“I loathe it,” says chef David Thompson. Not the pressure of opening a restaurant in Sydney again after 20 years. Not the trial dinner for 165 people that will christen the new tomorrow night. Not trying to juggle his new baby with its older siblings in Perth and Singapore and the flagship in Bangkok.
No, what the award-winning chef is confessing to is what most of us probably feel most of the time: he doesn’t much care for the cutting and chopping and prepping. But decades after he first stepped behind a stove he still loves cooking. And diners at his new place will get to see him in action.
The man who first excited Sydney with Darley Street Thai more than 20 years ago, and then Sailor’s Thai, is back. Yesterday it was announced that Long Chim will throw open the doors – initially just for dinner, with lunches to follow down the track - on Monday 29 August. Bookings will go live tomorrow (Wednesday 17 August).
And Thompson will be firmly in the middle of the action.
“I loathe the mise en place, the preparation, loathe it,” Thompson tells SBS Food, “but I still have the same innocent joy as I had when I started cooking, when I cook. It’s a timeless pleasure, I’m very lucky like that. And so I shall be stir-frying noodles – and the last time I was on the noodle stand it was very tough to get me off!”
A younger version of himself might be surprised to hear him saying he likes doing the noodles. Time has mellowed him.
“It’s one of those ironies. I used to distain, with contempt, the rather populist stir-fry noodles, and now I don’t mind doing them at all.”
Noodles will feature strongly on the menu at 190-seat, two-level restaurant, located in Angel Place in the CBD. Thompson mentions some highlights: a “great soft-shell crab dish”, a beef noodle soup with dumplings and tripe.
When we catch up with Thompson, he’s walking the streets of Sydney, buying croissants – “looking for desserts for breakfast. The only way to approach the day, I think.”
While he orders up enough to take back to the office, we ask whether he feels like the prodigal son. No, he says, and then laughs. “Well, it depends on how naughty I get. “
Thompson will be here for at least two months, bedding down the new place.
Long Chim – it means “come and taste” – will be welcoming those wanting to eat, and those just after a drink. Split over two levels, the restaurant includes an open-plan kitchen, a cocktail bar, and various seating options, including communal tables.
The restaurant’s website – like that for Perth and Singapore – proclaims “no reservations, no problem, walk-ins welcome”. However, for those who like the security of the booking, Thompson knows how you feel. Long Chim will take bookings for tables of four or more, too. “I hate waiting for a table,” he explains. “Most restaurateurs now don’t take reservations, because it guarantees that their tables will be filled as they become free. Well, we’ll use half that system in order to have a nice rollover but we’ll also, for those of us who remember that bookings are important, have a booking system.”
Before any of that, though, there’s a big dinner looming. The restaurant is hosting an Australian Gourmet Traveller dinner tomorrow night for around 165 people – sensibly, with a set menu. A soft opening, with dinners for family and friends, will follow, fine-tuning other dishes on the menu, before the big day on Monday the 29th.
longchimsydney.com
