T
heAustralian
hospitalityscenehad
a sliding-doorsmoment
intheearly2000s,
whenJasonLuiwas
at university.Studyingmarketing
andfinance,thesonofFlower
DrumownerandexecutivechefAnthonyLui
hadnointentionofeverjoiningtherestaurant- buthisdadhadotherideas.
“Hesaidtome,whileyou’rekickingaroundkilling
time,youcancomeinanddoa shift,”saysJason.“One
a weekturnedintotwo,twoturnedintothree,three
turnedintofull-time.AndhereI am.”
“August”is a wordoftenappliedtoMelbourne’sFlower
Drum,whichwasstartedin 1975 byGilbertLauandsold
toAnthonyandhispartnersin2002.“Venerable”also
popsupregularly.“Institution”is a given.
ButFlowerDrumhadbecomestuckinitsways,and
Jason,42,canbecreditedwithbringingit intothe21st
century.Theaccidentaloperationsmanagerstarteda website
andsparkedupitssocialmedia.Heun-stuffedtheservice
andencourageda freshlookat a menuthatwasfeeling
overlylongandtired.Anthonyrespondedwithinnovations
suchasbarramundinoodleswithChineseporksausage
andtangerinezest,mudcrabbakedwithturmeric-spiked
custardandwok-friedpearlmeat.It helpedpropelFlower
Drumbackintothecriticalconsciousness,whereit has
beencementedeversince.
Anthony,now73,is stillverymuchinchargeofa kitchen
that makes the refinement of Cantonese cooking look like
a cinch.NurturingFlowerDrum
andraisinghistwoboys– Victor
is fouryearsyoungerthanJason–
asa singlefatherhasbeenhislife.
“MybrotherandI hadto
learntodothingsforourselves,
likestudyingandcleaning,”says
Jasonofhisprimaryyearsfollowingthedeathofhismother,
“butDadwouldcookourlunchanddinnerforuswhenhegot
homelatefromwork.Hewasneveroverlystrictbecausehe
hadtotrustus,buthetriedtodoasmuchforusashecould.”
AnthonyneverintendedJasontobecomea full-timemember
ofFlowerDrum.“EventuallyI cameroundtoit,”saysAnthony.
“I thought,if Jasonhadfoundhispassionit mightbea good
careerpath,andit’salsogoodtoworkwithfamily.”
Bringinga sonintoyourterritoryisn’talwaysthesmoothest
process.“Ofcoursetherearedisagreements,”saysAnthony.
“Asa bosstoanemployee,it’sa hierarchicalthingandasa
fatherwitha son,workingwithhimis thesamething.”
They’reshouters,notsulkers,butdisagreements
generallygetshelveduntilafterservice,whentheycanbe
discussedwithoutthefireworks.“Thesedays,we’regetting
betterat it,”saysJason.“Ratherthanseeingwho’sgoingto
backdown,it’saboutfindingoutwherewecancompromise.”
Cantoneseremainsthelinguafrancabetweenthetwo,
LuiJr translatingforhisdad.It’sdifficulttotellwho’shaving
thejokewhenAnthonyrespondstoa questionabouthow
proudheis ofhisson.“Yeah,hesaysmygradesarealright,”
saysJason.Judgingbytheirgrins,it’sprobablyboth.
FlowerDrum, 17 Market Ln, Melbourne, Vic, (03) 9662 3655,
flowerdrum.melbourne●Aboveandright:Jason
(fromleft)andAnthony
Lui at Flower Drum.Anthony&JasonLui
FLOWER DRUM, VIC
by Larissa Dubecki
GOURMET TRAVELLER 69