After arriving in Australia from Nepal in 2008, RaJu Acharya forged a new life and career for himself. Starting out working in kitchens, Raju has since become the head chef of the Happy Soul Bistro which boasts two venues, in Beverly Park Golf Club and Paddington.
“When I started working in a kitchen as a helper, that’s what drew my attraction towards the food. When I was prepping something, when I was cooking something, it always made me want to know more about it: why are they doing this? Why is this food doing that? Why are they mixing this food with that ingredient? Then I worked on various different cuisines and found it even more interesting. I’d go from Greek to Italian and think ‘okay, this is something different’.”
“There was a bit of cultural shock, I would say; it took me some time to get used to it, get into it. The good part about Australia when I came was its diversity — it has everything! And the same goes for its cuisine. It has everything from all parts of the world. And I think that’s what planted the seed in me to become a chef,” RaJu explains.
“There’s a lot of difference between Nepal and how they cook food here in Australia. For example, meat is often over cooked in our country; that’s how people like to eat it there. But here, when people have a steak they like it medium or rare; that’s something new for us.” RaJu also found Australia’s cafe breakfast a bit of a shock. “That was new to me as well, because back home what we call breakfast was either bread or toast with butter or a chapati [roti]. We had avocado but there was no trend; people didn’t really know how to use it.”
“Each of our Happy Soul Bistro venues are similar in menu which incorporates a few of the classic dishes that have been around for the past 5,10, 15 years. I try to keep a mixture of both [old and new] so it caters to all the generations, older to younger. For example, I do more pies and casseroles at the Paddington venue because I have an older clientele there. Our schnitzels are very popular; we get great feedback on those. And we prepare it in-house. We do most of the food in-house,” Raju explains. “I try to change the menu every season; definitely twice a year. But a roast we do every Sunday, whether it’s summer or winter. Pork and lamb are both popular, and the people love crackling. We do it very nice and crunchy.”
“I have a good team, in the kitchen and front of house. My philosophy is: it doesn’t matter how well they work with you, it matters how well they work without you.”
The Happy Soul Bistro is open Mon-Sun from midday, and closes 8.30-9pm.
