Articles

When American chef Andy Ricker opened Pok Pok in Portland’s Southeast Division neighbourhood in 2005, he viewed the restaurant as a means to an end. “When I opened, it honestly was like, ‘fuck, I hope this works so I can leave the country on a whim to go travelling through Thailand...

Bo.lan – Dylan Jones and Bo Songvisava’s Bangkok restaurant – helped redefine fine dining in the Thai capital. A decade and one Covid-19 pandemic later, the couple are hatching bold plans for their flagship, starting with not reopening the restaurant. But don’t be alarmed. They’re closing Bo.lan for a very good reason.

In honour of Bourdain Day, we’ve asked friends of The Local Tongue to share memories of the great man and stories about the influence he’s had on their lives. We might not have had the chance to say goodbye to Bourdain properly, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that his legacy lives on in the cooks, writers and intrepid travellers that he inspired.

“Things have changed”. So says Patrick Sullivan, a forward-thinking farmer and winemaker whose idiosyncratic wines are often name-checked in the discussion of new Australian wine. For Sullivan, great wine begins with great grapes, and the producers he respects make wines that honestly and deliciously reflect where they are grown. His hit-list of names to look out for is a mix of the big-name and the small, the emerging and established. It is a snapshot of everything that’s great about Australia’s vibrant wine landscape.