warns
Civil servants are looking at the extra costs that assisted dying would impose on the NHS amid a warning from Wes Streeting that some services may be cut to fund expanded end-of-life care.The health secretary has asked officials at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to analyse potential implications for NHS services if the right to die is legalised in England and Wales.Their work is under way amid an increasing focus on how the NHS would cope with helping what the MP spearheading the push for assisted dying believes would be hundreds of people a year who have just six months or less to live to end their life early.DHSC officials have already begun examining the costs of the practicalities involved, which could include expanding the services provided by hospitals or district nurses, for example.The disclosure comes after Streeting made clear his view that legalisation could force the health service to make difficult decisions about funding some existing services
UK equality watchdog chair at centre of staff complaints to be given new term
The chair of the government’s equality watchdog, who was appointed by Liz Truss and investigated after a series of complaints by staff members, has been given a 12-month extension in the role, ministers have announced.The decision to reappoint Kishwer Falkner as chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), first revealed by the Guardian, has left some staff members angry after they had hoped a Labour government might change the organisation’s leadership.However, the announcement by the government’s Office for Equality and Opportunity said it was looking for a new chair, with a successor expected to be announced next year. It is understood that the extension was given largely because of the lack of time to find a replacement before her four-year term finishes at the end of this year.News that Lady Falkner would stay on in the role had dismayed some staff at the EHRC following a sometimes turbulent period in which she grappled with internal debates over transgender policy and was investigated over a series of complaints from current and past staff
Liz Kendall says there is ‘no tension’ in government over winter fuel payments
Liz Kendall has said she sees “no tension” in government over plans to make savings from restricting winter fuel payments to vulnerable pensioners and an increase in people securing pension credit.The work and pensions secretary stressed she wanted all people eligible for pension credit to have the benefit, regardless of whether it could limit the government’s attempt to repair the “dire state” of public finances.Ministers launched a pension credit publicity campaign in August, yet Kendall told the Commons work and pensions select committee 800,000 eligible pensioners had still not applied for it.Winter fuel payments have been restricted so only those claiming pension credit from this winter are eligible to receive the benefit worth up to £300.The government made the decision in the hope of saving £1
Trump trade drives down pound and euro; Disney earnings boosted by Inside Out 2 and Deadpool – business live
Big UK pub chains signal price rises as result of budget hit
They’ve been described as the ‘fastest-growing fire risk’ – so why do lithium batteries keep exploding?
Apple facing near-£3bn UK lawsuit over cloud storage ‘monopoly’
The NFL’s most box-office player today is … an offensive tackle? | Oliver Connolly
Stuttering Socceroos have work to do for USA 2026 after Saudi stumble