Sushil is the kind of person you talk to and come away feeling better for it. He has an infectious happiness and enjoyment of life and his chosen path that is soul filling. Having worked in an impressive line-up of restaurants with excellent chefs, Sushil has recently taken over the wheel at Tokyo Tina and he is having a really great time.
Hi Sushil. What were you preparing out there?
We were preparing for a tasting menu for Beijing Betty, which is going to be a pop-up restaurant at the Australian Open. It will be open to the public and then for the corporate crowd as well. We’re expecting quite a bit of volume, three to four thousand people a day.
Does that mean you’ll take the food already prepared?
No, we’ll have a kitchen over there and get in some chefs.
And you have to come up with the menu now.
We came up with the menu a couple of months ago and we’re trialling it now and making it perfect and today we have a taste of it to the AO people, the top end people. They came in and enjoyed it, so all good.
Otherwise, Tokyo Tina has more of a Japanese twist to it?
Exactly. I’d say it’s more of a mix of Korean and Japanese, more towards Japanese, but there are some Korean elements in there as well and we put it into a Modern Australian perspective as well. When I say Modern Australian, it’s about the mix of cultures combining with Australian ingredients.
How long have you been here?
I’ve only been here for the last four months.
It’s a really good opportunity for me here. I’m really enjoying just getting into the kitchen and bringing some of my creative insight into the kitchen.
You’ve been at some high end places, haven’t you?
I started my career in Sydney and worked with a really good chef called Neil (Gottheiner) at a restaurant called Brown Sugar in Bondi Beach. I was there three and a half years. Then I moved to Melbourne and started working at a restaurant called Cumulus Inc. in Flinders Lane. I did probably about three years there, started a s a commis chef then became sous chef. After that I left Cumulus Inc. and did some Asian food at The Spice Temple at Crown. I was probably there for about a year and a half and then from there I moved on to another place called Vue de Monde and I was there for another almost two years then I went on a holiday for about four months to USA, Canada and a few other countries to try and explore some food. I came back and started at a restaurant called Moon Under Water at The Builders Arms Hotel. It’s not there any more but at the time it was a two hatted restaurant and I was there with Josh Murphy running it for about a year. Then Andrew McConnell decided to close it down and change the whole concept into Ricky & Pinky, an Asian diner. I wasn’t really interested in Asian at that time so I asked Andrew if I could move to Cutler & Co. He was really positive about that so I moved to Cutler & Co and worked as a sous chef for about a year and a half. It was really good. I really enjoyed it there. Then the longer hours and work-life balance didn’t really suit me, and I felt as though I needed to explore a little bit more so I went travelling again for three or four months, went to 22 countries in South America, Europe, Asia, North America. It was a really good experience. I learned a lot about different cultures and food.
Was there a particular food that was a highlight for you?
I really enjoyed Mexican. It was my favourite. It didn’t have to be expensive to be good. You could buy things for $5 and it would be as good as something in a good restaurant, in terms of taste. It was a fun environment, you’d eat in the street, it was spicy and just really good; really fresh and vibrant. And that type of food goes really well with beer, which I enjoy a lot.
After travelling, I came back. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I helped my old head chef from Spice Temple. He started at Supernormal, so I was there for three or four months. I knew that wasn’t going to be a long run so I was just working there to get back into the industry and be in that circle again. Then this opportunity came up and I put my hand up and was really keen and I came over here.
You’ve had lots of different experiences in different styles and food. I guess you learn something different from each place too and from the different people you work with as well.
That’s correct. Every single restaurant has had different aspects. Th restaurant I started at in Sydney was more like a café vibe, so more of a breakfast and lunch place. Cumulus Inc. was predominantly about the produce they use; their relationship with the farmers and the best produce they can use in Victoria. Then Vue de Monde was a different scale. That was all about expensive ingredients and higher prices. Then when I got back to Cutler & Co, it was half Cumulus Inc., half Vue de Monde; some really premium product and some good product an putting them really nicely together.
This one is a bit more casual. We do really good food and use good produce as well, but it’s not all high end. Obviously you get a different clientele in different restaurants as well. Here it’s more of a young crowd and they’re not into expensive products, they’re into good bar food.
How long does that all work out that you’ve been cooking now?
About nine years.
You’ve packed a lot in, plus the travelling.
Well firstly, when I came to Australia, I could barely speak English to begin with.
How old were you then?
I was 18.
From Nepal?
Yes. I finished Year 12 and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I started studying engineering back home. I finished my degree at home and then I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do because engineering wasn’t really my thing. I’m not sure why I did it. Then I thought it would be good to move to Australia and learn some English. So I came here and wanted to continue studying but it was really expensive. I started as a kitchen hand and then moved my way up as a chef and really enjoyed it. I had really good company; I worked with really good chefs and it made me who I am now. They helped me through to where I am now. I decided that was for me so I went to TAFE and did the two year course in North Ryde in Sydney. That was the turning point and from there, it has been all about cooking.
