Alongside her daughter Grace, Jenny enjoys a day full of Sydney’s best sushi, Champagne and generations of amazing food memories.
If you ever got a chance to be at a table with Jenny Kee, and her literary agent daughter Grace Heifetz, it would feel like you were having dinner with a true piece of Australia’s culture puzzle. That’s because you would be. Jenny’s contributions to art and design are beyond exceptional. Born and raised in Bondi, Kee fled to the UK in the swinging sixties to get her fashion education in London’s vintage markets. On her return in 1973, she opened her frock salon Flamingo Park in Sydney’s Strand Arcade and began her historic collaboration with fellow designer Linda Jackson. Together they created a distinct Australian fashion identity that became recognisable around the world. Now, at 76, Kee’s work is no less relevant. Her art and designs have been exhibited from Sydney’s PowerHouse Museum to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, on runways and Olympic Opening Ceremonies, in fashion magazines, and on Princess Diana – as a newly-wed, she wore one of Flamingo Park’s Koala knits to a polo match.
Forever inspired by the unique Australian natural environment, Kee is a pioneer in Australian fashion, but beyond that, she and Grace are linked to so many notable moments and places in Australian history, particularly the culinary ones. Kee’s Italian maternal grandfather trained as a chef in Paris and London before joining P&O Shipping Lines as head chef. Docking in Sydney in the early 1900s, he was offered head chef at the legendary Hotel Australia and remained there for 25 years serving prime ministers, opera singers and royals. Kee’s paternal great grandparents came from Guanzhong, China, to the gold rush in Cooktown in the 1870s. Kee’s dad, Billy, ran away from the wild goldfields at 12 and became a drover’s cook. A brilliant cook even as a kid, he went from making kangaroo tail soup and pigeon pie to becoming a successful produce agent at the Sydney markets.
Food, entertaining and community have always held a significant place in this family, and while Kee says the cooking gene skipped a generation with her (she’s magic on the clean-up though), Grace has definitely inherited it. She’s even got an oyster dealer. Grace is also Jenny’s favourite cook, and bartender, whether visiting Grace in Darling Point or entertaining at Jenny’s Blue Mountains’ home, Grace keeps everyone well fed. Here, they share their best entertaining tips, food memories and how to celebrate Mother’s Day right.
- Q.Who taught you to cook?
Grace: “My dad [the late Australian artist Michael Ramsden] – not to say mum didn’t have some key dishes, but Dad and I would cook Sunday lunches together, a Japanese banquet, or we’d cook an Indian feast. It always came back to Asian food. Mum and Dad both gave me a love of Japanese food, and my fascination really exploded from my first trip to Japan when I was 11 or 12. We’re a family that always loved to travel and eat at exotic places and explore with food. It was absolutely something that was so part of my childhood. I got taken to some of the most amazing restaurants, like Edosei, which was the first great sushi restaurant in Sydney 40 years ago – I was eight.”
Jenny: “The best meal I ever had was when Tom, the sushi chef at Edosei came up to the mountains and cooked from 11am to 11pm. He was the best sushi chef in Australia at that time and it was a 12-hour meal. He brought every kind of fish and had amazing sushi knives. He also brought a rice cooker that we used for years and years after. That thing lasted forever.”
- Q.Signature dish?
Jenny: “I used to do Chicken Everest, the Charmaine Solomon classic.”
Grace: “Yes! That was a key dish of mum’s. I like to do a tuna poke platter, which will have kimchi as well and avocado, served with a smashed Chinese garlic cucumber salad. Anything with fresh flavours that really lets the ingredients sing. If it's the best, you don't mess with it too much. And we source food from the absolute best. The Maroubra Fish Markets are great – I was doing a lot of prawn cocktails this summer – and during lockdown I discovered this great guy, Dan, who has an oyster obsession. He sources them from Wapengo Rocks, which are the only organic oysters in Australia. He would deliver them during lockdown, but now you can find him at the King’s Cross Markets. I don’t think a week goes by when I don’t order three or four dozen from him.”
- Q.What’s your go-to drink?
Jenny: “Whatever Grace puts in front of me.”
Grace: ”Mum likes something fresh and a bit fruity. A Spritz or a Bellini, something not too strong. Meanwhile, I can’t go past a great Champagne, like Billecart-Salmon. Their Brut Rosé is delicious.”
