Culture

S1E7 - Kylie Kwong & Exploring Identity

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:48:11 GMT

Chef and restaurateur Kylie sits down with René to reveal how she cultivates that sense of purpose, including all the bumps along the way. From changing careers to reconciling difficult family relationships; from connecting with her Chinese heritage to the “miracle” that happened when she came out; from the decision to close her restaurant to her inspiring new work with Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, Kylie is as open and honest with René as she is with herself. And throughout this moving conversation, they connect over their love of food and the creative practice that cooking represents.

Christine Schauflinger's Strudel

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:16:00 GMT

A moment of paper-thin, doughy zen from strudel queen Christine Schauflinger, chef and owner of Gasthaus Theuerwang.

Chinampas are the Future

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 13:05:05 GMT

Pablo Usobiaga of Arca Tierra believes the future lies in the past.

He works directly campesinos—peasant farmers—to recover Mexico’s 4,000-year-old chinampas: floating gardens that once fed 1.5 million people. Today, less than 10% of them survive.

Campesinos are their custodians. Some of society’s most overlooked workers, campesinos are in fact on the frontlines of our climate crisis. As Pablo explains, they are guardians of critical knowledge. Learning from them is how we’ll walk ourselves back from the ecological cliff.

What Happens When We Don't Kick The Ladder Away

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:09:18 GMT

Asma Khan entered the restaurant world at 45. Then she became the first British chef on Chef's Table.

At MAD7, she shared how her London restaurant, Darjeeling Express, came to life. She made the bold decision to open a restaurant staffed by grandmothers and mothers—home cooks who had never worked in professional kitchens, armed with "terrible knife skills but huge hearts." 

Chefs constantly credit their mothers and grandmothers as their biggest culinary influences. But these women are rarely part of the restaurant team. Asma built her kitchen differently, bringing softness to an industry obsessed with toughness. She’s proven that kindness is a form of strength. 

Cooking in Community

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 11:27:43 GMT

Why would a talented young chef choose to open a restaurant in a part of Denmark so disdained by other Danes that they refer to it as the rotten banana?

For Emilie Qvist, opening a restaurant (or two!) in a place with more pigs than people meant cheaper rent and closer proximity to nature. But as she explained in her talk at MAD7, it also gave her the chance to make an impact. With first Medvind and now Lyspunktet, she found a way to support the local economy, showcase local fishing and farming, and create a place for local residents to celebrate the big and small moments of their lives. “You become someone there,” she said. “Someone who knows your farmers’ names, and what their struggles are, someone who knows your neighbors.”

In the rotten banana, in other words, she found community.

How to Take Over Your Parent's Restaurant in Five Easy Steps

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Following his father suffering a debilitating stroke in 2019, Justin Pichetrungsi made the daunting decision to take over his family’s 43-year old restaurant, Anajak Thai, in Los Angeles, California.

From working as an art director at Disney to deciphering his family’s recipe cards, he reflects on what it means to inherit something sacred. And how, apparently, it all starts by arguing with your parents.

What is a Good Life?

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

For British architect, Carolyn Steel, the question of how we want to eat in the future is really a question of how we want to live. Food has become invisible in our cities, but it hasn’t always been and doesn’t have to remain this way. Using food as a lens, she takes us on a journey to understand the myriad ways in which food has shaped the cities and societies we live in, and how, in accepting the true value of food, we do away with the illusion of “cheap food” and play an active role in the food system.

Leaders are the Glue, Not the Light

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Clarence Slockee and Christian Hampson run Yerrabingin (We Walk Together), Australia’s first Indigenous rooftop farm that interweaves indigenous knowledge and collaborative design thinking in South Eveleigh, Sydney.

Here they share their insights on how Indigenous values of collective wisdom, kinship (relationships to each other), and custodianship (responsibility to our mother earth) inform the matriarchal model of leadership in Indigenous cultures, and are key for transformational change. Placing this in stark contrast to patriarchal, top-down, forms of leadership, they suggest that “Leadership must be a voice, but also give a voice.”

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Leadership, 4 November 2019. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD, and Kylie Kwong that brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on what leadership looks like in our changing world. MAD Mondays are open to the public and held throughout the year and around the globe.

