Meet the Family Behind Melbourne’s Loving Hut
The Khor family celebrating Fiona Khor’s 30th birthday during lockdown. Photo supplied by Emelyne Khor.
Words by Fiona Khor
Melbourne is widely regarded as one of the most vegan-friendly cities in the Southern Hemisphere. The plant-based diet has been embraced by the foodie capital, with many plant-based eateries and vegetarian options available at most places around town. However, this was hardly the case in the early ‘90s, when the word ‘vegan’ was pretty much non-existent.
In 1992, my father transitioned to a vegetarian diet, and shortly after, my mother, siblings and I followed suit. Although it may come as a surprise, there was little push-back from us kids. I was three years old at the time, the youngest of four children. I was a picky eater, and having an egg allergy and dairy intolerance, I grew up mostly vegan without even knowing it. My mum knew how to cater to my palate whilst ensuring variety, and I never worried - or even thought about where I got my protein from.
Our parents were born and raised in Malaysia, with Chinese heritage. Whilst living in London, they met through mutual friends and happened to have both grown up in the city of Ipoh, which is known for its hawker food (street food stalls) and ‘kopi’ (traditional Malaysian black coffee served with milk and sugar). They moved to Melbourne in the mid ‘80s to be closer to home, got married and all of us kids came along shortly after.
Every night mum effortlessly cooked up what seemed to be a feast for our family of six, and we waited for dad to come home from work before eating all together at the dinner table. Her cooking repertoire consisted of many colours and cuisines - and we never ever got takeaway. Often, we would have rice served with two or three stir-fry dishes or curries, as per traditional Malay cuisine. Other days she would make noodles, tofu dishes, or lentil dahl. Some days we would have pasta or soup. And if we were really lucky, it was pizza or burgers and hot chips. We always said she was such an amazing cook that she should have her own restaurant.
I never understood the stereotype of vegetarian food being boring and tasteless. If you look at the vegetarian cuisines of India, Africa, the Mediterranean and in religions like Buddhism (which promotes vegetarianism), there is a wide variety of colours, flavours and textures. Growing up, I naively assumed that everyone’s mother’s cooked as well as mine did. It wasn’t until I went on school camp in grade three that I realised how lucky I was. As the only vegetarian, I was served plain, boiled vegetables or spaghetti on toast. I think it was the first time I’d ever eaten boiled vegetables and realised why a lot of kids hated vegetables! The problem was in the delivery, and not the medium itself.
Going out to eat was reserved for special occasions such as birthdays, Mother’s or Father’s Day, and sometimes Lunar New Year or Christmas. Due to the lack of vegetarian options, we frequented the same few Chinese-vegetarian restaurants, some of which are still in operation today. I distinctly remember one family outing when I was about 12 years old and we needed a last-minute table for 10 for our family and our cousins. Our regular place was booked out so our parents decided to take a chance on a restaurant called Vegetarian Orgasm, located in Fitzroy, which at the time was a much seedier strip than today. It was a dark, loud restaurant with a strong punk vibe. We were stared at, and I remember thinking that everyone must think it’s so strange that this large Asian family with young kids was dining at this alternative place with quite the scandalous name.
Charon and Alan Khor. Photo supplied by Emelyne Khor.
Whenever I told people my whole family was vegetarian, they never asked if my parents were hippies, and instead asked if it was due to religion.
Alan Khor making vegan dumplings at Loving Hut. Photo supplied by Emelyne Khor.
Nowadays, you’ll find plant-based restaurants with all sorts of themes and cuisines. The vegan stereotype is no longer restricted to hippies or people who are thought to have eating disorders - like I was once asked in high school. I was never bullied for being vegetarian, but there were a few people who would ask with a sneer “what are you eating? Lettuce again?” (On the contrary, I’ve never been much of a fan of salad or salad sandwiches, and would have Nutella pretty much every day). Whenever I told people my whole family was vegetarian, they never asked if my parents were hippies, and instead asked if it was due to religion. I always wondered if this was because we’re Asian.