Jenny: “We do always shop at Dan Murphy’s too. The Katoomba store is really big and has a huge selection. I always get a limoncello.”
Grace: “They have a great selection of Japanese vodka and whisky, like the Hakushu Single Malt, and sake too. My dad loved good sake. Akashi-Tai Junmai Daiginjo Genshu is a good one.”
- Q.What’s your current brand of entertaining?
Grace: “Sometimes, like if my oyster dealer calls and says he has something really special, I’ll just see who’s around to come enjoy them.”
Jenny: “That includes me if I’m down! Grace also entertains up here at my home in the Blue Mountains, but honestly, that’s usually only family. About eight people is perfect. I only entertain with family now. I’m either practising Buddhist meditation with my group or Grace is entertaining for me.”
- Q.Have you always been a great host?
Grace: “I got it from Mum and Dad. They used to do these fabulous Sunday lunches that would weave into the early evening, up in the mountains. I remember them so clearly. When they would have dinner parties, I would go to bed earlier than they would eat dinner because they were all having such a great time that food was always on the table way later than it ever was planned to be. So Dad would pack me leftovers and put them in the fridge for me to have when I woke up the next morning. It was quite tactical actually, because it meant they didn’t have to get up to feed me.”
- Q.What makes a great event?
Grace: “Sharing what you have with friends and family. Food is such a love language. I always over-cater. When I go to the mountains and we have a lunch or dinner party, I deliberately make too much so I can pack up the leftovers and know Mum has great food for the week. It’s become a real tradition to feed for the time beyond the meal.”
Jenny: “She’s the best daughter, and she really does show love with food. Beautiful food going down on a table and knowing so much has gone into it is so nourishing for the stomach and the heart. And that’s why I love her to make it. And then a few cocktails on top! She makes great cocktails.”
- Q.Favourite event you’ve hosted?
Jenny: “Christmas has always been a big thing. When my mum was alive, it was so big and it was really her thing, which of course created chaos.”
Grace: “Granny would be creating the Christmas pudding three or four months out and it would be hanging in the laundry. She’d be dousing the Christmas cake in whisky and get you to smell it. She did the turkey, the ham, the roast pork… I mean, she shelled fresh peas for Christmas. Always. Because that’s what you do at Christmas. We’d have the whole family and it was always sweltering summers. It was a very typical Australian Christmas, but with a Chinese-Italian flair.”
Jenny: “My mum always made the custard by hand, despite the heat. And because my father was the produce agent we got the best mangoes and the best cherries. My contribution? I made the best berry salad that would go with all the desserts.”
- Q.Best restaurant you’ve ever been to?
Jenny: “I have such romantic memories about La Colomba in Venice. We were there in 1980, Grace was five, all made up for dinner, and black squid ink pasta was so exotic then. Micheal and I had to do a drawing each. It’s probably so touristy now. My era of restaurants is gone. I think of the old days of Le Cafe and Glenella and Cleopatra – they were my places of being fancy and eating out in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, but they led the way for the food explosion that happened later.”
Grace: “I have finally found my favourite restaurant, and I felt like such an adult when I did. Bar Vincent in Darlinghurst. It’s opposite my office and they opened a few months after we moved in, so it felt quite serendipitous. Andy and Sarah who own it have become dear friends and I feel more at home there than anywhere, including my home. The Vitello Tonnato is to-die-for. I’ve been trying and failing to replicate it. And their pasta is the best I’ve ever had. It’s the ingredients and there’s no pretence, it’s just a beautiful family restaurant. All the love and care without the ponce. They have a great blanc de blanc Champagne and lovely nebbiolos, and I recommend a Negroni or two. You must finish your meal with their delicious blood orange liqueur. Edosei used to be our favourite for Japanese food, but it closed down many years ago so we have a few new favourites now. Chaco Bar and Sushi Mori are up there.”
- Q.What’s your favourite way to spend time together?
Grace: “Often we do yum cha for big family events, with Mum’s brother and sister and their kids. We’d have a big table at [the now closed] Marigold with the lazy Susan in the middle. We are very food focused as a family and yum cha is always a frenzy.”