Cultural Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Lydia Miller is a Kuku Yalanji woman and the Executive Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts at Australia’s national arts funding body, the Australia Council. In this talk, Lydia shares her thoughts on the importance of preserving the aboriginal culture and history that she belongs to. For many years she could not understand why she was part of a minority when her ancestors were the founders of the land. However, she quickly realized that she had the duty of preserving this heritage by developing the cultural resilience forged by the first nation's people in Australia.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Resilience, July 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Bridging The Gap Between Men and Women

Fri, 23 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Jytte Vikkelsøe is a Copenhagen based psychologist and author whose research focuses on conflict resolution and the complex dynamics of romantic love. Her most recent book is the bestselling Derfor Forelsker Du Dig Aldrig I Den Forkerte (‘Why You Never Fall in Love with the Wrong Person’).

At the sixth MAD Symposium, Jytte Vikkelsøe explains that for too long, biology, history, and culture have prolonged and entrapped our views on men and women. We need to better understand and address the differences in the treatment of both the sexes to find equality between them.

On Food, Authenticity, and Culture

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Romy Gill is the self-taught chef and owner of Romy’s Kitchen, a Punjabi/Bengali Indian restaurant in Bristol where she combines ingredients and techniques from her Indian heritage with those of her home country, the United Kingdom. Gill has been awarded with the title Member of the Most Excellent Order by the British Queen for her outstanding service to British and Indian food.

Side by side on stage with the MAD Dispatches Editor, Chris Ying, Romy introduces us to her story. Romy and Chris break down what authenticity means, and discuss what it means to take a cultural artifact out of its original locality, or in other words: the significance of exploring Indian cuisine in a British context.

Owning It

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The Mexican-American daughter of two immigrants, Rosio Sanchez has been instrumental in introducing Mexican cuisine to Denmark. After roles as the Head Pastry Chef and in the R&D kitchen at noma, she now runs the acclaimed restaurant SANCHEZ and taqueria Hija de Sanchez.

Rationalizing identity, heritage, flavor, and experience is a task no chef is trained for. At the sixth MAD Symposium, Rosio points out the gap which exists between seeking perfection and inspiration under the vision of others, and the contradictory desire to cook what matters to you as a person. Bridging that gap, as Rosio explains, is no easy task, requiring you to align what you do for a living, and what you care about in life.

#MeToo, Now What?

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

New York Times' national food correspondent Kim Severson won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on sexual harassment in the workplace in 2018. At the sixth MAD Symposium, she leads a conversation between Wade Davis, UN Women Global Champion for Innovation and inclusion consultant for Google and Netflix, and Lisa Donovan, acclaimed pastry chef and writer, who won a James Beard award for her essay on #MeToo in the food world.

In this important and intense discussion, Donovan, Davis, and Severson reflect on the revelations that prompted the #MeToo movement and the reckoning that has resulted from it. Spurred by their individual experiences and those of audience members, they offer insight and guidance to the industry as it finally begins to tackle these critical issues.

Finding Peace in the Kitchen and the Mind

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Michael Miller is the co-founder of the London and New York Meditation Center. Miller regularly teaches all across the globe, introducing the ancient technique of Vedic Meditation in a way that is accessible and relevant to people living in today's world.

Interweaving practical techniques with vocal advice, Miller compels us to see how meditation can make us more available, responsive and active in our lives. By tuning in to, and ridding ourselves of stress we can create better kitchen environments, he argues.

Why Is What You Do Important?

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Vincent Hendricks is a professor of Formal Philosophy at The University of Copenhagen and Director of the Center for Information and Bubble Studies (CIBS). He is a previous recipient of the Elite Research Prize from the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation and Roskilde Festival Elite Research Prize.

On stage at the sixth MAD Symposium, Hendricks argues that restaurants need to harness their power and take on responsibility beyond serving food. In a philosophical commentary that touches on the truth behind agendas, food tourism, and the links between attention and consumerism, Hendricks spurs us to realize that by knowing what we do, and why it is important, we can inform real change.

Indigenous Foodways

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Aboriginal Elder, Uncle Charles Madden, officially welcomes guests of MAD, Carriageworks and Kylie Kwong's Sydney MAD Monday to Gadigal Country. MAD Program Manager Bella Napier, chef at restaurant Billy Kwong Kylie Kwong, and Director of Carriageworks Lisa Havilah introduce the evening's talks. Moderator Caroline Baum provided background to the conversation.

These introductions opened the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Migration, Family, and Farming

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Palisa Anderson, director of Sydney restaurant Chat Thai and first generation farmer of Boon Luck Farm, shared stories from her childhood, as well as her farming practices and approach to utilizing sustainable Indigenous ingredients in her cooking.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

How to Meet Demand for Australian Bushfoods

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

This discussion is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

A range of speakers reflected on the growing demand for Indigenous Australian ingredients in restaurants across the country. What role can restaurants play in shaping the ways this demand is met?

