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Opening any restaurant is a huge undertaking, but launching in Somerset House, an 18th-century historic building overlooking the River Thames in London, comes with its own set of challenges. “Basically, you can barely breathe in the building without asking permission,” jokes culinary entrepreneur Amy Poon, who launched Poon’s at Somerset House on November 5. Poon says that restrictions became a problem when the builders discovered dampness in the basement just over a month before the restaurant was originally scheduled to open in September. The issue had to be resolved by meticulously drying the space out and sealing up leaks, which in part led to pushing the opening back two months – to November 5 – a date approved by Poon’s mother Cecilia, who had the restaurant checked over by a feng shui master. It is a new endeavour for Poon, the founder of classic Chinese condiment brand Poon’s London. But, while she may not have experience when it comes to opening a restaurant, she has food and hospitality in her blood. Her father, William “Bill” Poon Wai-lin, is a seventh-generation master chef originally from Hong Kong. He and his wife opened Poon’s Restaurant in 1973 in London’s Chinatown, and three years later moved it to Covent Garden, where, in 1980, it was awarded a Michelin star. The likes of Frank Sinatra, Mick Jagger, Barbra Streisand and Sean Connery dined there. Although Poon had her own career, working in the contemporary arts field, running an events company and opening a champagne bar, and lived in Tokyo, Sydney and Singapore, she eventually settled back in London and dabbled in the family business. Through Poon’s London, she ended up selling sauces and wind-dried sausages, and for seven years held pop-ups in London serving wontons, noodles and youtiao, or fried dough sticks. Opening a restaurant was always part of the plan, she says. However, when her father inspected the empty site at Somerset House, he was surprised to see no kitchen. It is a Grade 1 listed building, so no naked flames are allowed inside – a restriction that snuffed out the opportunity to showcase high-heat stir-frying and wok hei, or the “breath of the wok”, flavour. Instead of a setback, Poon saw this as an opportunity to build a new kitchen using induction stoves and to promote the Cantonese art of steaming. “I’m quite obsessed with steam cooking. I think it’s the absolute antithesis of the trend at the moment: chefs, mostly male, tattoos, beard, muscly, leather apron, half a dead cow on the shoulder,” she says, adding these chefs are keen on making the spiciest dishes possible, that have “high-octane flavour”. “I think steam is so feminine, it’s ephemeral, and it’s clever, and it fills spaces. But by the same token, steam powers engines and ships and trains, so it can be incredibly powerful. If you’ve ever had a steam burn, you know, right?” she says. Poon’s favourite dishes include steamed chicken and steamed pork belly with shrimp paste. She is particularly fond of steamed egg. “Nothing could be more simple. But I would say the more simple something is, the harder it is to get absolutely right. It’s egg and water, but if you don’t do it well, it can be rubbery.” The same could be said of bak chit gai, literally “white cut chicken”, which she is also passionate about. “To poach a chicken well, the whole thing is still succulent and silky, not overcooked, and to get the right texture and spring from your chicken skin, and then, the spring onion and ginger enhance it, not overpower it,” she says. “It’s a very sophisticated dish in its simplicity,” she adds. “It’s a very pure dish, and you can’t hide. If you’ve over-poached your chicken, there’s no amount of ginger that’s going to bring it back to life. It’s the same with steamed fish.” Poon describes Poon’s at Somerset House as “where you come if you don’t have a nice Chinese friend who will cook for you at home”. Thus, the menu features homestyle dishes such as “magic soup”, a long-simmering daily soup; stir-fried seasonal vegetables; claypot rice with lap cheong, or dried sausage; and even tomato with egg. The Poon’s London line of condiments and wind-dried meats will also be used in the restaurant, and in some hybrid dishes like tomato tarts with chilli sauce drizzled on top, or potato salad with Poon’s chilli vinegar dressing and crème fraîche. At home, Poon likes to whip up fuyu, or fermented bean curd, into a dip served with crudités, or make sausage rolls with puff pastry and lap cheong. Versions of both have made it onto the menu. The food will be accompanied by Chinese cocktails, including the “Poon-acolada” (she could not resist the pun), fat-washed chilli oil martinis, milk tea punches and kumquat margaritas. Non-alcoholic drinks include cordials made with seasonal ingredients and an iced tea using osmanthus and goji berries. The wine list is deliberate in its offering of wines by women winemakers and women-owned or family-owned wineries, as Poon’s way of celebrating independent businesses. The restaurant’s mural reflects the whimsy, fun and enjoyment of dining. It is inspired by Poon’s parents’ Covent Garden restaurant, which also had a fresco. “It had a very beautiful mural painted on the back wall, which looked like you were standing on the terrace of an old English country house with an Italian balustrade,” Poon says. “But then in the distance, there was a Chinese landscape, like Chinese mountains. And in the foreground on the balustrade, there were baskets of Chinese fruits and vegetables hanging, and wind-dried sausages and bacon that were painted in a Dutch still life-esque [style].” The new multi-panelled mural depicts the animals in the Chinese zodiac: four rabbits are playing mahjong, a monkey crosses the river on a boat with a lobster at the end of its fishing line, and a rooster clutches a banana in its claw, a reference to Poon herself. “My granny used to call me a banana grandchild, which wasn’t a compliment, you know – yellow on the outside, white on the inside. But I’ve decided to embrace the banana,” she says, adding that it is a reminder not to take herself too seriously. “We’re not a chef-led restaurant, I’m not a trained chef. I’m not looking for a Michelin star. I think the element of fun is really important because, what is dining really, it’s joyful. It’s meant to be a pleasure, not a test.”
