How’s life as a superstar chef treating you? I think we’ve seen you on television more than a couple of times.

I do these things to promote our restaurants, and you know at the same time they’re fun and it’s cool to show people what my philosophy is and what I do as a chef. I don’t get noticed too much on the streets, I might get a few stares but I don’t get many people who come around and go “Are you Dan Hong?”.

Well the chef is the new DJ after all …

That’s the funny thing about, you know, what is cool. To be in the know about fashion, about art, and now it’s food. That’s become part of the scene, it’s funny.

Dan’s Famous Cheeseburger — it’s still got a cult following [from when Dan Hong ran the kitchen at Lotus] and remains on the menu at The Fish Shop.

The cheeseburger I’m very proud of. It’s my vision of almost a perfect burger. It all started with how I couldn’t get a good American style burger. Maybe Justin [Hemmes] will open up a burger shop for me one day.

It’s a completely different beast from a typical Aussie burger with beetroot and a fried egg …

I love those. They’re great, that’s Australia’s own style of burger. But even they are hard to find, because all these great milk bars have closed down in Sydney, where are you going to get one of them? You’ve got to go all the way to Paul’s or whatever. Most of the burgers you see in pubs, they try to be all gourmet and shit.

The whole American influence on pub menus in Sydney become a bit of a contentious topic.

It’s come back, the whole Dude Food thing, I never intended to be a part of this … El Loco is a fun place to hang out, it's packed on the weekend. Margaritas, great food.

You went from running casual diner Ms G’s to overseeing the 240 seater colossus that is Mr Wong. Pretty big jump, has it been lots of fun? Are you a lot less hands on?

It’s been high pressure. There are like 40 chefs here. But me and Jowett [Yu], we spent six months planning this out, putting together a whole big recipe booklet, training the guys weeks before. Having a whole week of soft opening helped as well. We made sure we were on the ball right off the bat. I’m still very hands on. I mostly run the pass, but I do like to get on the pans and do a few stir fries here and there, covering sections when chefs go on their break.

Mr. Wong “pays homage to classic Chinese influences in a contemporary style”. Was there a conscientious effort not to brand Mr Wong as a Chinese restaurant?

I didn’t want people to come here expecting traditional authentic fare, although that said we do cook up our take on the classics. A bit lighter, premium produce … when people think of a Cantonese restaurant they tend to think of their local. Greasy and stodgy.

Which we do love.

Yeah I love that shit! That’s our inspiration. But we try and do it a bit different.

Alright Dan, you’ve got visitors from out of town, where do you take them?

Brunch at the Fish Markets, dinner at Porteño. Adriano Zumbo for sweets and Victor Churchill for meats. And a day trip out to Cabramatta.