PALISA AS THE INNOVATORS BY GOOD FOOD GUIDE AND CHAT THAI IN CRITICS' PICK LIST

Chat Thai is grateful to be part of a community that celebrates food, culture, and sustainability. This year’s Good Food Guide honours “The Innovators”, and we couldn’t be prouder to see Palisa Anderson featured among them.

From the fields of Boon Luck Farm to Chat Thai‘s kitchens, her journey reminds us that good food begins with good soil. And Good Food Guide beautifully described her success as below:

“Palisa Anderson is no stranger to pivots. Yes, she grew up in the Chat Thai restaurants run by her mother, the late Amy Chanta, one of Sydney’s most important restaurateurs, but she never had any intention of working in hospitality. Instead she went to uni, worked overseas, made a life. But in 2010 she was drawn back, and over the next decade helped steer new family restaurants, none more integral than Boon Cafe, a third-culture Thai-Australian restaurant before third-culture restaurants were a thing. In one small corner of Boon was a coolroom, stacked floor-to-ceiling with fresh herbs, tropicall fruits and leafy greens. And this is where the next pivot comes in: in 2015, Anderson bought a plot of land in the Byron Hinterland and started planting. The result was Boon Luck Farm, founded on organic, regenerative principles and the goal of stocking the restaurants. Ten years later, it’s not only responsible for supplying produce – jackfruit, makrut lime, starfruit, peppercorns, betel leaves, pomelo, leafy greens – to all five of Anderson’s venues, it’s a key supplier of rare and exotic ingredients to the state’s top kitchens, from Pipit to Quay. Growing your own is nothing new to the South-East Asian diaspora, but scaling up, keeping it affordable, and inspiring slow moves in a fast-casual setting? That’s special.”

Chat Thai was also praised as one of the places to eat in Sydney this year. It’s a big compliment to us. A heartfelt thank you to the chefs, farmers, and friends who continue to make every meal meaningful, and to the Good Food Guide team for recognising our restaurant among Sydney’s Critics’ Pick to eat this year.

And this is what the critic team think about us:

“Whatever you decide on – from a fragrant herb-infused spicy green curry with apple eggplant to flanks of crisp tempura eggplant drizzled with tamarind – expect big flavours and beautiful produce. Owner Palisa Anderson – daughter of late Chat Thai founder Amy Chanta – grows many of the ingredients at her organic Boon Luck Farm in the Northern Rivers, and uses them across her five stores. It’s why the charcoal grilled beef salad with a punchy chilli dressing comes with radicchio rather than the usual leafy lettuce, and why the Thai basil is so intensely aromatic. The best dishes, however, also play up the textures: sweet and firm mango served with gentle sticky rice, soft crepes hugging salty coconut, and glorious mashmallow-like steamed rice dumplings.”