Kylie Kwong

Kylie Kwong (born 1969 in Australia), is an Australian television chef, author, television presenter and restaurateur.

Kwong attended Epping North Public School and Cheltenham Girls High School. As a third-generation Chinese Australian, she learned the fundamentals of Cantonese cooking by her mother's side. She undertook much of her apprenticeship at Neil Perry's Rockpool and Wokpool, and later at Restaurant Manfredi.

In March 2000, Kwong opened her first restaurant, Billy Kwong, in the Sydney suburb of Surry Hills. 'Billy' in the restaurant's name derives, not from the name of a family member, but from the partnership with Sydney celebrity chef Bill Granger under which the restaurant was founded. Kwong later become the sole owner of the restaurant under the original name. The current Billy Kwong Potts Point is co-owned with Sydney and Hong Kong chef and restaurateur Andrew Cibej and seismologist and businessman David King.

The restaurant made a commitment to use organic and biodynamic food: "We now use only organic and biodynamic fruit and vegetables, poultry, meat and noodles. All the soy sauces, sugar, vinegar and oils we flavour our food with are organic, and we serve Fair Trade tea, coffee and chocolate." The restaurant made this transition in 2005.

Kwong is quoted as saying "I wanted my work and social life to reflect my Buddhism. Offering my customers healthy, life-giving, precious food is the best way for me to help them. Whether it's my books, restaurant or TV show, I'll always ask, Is this sustainable? Is this about uplifting and elevating the energy rather than depleting?".

Billy Kwong received the inaugural Sustainability Award in 2009 from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, in recognition of Kwong's environmental initiatives, including the option for diners to donate to a renewable energy credits program, purchased from a wind farm in the Chinese province of Hebei. The restaurant serves only filtered Sydney tap water, offering no bottled water.

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