FOOD

Executive chef Martin Boetz creates scrumptious food that is a delicate blend of Thai and Southern Chinese influences.

Eating at Longrain is a journey into Asian-style dining. The large dining tables are communal so that dining is traditional banquet style. Designed to be shared, and eaten with steamed jasmine rice, the generously sized main meals work to combine the contrasting flavours of hot, sour, salty and sweet. Boetz’s resulting menu is a luscious balance of textures, flavours and aromas.

Side dishes accompany many of Longrain’s dishes. This is another essential ingredient of the Asian table - enabling individual tastes to be catered for. Longrain’s signature Eggnet, for example, is served with a side dish of Nahm Pla Prik (a mixture of chilli, fish sauce, finely sliced eschalots and lime juice).

Your Longrain waiter will be able to advise you on the best combination of dishes (hot, sour, salty and sweet) in order to get the best balance of flavours during your meal. The strong flavours of chilli and spicy pastes can wreak havoc with some wines but over the years Longrain’s sommelier Sam Christie has carefully constructed a wine list to complement Martin’s food, so don’t be afraid to also ask your Longrain waiter to suggest the best wine match for your specific order.

Martin Boetz  |  Executive Chef

“My love affair with Thai food began at Darley Street Thai in Sydney’s Kings Cross, I was totally blown away by the restaurant and the range
of amazing flavours in the food.”

German boy, Asian food... it’s not an association that springs readily to mind yet it’s a testament to Australia’s diversity. Born in Germany, Longrain chef Martin Boetz’s passion for cooking began at an early age in Queensland with an apprenticeship at Lennons’ Brisbane Hotel. He completed his training at Faces, a restaurant then owned by Vincent Rae
- now of Byron Bay’s Rae’s on Wategos fame.Moving to Sydney in 1990, Martin furthered his career at several well known Sydney restaurants.
He worked with David Novak-Piper at Zigolini’s in Double Bay and it was here Martin first met Sam Christie, who would later become his Longrain business partner. This was followed by a brief stint at The Russell Hotel before moving on to work with his mentor, David Thompson, at Darley Street Thai. (Thompson now owns London’s Michelin starred
restaurant, Nahm.)

It was during this period that Martin first developed a passion and palate for Asian food cooked with the freshest, local produce and ingredients. Martin later went on to run Sailors Thai - another of Thompson’s celebrated Thai restaurant ventures. It was here that he garnered his reputation as one of Australia’s leading talents of contemporary Thai-style Asian cooking. In 2003, Boetz was honoured when David Thompson visited from London to officially launch Martin’s first cookbook: Longrain Modern Thai Food.

Martin has also developed a range of Longrain Produce - there are four delicious Asian sauces to help the home cook create a taste of Longrain for themselves. (Available from Longrain Sydney). In 1999, Martin joined forces with Sam Christie to launch Longrain Restaurant & Bar in Sydney’s Surry Hills and together they opened Longrain Melbourne in 2005 to more rave reviews.