Goodbye Morks…until we say hello Mínima!
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The news last week that Morks is closing its doors after a 15-year run of award-winning, boundary-pushing Thai food and good times at the Kingston Foreshore made us all sad.
But we shall all be smiling again come July, when Mínima opens its doors in a tiny and intimate space at Yarralumla shops where it will be basically like stepping into the living room of the Ratanakosol family.
While brothers Mork and Benn are very much the public faces of the award-winning restaurant, the family has a long association with Canberra with mum, Sunida, and dad, Adul, running Sukothai at Yarralumla between 1990-2008 before opening the original Morks at Florey in 2008. By 2013, Mork and Benn had convinced their parents to give them the keys and the boys took the restaurant to Kingston where they have made a name for themselves—and for their delicious and “rebellious” food.
Benn and Mork Ratanakosol
Now in a full-circle food and family story, Mork and Benn are returning to the home of Sukothai, the suburb they grew up in, Yarraumla. Only this time, they are determined to push themselves creatively in new directions.
At first the brothers were going to keep Morks in Kingston as well, but with Mork about to become a dad himself, they decided to “close on a high” and focus on this tiny jewel.
The small space (formerly housing Skin Society) seats just 22, and the design will place a long open kitchen in the centre of the room.
Work is about to begin to transform the former skin salon into Benn and Mork’s new dining room.
Mínima means “small” in Portuguese, and Benn says it’s a fitting moniker given the Portuguese also brought chilli to Asia.
With the initial design brief including lots of warm wood tones, dark olive greens and a pop of mustard, the vibe is warm, and sure to have the same flair as Morks. It looks pretty stark now, but work will shortly commence to convert the white walls and tiled floors to something far more luxe and intimate.
“It will be like having a meal in someone’s house with fluid lines of staff cooking and serving the food,” says Benn.
“It is going to be quite different to Morks in that we have done what we set out to achieve there and we want to shake things up in the kitchen and set ourselves new challenges.”
That challenge centres around the move from modern Thai to a food with “a strong Asian backbone which sees us lean very much into China, where our grandfather is from.
“Thai cuisine will always be part of our identity, but we are exploring ways to pay homage to the Chinese part of our heritage.”
There will be a shift away from Thai food and a move to explore the family’s Chinese heritage. Image by Pew Pew Studio.
It will be a change for lovers of Morks’ favourite dishes such as Angel Prawns (prawns in a red curry with coconut and lime leaf custard) or their revered Duck Larb.
Instead, they can look forward to dishes such as XO squid with potato rösti, mapo tofu but with baked Camembert, hearty lamb neck sausage with aromatic karé (Japanese curry), and random parts of a suckling pig with crispy crackling and sweet and sour sauce.
Meanwhile, the boys also want a slice of the lunchtime crowd and will be offering well-priced takeaway options which play with Asian flavours such as shredded Peking lamb shoulder complete with pancakes, cucumber, and shallot, Warung style sambal chicken with coconut rice, and a “lobster dumpling” sando.
We bet you’ve never had a lobster dumpling sandwich before. It just goes to prove that Mork and Ben have always been, and will continue to remain, rebellious.
We will bring you all the news as Mínima gets ready to launch in July.
