Food is a simple yet universal connector that brings us together.
Kylie Kwong AM has spent her career proving that a kitchen can be a place for real social change, not just good food. Across cookbooks, television and two acclaimed Sydney restaurants, Billy Kwong and Lucky Kwong, she has built a body of work where cooking, community and culture sit at the same table.
A third-generation Australian, Kwong combines native Australian ingredients with traditional Chinese cooking techniques to create a distinctly Australian Chinese cuisine, one that reflects her own heritage as much as the country she calls home. Her food has always done double duty: it tells a story, and it brings people together around it.
That instinct now shapes her role as Culinary Ambassador for Powerhouse Parramatta, where she works with Western Sydney's multicultural communities through food and cultural programming ahead of the museum's 2026 opening. It is the same principle that has guided her career from the start: food as a way in, not a performance.
Kwong's contribution reaches beyond the plate. In 2024, she was appointed a Patron of Equality Australia and an Ambassador for DeadlyScience. In 2025, the American Academy in Rome invited her to serve as Guest Chef for its Rome Sustainable Food Project, recognising her long-standing commitment to sustainability and community-centred food practices.
For audiences, Kwong offers a rare vantage point: a chef who has used a plate of food to open conversations about identity, culture and belonging, and who continues to find new ways to put that idea into practice.
Video
How chef Kylie Kwong channelled the ‘overwhelming energy’ of grief | Australian Story
In the third and final instalment of Australian Story’s series on restaurateurs, Kylie Kwong looks back on her stellar 30-year career and reveals why it is time to embark on a new direction in life. Kylie reflects on the pivotal moments of her life, including the trauma she and her wife Nell endured when their son Lucky was stillborn in 2012 and how she channelled that grief into something positive. Other interviewees include friend Nigella Lawson and friend and mentor Maggie Beer.Kylie Kwong x Powerhouse x Little India | Sydney Weekender
Kylie Kwong in collaboration with the brand new Powerhouse Museum is taking you on a foodie tour around the area to showcase the local community ahead of it's opening in Parramatta.