The conversation was moderated by Caroline Baum, an Australian journalist, author and broadcaster. Palisa Anderson of restaurant Chat Thai and first generation farmer of Boon Luck Farm shared stories from her childhood, as well as her farming practices and approach to utilizing sustainable Indigenous ingredients in her cooking. Gayle Quarmby of Outback Pride Project, the largest bushfood-growing organisation in Australia, shared how her company provides opportunities for remote Aboriginal communities to access an industry where their traditional knowledge is valued. Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, an initiated Yuin man and the knowledge holder and teacher of the guides at Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness shared his understandings of sacredness and the land. A member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group, novelist and scholar Nicole Watson of the University of Sydney Law School reflected on the national narratives of Australia and engaged us in telling new stories about Australia.

Respect For the Sacred Land

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Indigenous Australian Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, an initiated Yuin man and the knowledge holder and teacher of the guides at Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness, shares his understandings of sacredness and the land.

Feeding the Restaurant Beast

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Kat Kinsman is a writer and editor based in New York City, currently Senior Food & Drinks Editor at Time Inc.’s Extra Crispy. Her debut book, Hi, Anxiety came out in November 2016. She is an advocate for mental health, especially in the restaurant industry, part of this work includes her online resource for chefs called 'Chefs With Issues.'

Tomorrow's Kitchen Starts on the Farm

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Carlo Petrini is a food activist born in the province of Cuneo in Italy. He is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement. In the 1980s he first came to prominence for taking part in a campaign against the fast-food chain McDonald's opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Working With the Family

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Head chef Téllez and Magaña, chef de cuisine, from restaurant Laja in Ensenada, Mexico. Situated in the beautiful Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, Laja is a remarkable destination restaurant which pays homage to the surrounding countryside. Laja's home is a stone barn-like building, which was constructed from scratch by Télles and a team of craftsmen (many of whom went on to work in the restaurant itself). It is surrounded by its own orchard, fields, and vineyard, whose harvests are supplemented by local organic farmers and fishermen.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Angela Dimayuga is the executive chef of Mission Chinese Food in New York City.

Like many chefs who are working to change the industry for the better - including making sweeping changes in the kitchen culture that isn’t good for women OR men - Angela Dimayuga has already made a significant impact by voicing her opinion of what she calls “kamikaze kitchen culture.”

As she told GRUBSTREET: “We've been consciously planning to make our work-life balances more sustainable. I want it to be part of our dialogue for our mental health and happiness. It takes unlearning bad habits. It's also just that you can do better work when you've tried to sleep or eaten a proper dinner. We're not martyrs — that's not cool, and it's not sustainable. The way restaurants have been, historically, is that killing yourself is considered admirable. It's a kamikaze, basically — what are you doing?”

Make Food Not War

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Kamal Mouzawak created the first farmers’ market in Beirut, Souk el-Tayeb, which preserves food traditions and the culture of sustainable agriculture in Lebanon. Kamal is working to protect the interests of local small farmers and producers in Lebanon, enabling them to sell their products directly at the market, thus ensuring a fair price for their goods.

Today, Souk el-Tayeb has grown to include regional festivals, school programmes, a newsletter, Dekenet Souk el Tayeb and a coop kitchen/restaurant where a different cook/producer prepares the daily lunch. Kamal has been recognised as an Ashoka Arab World Fellow for his work

Insects & Plants Together for Life

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Alex Atala began his career at 19 in Belgium, at the École Hôtelière de Namur. He went on to work at Jean-Pierre Bruneau’s 3-star Michelin restaurant there before moving to France and the Hotel de la Cote d'Or with Bernard Loiseau. Stints in Montpellier and Milan followed before returning to São Paulo in 1994.

His work at several restaurants around the city immediately attracted the attention of media and customers. By the end of 1999, he opened D.O.M.restaurant, where he was one of the first to use indigenous and Amazonian produce in a fine-dining setting.

Alex went on to publish Por uma Gastronomia Brasileira, a two-volume cookbook of recipes and documentary photographs featuring native Brazilian ingredients.

In April 2011, D.O.M. was rated the 7th best restaurant in the world in the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best list whilst also winning the title of ‘Aqua Panna Best Restaurant In South America.’ In 2009, Alex opened his second restaurant, Dalva e Dito, to critical acclaim.

Natural & Cultural Ecosystems

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Andoni Aduriz was born in Donostia and began his career in the kitchen of a pizzeria, where he worked during school holidays and at weekends.

