Bing Liu

Harbin, China

I was in my junior year in university studying chemical engineering in the US when I came across the opportunity to take a Summer programme at the Le Cordon Bleu Paris cooking school.

It was such a novel experience to see the importance of food from the locals’ perspective and how Chefs were respected as professionals in contrast to what I was told, that being a Chef is not a proper career choice.

Long story short, I found myself back in Paris with a superfluous engineering degree in hand. My eyes were set on learning with the best Chefs and to become one of them eventually. 

Upon returning to the US, I landed my first paid job as a fish garnish cook in a Michelin-starred restaurant on the Upper West Side. I’m grateful to have been offered that job because I had no industry experience and had to learn the hard way from all the yelling and scolding.

In hindsight, the constant pressure of working at the fine dining establishments quickly got me up to speed mentally and physically. 

My family was living in Australia at the time and had convinced me to make the move to Sydney in 2018. It was a bit of a shock to see the variety and completely new ingredients from what I was used to working with for the first time.

I took it upon myself to create the best version of my menu with these new-found ingredients and started an underground dining club soon after. The private dining club was a creative outlet for my aspirations to be a Chef.

It gained traction and eventually became a full-service private dining space at Intercontinental Double Bay in 2011. In August 2022, Carte relocated to its present location. 

I got hooked watching Iron Chef Japan as a high school student. Chefs were competing from all parts of the world and it opened my eyes about food as a global culture. 

Healthy modern European cooking focused on high quality seafood and produce with a touch of Asian flavors. 

Infused oils. By extracting flavor from ingredients using oil involves a wider range of temperature resulting in some very aromatic and nuanced oils.

 

That the white tablecloths are impeccable before service starts. 

Being treated to a live seafood lunch at the Port of Saigon on the Eastern side of Hong Kong. To this day, the most memorable food I had was a preparation of live abalone shabu-shabu. The memory of the thinly sliced abalone arranged in a spiral pattern is as lucid as the savoury broth in which it was cooked. 

 

It teaches me much more than just cooking and running a kitchen. The restaurant business is a constant work in progress of planning, executing, and problem-solving. 

Katsuobushi, it has undoubtedly become the most ubiquitous ingredient to appear in my recipes. 

One of our canapés that has been on the menu since we opened is the sweet corn egg. The sweetness of the corn espuma is complemented by the natural saltiness of the caviar for a warm and delicate bite to start the meal.

I’m a placomusophile and have managed to keep all the caps of memorable Champagne I’ve had over the years

Australia will be my home base, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I start something interesting in Asia. I can bank on drawing inspiration from the huge continent and its diverse food cultures perpetually.