On top of being vegetarian, we had to simultaneously navigate growing up as first-generation Chinese-Australians with Malaysian parents in the eastern suburbs, where there was only a handful of Asian families. My parents aren’t typical Chinese parents - perhaps a result of their Malaysian upbringing - although they are still quite traditional in some aspects. My father especially has always been quite ‘new age’ and interested in all religions, and would always force us to have whatever his latest health obsession was at the time. Some of them seemed quite strange, but these days are commonly known superfoods such as goji berries, amaranth, ginseng, noni juice, and flaxseed oil to name a few. My parents have been dedicated practitioners of meditation and the plant-based diet for almost 30 years. About 12 years ago they went vegan, and soon an opportunity to create a vegan restaurant with a few of their friends came about.
Everything fell into place pretty quickly and they secured a spot on Victoria Street in Richmond. In 2010, there was only a handful of vegetarian restaurants, and the community was strong but much smaller and seemingly less culturally diverse. Our restaurant, Loving Hut, is part of a franchise of vegan restaurants all over the world, and is affiliated with the meditation group my parents are a part of. Each restaurant is free to create their own menu as long it is 100% vegan and alcohol-free. As my mother is such a fantastic cook, the original menu consisted of many Malaysian dishes that we grew up eating such as curry laksa, vegetable curry, rendang, assam curry and char kway teow. These are now crowd favourites, and the menu has expanded to include other Asian cuisines and inventive fusion dishes.
Our restaurant meets at the intersections of animal liberation, environmentalism and the celebration of Asian culture. Some names of traditional dishes may be hard to pronounce for some or may seem a bit odd due to the fact that we don't use any ‘meat’ words on the menu. For example, the ‘Crispy Delight’ is a plant-based battered ‘fish’ – it’s taro and enoki mushrooms wrapped in seaweed and bean curd skin before being battered and fried – and is delightfully crispy. One of our fusion dishes the ‘Jewels of the Sea’ is a re-imagined Prawn Cocktail - vegan prawns (made of konnyaku jelly) wrapped in Greek kataifi pastry, which is then fried and drizzled with house-made ‘veganaise’, topped with currants and pine nuts and served in a lettuce cup. Cooks and chefs, past and present have left their mark by adding their native dishes to our menu. We’ve had Thai, Taiwanese, Chinese and Vietnamese staff that have created plant-based versions of their country’s favourite meals for all to enjoy, which is what my parents had always envisioned.
The majority of the people that have worked in our kitchen haven’t undertaken formal culinary education, and have immigrated to Australia in search of a better life - my parents included. We have previously partnered with ACSO (Australian Community Support Organisation) to create job opportunities for people with barriers to employment. Hiring practices have never been based on experience, but whether an affinity for sharing the same values exists.
The majority of the people that have worked in our kitchen haven’t undertaken formal culinary education, and have immigrated to Australia in search of a better life - my parents included.
The business’ goals aren’t financially motivated, but rather a passion project with the vision of communicating the benefits of a plant-based diet via irresistibly tasty and affordable food. As one of the first pure vegan establishments in Melbourne, it survived on the merit of volunteers. For years, my parents and their friends ran the restaurant by volunteering their time whilst keeping their usual professions. It took us years to persuade dad to close for just one day a week, with him protesting that the restaurant must stay open every day to provide the people with vegan food.
Now in his 70’s, he maintains the same unwavering enthusiasm for spreading the vegan message, and regulars often come in for a chat (during pre-COVID times) with ‘uncle’ as he is affectionately known. My parents continue to be the most selfless, dedicated and hard-working people I’ve ever met. Mum is in her mid-60’s and is still working six days a week churning out the goods (and blessing us with baked treats on her day off!) Over the years, we’ve witnessed friends and relatives of herbivores coming in grumbling about having to eat at a vegan place, and leaving with their stomachs full, opinions altered and sending compliments to the kitchen. Many claim they would definitely go vegan if they could eat at Loving Hut every day. The operation has grown slowly over the past decade with bumps along the way. About two years ago, an opportunity arose for a second restaurant located next to Queen Victoria Market, where White Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant operated. Dad insisted on carrying on their plant-based legacy and that was that.
Loving Hut is located at 185 Victoria Street, West Melbourne and is currently offering free meals to those who have been adversely affected by the global pandemic. To celebrate Meat Free Week (September 21 - 27), I encourage you all to try plant-based dishes of different cuisines and learn about their provenance. There most certainly is more to vegan food than just salad and tofu.