Chae is a fine dining restaurant located in a one-bedroom apartment in Brunswick, but snaring a seat at the establishment has become harder as the waitlist continues to blow out.
As of May, it is fully booked and there are more than 6000 people on the waitlist to snap up a cancelled spot.
Only six people can taste chef Jung Eun Chae’s slow-cooked food during each sitting. She tells SBS Korean her dishes are inspired by nature and tradition.
“I cook natural Korean foods that focus on fermentation and health. I offer a five to six-course degustation menu, and I design it with fresh seasonal ingredients that I get from the market on the day or the day before according to the dietary request of the guest,” she says.
“One of the most distinctive features of our dining is I keep a record of the menu I served to each customer, so I try to provide a different experience by designing a new menu when the same guest returns.”
The Korean-born chef opened Chae in 2019 after more than 15 years of working in the kitchens of some of the city's most exclusive fine dining restaurants, including Cutler and Co, and Lume.
Inside Chae, located in the inner-city suburb of Brunswick. Source: Dining Chae
“About two years ago, I had a car accident on the way to work. I had quite a serious ankle injury, and I could not work at a restaurant anymore.
“Then, I started to think about the concept of open-dining in my place.”
The idea to open a restaurant in her own apartment was inspired by a documentary she watched in 2006 when she started her culinary career.
“The documentary following a lady operating a small restaurant that only has a single table in Hong Kong gave me a deep impression. She only served customers for one table a day with vegetables she grew. She also had chickens that she looked after. I have always kept that story in my mind while I was building up my cooking career in different restaurants.”
In her dishes, the chef leans hard on the freshness and authenticity of the ingredients.
Dining Chae Source: Dining Chae
Instead of growing vegetables and raising chickens, Ms Chae ferments traditional Korean condiments including kimchi, homemade soy sauce ganjang, a soybean paste called doenjang and gochujang chilli pastes.
The traditional method of fermentation isn’t often used by the younger generation in Korea due to the complexities associated and the time it takes, and chefs in Korea often use supermarket products.
Dining Chae's ower chef Jung Eun Chae Source: Dining Chae
“My mother is actually farming in Korea. She sends me red pepper powder that she made out of her chillies on the farm and salts, of which bitter water removed for four years, or wild vegetables and herbs collected and dried by my mother.
“I helped my mother a lot especially when she cooked when I was young, and I naturally learnt how to cook fermented foods. That’s why it wasn’t so difficult for me to start this dining.”
Like many restaurants in Melbourne’s culinary scene, Chae experienced difficulties during the pandemic.
“We opened the dining in November 2019, and the pandemic started in Melbourne in March 2020. In fact, we had not run the business for over one year at that time, so we were not eligible for government subsidies,” she says.
For eight months in 2020, the restaurant could only offer take-out meals, but it was not what Ms Chae wanted to do.
Dining Chae Source: Dining Chae
“I did not want our customer's first impression of Chae to be a take-out food. I believed my food should be properly introduced in my dining before they try the take-out food otherwise, they cannot fully understand the food and concept. It was a tough decision, but necessary,” Ms Chae says.
Her husband was initially against the idea of opening the business at home, but now he is a significant part of its operation.
“When I first told my husband about my idea, he did not seem to like it very much. However, I appealed several times, and after that, my husband had to agree," she says.
"In the early days, I only opened the restaurants when my husband went to work, but now he helps me a lot, and we even open the kitchen on the weekends."
Ms Chae says she's fielded many questions about the restaurant's set-up.
“As our dining began to attract attention, many people were curious about it. They said 'if you meet the qualifications requested by the Melbourne City Council, you can open a food business in your residence'.
"We also applied for a permit and had a consultation with a health inspector after that we were able to open the business."
The intimate design of the restaurant means that Ms Chae has bypassed expenses that most other establishments can not.
“Due to the unique features of my business, we do not need any costs for rental fees and wages for employees which is usually the biggest cost for a business. I cannot add these costs to the food because it is not fair.
“I am thinking about increasing the cost every year but only based on the inflation rate. Currently, as I am studying traditional Chinese medicine at university, I cannot open the restaurant more often. I also need to do the fermentation, so I already run the restaurant to my maximum capacity.”
It goes without saying that booking a seat is not easy. The booking releases on the first day of every second month, and the next opportunity for patrons is on June 1 and often fills up in minutes.
However, Ms Chae says her goal is to run the restaurant for decades to come, so she assures that customers will get the opportunity to savour the dishes.
“My ultimate dream is running this dining until the age of 80. I tend to value quality more than the size of the restaurant. I am very grateful for this attention and interests that I am having now all of a sudden.
"However, I think this recent attention and interest is just a pleasant memory that I experienced during the long journey that I am going to. Therefore, I do not get excited too much and just do my best."