After completing his studies at San Sebastian School of Cuisine, he went on to learn under many of the local chefs including Ramón Roteta, Hilario Arbelaitz, Jean Louis Neichel, Juan Mari Arzak, Fermín Arrambide and Pedro Subijana before spending the 1993-4 season at elBulli under Ferran Adriá. In 1996, he became head chef under Martín Berasategui at his eponymous restaurant back in San Sebastian.

Two years later, in 1998, he opened his own restaurant, Mugaritz, atop a hillside thirty minutes from the city, in the Basque countryside.

In 2002, Andoni was awarded the National Prize for Gastronomy and the Spanish guide lo Mejor de la Gastronomía named him both ‘Chef of the Year’ and ‘Patissier of the year.’ Since 2005 the Michelin guide have awarded him a two stars and he ranked 2nd best restaurant in the world in the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best list in 2011.

The Cycle of Love

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Ben Shewry is born and raised in humble and rural North Taranaki, New Zealand. He determined at age five that he would be a chef and worked in his first kitchen at age ten. He apprenticed at Wellington's Roxborough Bistro under Mark Limacher then Michael Lambie and Andrew McConnell in Melbourne and David Thompson at Nahm in London. This last experience also prompted a visit to Thailand, where he fell in love with the local cuisine, spending the next six years of his spare time developing his Thai cooking skills.

Returning to Melbourne, he opened Attica in Ripponlea. The restaurant has achieved terrific success. Ben was named ‘Best New Talent’ by Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine in 2008 and voted ‘Chef of the Year’ for the Age’s Good Food Guide 2010.

Today, Ben lives on the Bellarine Peninsula, by the sea, where he can forage himself ingredients every morning for that day’s menu.

MSG and Umami

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Korean-American David Chang is the chef and owner of the Momofuku Restaurant Group, which began in 2004 with a modest East Village noodle shop and today includes some of the most iconic contemporary restaurants and bars in the world. These are Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssam Bar, Booker & Dax, Ma Pêche, and Momofuku Ko (which holds two Michelin stars) in New York; Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Daisho, Momofuku Shoto, and Momofuku Nikai in Toronto, Ontario; and Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney, Australia.

Chang’s work is often singled out as among the most influential in spreading a now-common restaurant philosophy that eschews pomp in favour of quality cooking, informality, and accessibility. His food is American in perhaps the most real sense of the word, harnessing the cultural exchanges that mark his home city and country.

Chang is also a founding editor of Lucky Peach, a quarterly journal of food and writing published in collaboration with McSweeney’s.

About MAD:

MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change.

Appetite as a Guide Between Nature and Culture

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Massimo Montanari is one of the leading experts in Food History and Culture and plays an essential role in the popularization of scientific research to the general public. Massimo is currently professor of Medieval History at the University of Bologna in Italy. He has been invited as visiting professor to many leading universities in Europe, Japan, the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Massimo is a consultant and contributor to the publishing house Laterza. He was among the founders of the magazine “Food & History,” published by the Institut Européen d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation (Tours), and was its director until 2008. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the same IEHCA. In 1997 he founded, together with colleagues from other Italian universities, the “Centre of Studies on the history of the countryside and peasant labor,” based in Montalcino (Siena), of which he is the president. In 2001-2002 at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Bologna, opened a Master in History and culture of food (Storia e Cultura dell´Alimentazione), later transformed into a European Master, carried out in collaboration with the University of Tours (France), Barcelona (Spain) and Brussels (Belgium).

About MAD:

MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change.

Rotten, Fried Bananas

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Like many chefs of his generation, Enrique Olvera first studied gastronomy outside of Mexico but did not return to his home country to cook French or Italian food, as would usually have been the case. Instead, Olvera and his colleagues decided to embrace their vast culinary heritage to develop restaurants that make the claim that Mexican cuisine is worthy of a cosmopolitan restaurant setting.

Olvera and his Mexico City restaurant Pujol have become the most visible representatives of this movement and the chef’s annual gastronomic summit, Mesamérica, has served to highlight the country’s highly regionalised cuisine while simultaneously creating an active community of chefs.

About MAD:

MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change.

Asking the Winds of the Seasons

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Shinichiro Takagi is one of Japan’s leading chefs with strong ties to his home region of Ishikawa. His highly acclaimed kaiseki restaurant is Zeniya, in Kanazawa, where he cooks meals in the traditional kaiseki style. There is no set menu at Zeniya. Shinichiro uses fresh ingredients and local fish in his restaurant. He thinks about the food in 12 seasons throughout the year. In this speech from MAD2, he talks about fierce adherence to seasonality. His interesting thinking certainly brings innovation to the international cuisine scene.

About MAD:

MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change.