Memories, dreams & a wish
3 min read
In the month since I last wrote to you for the Mangan Digest, a lot has happened!
The biggest change is, of course, the lockdown ending in NSW. Today we reopened our Wine Bar at Glass Brasserie at the Hilton, and next Wednesday, we’ll be cranking up the main kitchen and dining room for the first of three big black tie gala dinners! If you managed to snap up a ticket - well done, they sold out in minutes! I can’t wait to see so many of you back in the restaurant.
In those final few weeks of lockdown though, I was feeling a bit nostalgic and missing my old life - working in the kitchen, chatting to customers, seeing family and friends, travelling… and, to be quite frank, I also had a bit of extra time on my hands sitting at home each night! So, one Monday evening, as I was flipping though some old photos in my phone, I stumbled across a pic of the late, great Anthony Bourdain and I from when he visited Sydney a few years back. I popped the shot up on my Instagram along with a story about how we met (including a great yarn about a night Tony got me legless at a dive bar in New York). Anyway, that post - which I dubbed a #ManganMondayMemory - got a huge response.
I plan to post a different memory and story on my social media pages each week - a little tidbit from my life working in hospitality and as a chef. I hope you enjoy reading the stories (and checking out the retro pics) as much as I’m enjoying reflecting on those great times!
But, don’t worry, I’m not just looking back, I’m also looking forward and dreaming BIG about the future! Which leads me to the other big bit of news from the past month… which is that I’ve signed a huge deal with the American boutique hotel chain Kimpton, to provide all the food and beverage offerings at their their first Australian property when it opens in Sydney next year!
The hotel - which will be will be taking over the really cool art deco site of the old Primus Hotel in the CBD - will be home to the brand new Luke’s Kitchen. It’ll be a different vibe aesthetically from our old Waterloo site that we called home for 12 years, but I think you’re going to love it. We’ll also be opening up a 1930s-style cocktail bar at the Kimpton, plus an intimate wine cellar, a cafe, and a poolside bar on the roof! If you’re keen to read more about what we’ve got in store - and check out some of the plans of what the hotel and new Luke’s Kitchen will look like - just click here.
Speaking of big dreams, one of the projects I’ve been most proud of working on recently has been producing a range of nutritional, plant-based meals for the patients at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. You can read more about that here. It’s been a rewarding journey, and, I hope, one that other hospitals will soon follow. As I say, not all hospital food has to be bad!
Enough with the memories and dreams though… I thought I’d leave you with one wish: and that’s a wish for a bit of clarity for our cruising industry. I’d love to be able to tell you when you can book a P&O Cruise and eat at one of our onboard restaurants again, but, at the moment I really have no idea. What I do know is that it takes around three months to get a ship ready to sail again - so, if we’ve got the green light for international air travel to resume from November, then why not give the cruise industry some certainly too?!
To memories, dreams and wishes… oh, and sharing a glass with you at Glass sometime soon!
Luke
P.S. I’ve got some big news coming for everyone in Regional NSW, Victoria and Queensland next week. Stay tuned!