By Mitchell Clarke
Local restaurateur and television personality Jason Kennedy has searched high and low throughout South East Asia for the perfect authentic and traditional Asian Banquet.
Popular Lakeside eatery My Asian Banquet opened its doors to a Channel Seven filming crew on Friday night, 23 August, where the restaurant will be the setting of an exciting new food program.
“I decided to write a treatment (complete series draft) for Channel Seven explaining how I wish to promote and highlight authentic and traditional Asian cuisine to their viewer’s on the 7food network,” Mr Kennedy said.
“They got back to me straight away and loved the idea of demonstrating the ease of highlighting and cooking a vast range of staples from a different country each week.”
From opening their doors three years ago, the restaurant has focused on providing local residents with authentic and traditional South East Asian cuisine, with the series set to explore these in more depth.
“I will cover the most popular Asian countries throughout the series, countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and Korea” he said.
“My Asian Banquet will cover one country per episode and will highlight a traditional main and two sides to complement ‘The Banquet’.”
Mr Kennedy’s travels have taken him to some of the world’s most beautiful and culturally rich destinations in both customs and food.
He has handmade dumplings in Taiwan, cooked Babi Guling (Suckling Pig) in Indonesia, learnt the art of Chilli Crab in Singapore, slow cooked Chiang Mai spicy pork in Northern Thailand and watched for hours and learnt the subtleties of making the perfect peanut satay sauce in Malaysia.
My Asian Banquet can be seen on the 7food network commencing early next year.
The restaurant is located at Lakeside Boulevard in Pakenham and is open from Wednesday to Saturday.
