Jimmy Shu

September 1997

Jimmy Shu is something of a culinary impresario. He just loves showing off his favourite dishes. And he has the stage of three restaurants to express himself - one in Darwin, one in Kuala Lumpur and one in Melbourne.

I spoke to him recently whilst he was in Melbourne organising the Asian Food Festival special menus for Near East, in Clarendon Street, South Melbourne.

"It's tough, with one leg here, half a leg in Darwin and the other in Malaysia, I have lots of grey hairs but I love what I do."

There is constant travelling between Hanuman, his Thai-Nonya style restaurant in Darwin; Zigi's "the only Thai Italian pizzeria' in Kuala Lumpur (shared with five partners) and Near East in Melbourne (in partnership with Paul Costigan and Ken Wee). All the travelling means he can keep eating and discovering new dishes, new ideas for presentation, new implements, "new" antiques from Malacca to fill the rather minimalist stage of Near East. And perhaps even some sails there to blow between the smoking and non-smoking sections of the restaurant.

Jimmy finds it hard to sit still. He cannot contain his enthusiasm for new ideas. There are so many of them that he wants to share and show off. He talks passionately about cooking without borders. The menu at his restaurant Near East has dishes from five cuisines (Japanese, Thai, Sri Lankan, Indian, Malaysian) though he claims influences from many more.

"When I started here (in March 1996), I wanted to have flavours that are more authentic than in most places that do east-west food. I want people to go home and still be able to remember the taste of the food. I have been to many beautiful places, but when you walk out the door, you say - what is the taste??? It may have been beautifully presented, very well cooked, but I want something - positive".

I wondered how so many different cuisines could all have authentic tastes. Jimmy has always been a team player. He has used many different chefs each with their own knowledge and local palates but all who share his passion for learning and for food. He admits to being difficult to work with but has kept a number of loyal staff with him for more than a dozen years (he started Shakahari with partners in 1983 with whom he opened Monsoon in 1985 and The Isthmus of Kra in 1989). His chefs now include Tony Tan (from Penang); "Jack" Sherpa Bhote (a Chinese born in Tibet); Coco Paritipun Namkeow (from Thailand); Cuc Tran, (a Chinese from Vietnam). And some time ago Michael Shui, a Chinese born in Burma with extensive experience in Japan, also worked with Jimmy. "That's why it was possible for me to do these sort of things," Jimmy explains, "each one of us, had at least two cuisines up our belt, so we could create all the different things."

And Jimmy himself was born in Sri Lanka where his father (from China) ran a restaurant for 38 years. Jimmy worked in his father's kitchen, doing the marketing and cooking for five years. He also ate the local cuisines and became familiar with Singhalese food and Indian food. One dream of his is to start another business which specialises in very good Indian vegetarian food drawn from his childhood memories.

Jimmy came to Melbourne in 1974 and although he wanted to have his own restaurant, first learnt the ropes working for other people. "I always had at least three jobs at once, working for a food processing company, working in a pub, selling doughnuts at the weekend." Dishwashing in Western style kitchens he "looked over his shoulder" and learnt a great deal.

He's never stopped learning and travelling. In 1992 he went to Darwin to investigate ways of getting fish for Isthmus of Kra. He became involved in a fish farm. "It was the best barramundi that you could get in Australia. The silver one rather than the browny black one. But the harvesting methods were very primitive. We were catching by rod and reel and if we wanted a 20 kilo order it was just impossible." Jimmy recalled one night "we drained the whole pond - about six times the size of (Near East's dining room). It got very late and there was no water and you could hear the fish flapping all over the place. It was pitch dark. We had to get torches but still couldn't get the fish and I thought, no, this is not for me. So I stuck to what I know best, restaurants".

Whilst "doing the fish rounds in Darwin, I came in through this back door of a restaurant called Christo's and decided to have a meal there. I enjoyed it and the owner sat down, pulled up a chair and said - Jimmy, how about a restaurant here. I love a challenge and so the next day I went to three restaurants just to see what was on offer. After that I felt very comfortable to compete there, to start up one and have never looked back since." The restaurant, Hanuman, started in 1992 and has won many industry awards though Jimmy now spends little time there. The chef, Kim Jong, was Jimmy's second chef at Isthmus of Kra and the other chef, Panyat, started off as a dishwasher and "can now run the place when Kim is on holiday."

As Hanuman developed the partnership that had started Shakhari's, spawned Monsoon, then The Isthmus of Kra, broke up . But Jimmy did not sit still, he was asked to go Malaysia by Gerry Lee, owner of Richmond Distributors, one of the biggest importers of Asian spices. Jimmy was there just three days and, once again, his instinct and intuition about the market convinced him quickly that this was the place for a new restaurant. And Zigi's seems the right style for KL "a 35% return on investment in the first year". It was not quite as quick or as easy in Darwin. "Hanuman took two years to get off the ground. But now it's very successful.

For the moment, Jimmy is concentrating on refining the complex creation that is Near East. And during the Asian Food Festival is a good time to sample the restaurant's three course banquet (Japanese style scallops, Thai and Chinese chicken; Thai fish, Malaysian Pork, Indian Lamb, Malaccan sambal, Thai spinach and rice followed by one of dessert chef, Tasmin Porter's special creations) and including a bottle of wine. The price for two during the Asian Food Festival is $60.