I don’t get stressed about needing to go work, I just wake up and know I have to go work and I feel relaxed and come to work. There’s no stress or negative vibes. I come in and try to do the best I can and then I go home. I love food and I love what I do.
Was food an important part of growing up?
Yes. In Nepalese culture we do eat a lot. We have a festival every week, basically. We have a festival for dogs, a festival for cows, a festival for horses and every festival would include some sort of food as well. Ever since I was small, I wouldn’t say I was side by side with my um cooking it, but I was in the kitchen a lot eating. I was one of those kids who stayed in the kitchen eating. I was one of those chubby kids too, who loved eating. I would snack all the time. I wasn’t one of those dorky kids sitting in playing video games, I was more into going out and visiting relatives and so on and having a chat and enjoying other people. In our culture, food is a vital part. Our culture doesn’t necessarily drink, so the way to enjoy is to have a big spread of food. So whenever you go to a relative’s house, there would be a big spread of food. That’s what you do; eat and talk.
I guess that’s what people do here when they eat out, and there is a level of that here in Western countries but I love the way Greek and Italian people talk about food as the centre of their existence; all the family comes together and they talk over the food. I really love that idea.
Western culture does it, but it tends to be more around Christmas and Easter and a couple of other get togethers, but in Nepal we have 55 public holidays, just for the festivals, so there is one a week. So there is more chance of getting people together. The weddings are really big and if someone has a child, that’s really big. Everything includes food and feasting. I had a chance to take a couple of my friends from Sydney to my home in Nepal for a month each and they celebrated lots of festivals with me. It was very colourful, they had tikas and colourful dress and they thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a different culture for them.
And how amazing for them to be with an insider.
Exactly. I took them to the best places to eat. It was amazing.
Is this your first head chef role?
As a head chef, yes.
Does it feel different? Is it more pressured?
To be honest, the sous chef roles I’ve had in the past are similar. In Andrew McConnell’s restaurants, the sous chef does literally everything. The head chef does as well, but the sous chef is taught how to do the costing, the labour costs, all the food safety. They provide really good training. So most of the sous chefs at McConnell venues are capable of running a business. That was really good for me when moving on to a different place. I didn’t need to get a lot of training. I wouldn’t say I have struggled so far, it’s been really good.
Are you putting menus together or does Tokyo Tina have a set style you go with?
I have probably changed five or six dishes so far. We’re about to do a tasting tomorrow for a new menu for summer so there will be another four or five dishes changing. I haven’t changed anything that is already popular here. I find there is no point changing things for the sake of it. People come for the salmon tartare which has been here since day one. They love it, so there is no point changing that. The only things I have been changing are the seasonal things, garnishes and so on. I change those almost every month, depending on what’s good in the market.
I was going to ask where you get your ideas. You’re driven by what’s good in the market and then do you look at books or Instagram?
It depends. Sometimes Instagram, sometimes when I am flicking through a book, sometimes when I am eating out somewhere. I wouldn’t say I grab the whole dis, but I might use some of the idea and incorporating the way we do things here. There might be things here that another restaurant has already done but we have our own spin on it and it’s not the same. It might be the same idea and have the same ingredients, but our flavour will be different, and it will have our spin on it. It is the same across the restaurants. Asparagus is asparagus n matter where you have it. Every restaurant is going to have asparagus on the menu and there will be salt and oil, but it will be about how they incorporate their spin on it.
Moving forward, you have Beijing Betty over the summer, will you be down there?
Yes. I will be away from here in January, but I have two sous chefs who are more than capable and I’ll be in Melbourne, so not far away. It will be a fun environment and some different food. So all in all, 15 days of fun, I’d say. There will be stressful days, I’m not going to lie, but you just have to enjoy it.
Great to have a change up in the way you do things.
Yes, especially when it comes to events on a mass volume. Almost 100 000 people come in the first two days. That’s a lot of people. There will be a party vibe, it will be hot and sticky, you just have to make fun out of it.
What advice would you give young people coming into the industry?
You’re either in, or you’re out. Either you have it or you don’t. Some people feel confused in that they are in a kitchen just to get money. That might be ok for a year or so, but if you are not into food, it replicates on the plate and in the way you do things, it’s not good for your own lifestyle. You won’t be happy. I don’t get stressed about needing to go work, I just wake up and know I have to go work and I feel relaxed and come to work. There’s no stress or negative vibes. I come in and try to do the best I can and then I go home. I love food and I love what I do. Whereas I see some other chefs I have worked with in the past and they just come to work depressed and they’re not into food and they’re just doing it to get money. The only advice I would give, is , if you are really into it, just put your head down, get into and enjoy what you do. Enjoy the stressful environment, enjoy the pressure. When it’s stressful, try and make it as fun as possible by working together. Have fun during your work hours without jeopardizing the food. That’s it.
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