Jenny: “For Grace and I, and Estella [Grace’s daughter], we like to travel together. Particularly Thailand. We’re planning a trip there now – a womens’ trip to Thailand to eat and get massages. That’s a big tradition for us, massages. And we’ve got a great friend in Chiang Mai who knows all the great restaurants.”
Grace: “Yes, she’s mum’s age, she has two daughters my age and one of them has a daughter Estella’s age, so it’s fun getting all the generations together. We’ve gone quite a few times before. Estella first went when she was just 18 months old.”
Jenny: “Grace and I have done many many trips together. We travel very well with one another. She came with me to London when I was researching for my book and I introduced her to all the memorable people I knew in the ‘60s. That was a fantastic trip. You either sink or swim with those people, but Grace is just a champion swimmer.”
- Q.What’s the best and hardest part of being a mum?
Grace: “Having patience. Knowing when to not bite back. The three of us are all incredibly close, and with that closeness comes moments when things get quite heated, so it’s about knowing how to de-escalate. I’m sure Mum will disagree, but I’m often the peace-keeper between Mum and Estella.”
Jenny: “I feel now with Estella I’ve more stepped into the role my mum had with Grace. And in that, I’ve learnt to just listen. I guess I didn’t do that enough with Grace, but I do now. Age brings wisdom and now I can just be there when they need me.”
Grace: “We jokingly say that Estella is the reincarnation of my grandmother. She certainly has a lot of her traits, but we come from a lineage of incredibly strong women and I think if we can pass on that empowerment, we’re doing the right thing. All I ever wanted was a strong, opinionated daughter, but careful what you wish for because it can come in truckloads. Regardless, it’s what I’m proudest of.”
Jenny: “At this age, I’m just so incredibly proud of Grace. She is Amazing Grace. Just from watching her grow. She told me she’d hit her stride in her 40s, and by bingo did she ever. She’s so capable.”
Lets plan: A mother’s day long lunch
- Q.Who’s in charge?
Jenny: “I’ll be sitting back. This is Mother's Day and this is what mothers do when they're 76 years’ old and they have the most feisty and amazing chef as a daughter who's incredible, loves to make cocktails, loves to drink, and loves to make beautiful food.”
- Q.Drink on arrival?
Grace: “Mum loves a Spritz, so we’re making Yuzu Spritzes using Dal Zotto Col Fondo Prosecco, Choya Yuzu Liqueur and Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral Water. It's super light and refreshing, perfect as a palate cleanser. The premixed Naked Life Yuzu Sake Non-Alcoholic Cocktail is a good non-alc dupe. These are nice to drink with oysters and a bit of edamame.”
- Q.What’s the decor?
Jenny: “We love Dinosaur Designs. We also both have wonderful ceramics by Lino Alvarez from La Paloma Studio in Hill End. Lino’s stuff is in Tetsuya too, but he really is just the most amazing potter.”
- Q.What are you eating?
Grace: “Sushi Mori in Surry Hills is a great little sushi place and sometimes we get takeaway to make Mother’s Day super easy, plus it looks really fabulous. For drinks, we’ll move on to something sparkling and drink it out of my great aunty’s crystal that we’ve kept forever. The Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé is lovely with sushi.”
Jenny: “We should have the Akashi-Tai Junmai Daiginjo Genshu with the sushi too.”
Grace: “Yes, I really like my sake cold, rather than heating it up. Then you drink it like wine. This is a really beautiful, delicate sake. So crisp and fresh.”
- Q.For dessert?
Jenny: “We’ll finish with some dark chocolate and Japanese whisky – the Hakushu Single Malt is our pick, sipped neat. Light in colour, but rich in texture and weight, it is the perfect way to end a meal.”
- Q.After-lunch activity?
Grace: “Mum and I really do love to treat ourselves with massages. We used to love going to the Korean Bath House in the Cross. If we are in the mountains we love to go to the Japanese Bath House near Lithgow or the new Blue Mountains Sauna that opened last year in Leura.”
- Q.What does Mother's Day mean to each of you?
Jenny: “Mother’s Day is all about spending precious time together and remembering the greatest matriarch – my mother, Enid Kee – and paying homage to her.”
Grace: “She was the best and none of us would be here without her. Cheers, Gran!”
