Now then, who doesn’t love a good brunch? A hybrid between breakfast and lunch, the brunch craze started gaining popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s as café culture expanded in the UK, causing a cultural phenomenon that was later fuelled by the rise of social media. In Nottingham, one spot stands out for its imaginative and deliciously presented brunch offerings. Meet Lilac Eatery, who has a full-time residency at The Specialty on Friar Lane.
Owned by siblings Gemma, Jamie and Dom Praditngam, Lilac was born from a love for food and cooking - a trait passed down to them by their dad who owns the legendary The Thai Kitchen takeaway in Long Eaton. You may recognise the names and faces of this talented bunch from their street food market days in Nottingham with their own Thai food business, Prad Thai.
While Prad Thai has since found a new home in London, Lilac has firmly established itself in Nottingham as a leader in brunch, serving their dishes across venues around the county.
We’re talking thick and fluffy slices of decadent Hong Kong-style French Toast drizzled with unique toppings like crème brûlée, their famous Turkish Eggs with chunky slices of Tough Mary’s sourdough, or a fried chicken milk bun dipped in a hot honey glaze. Outstanding.
There’s never been a prettier brunch to snap and it’s accompanied by a banging cup of brew at The Specialty, who are, no surprises here, known for their specialty coffee. Lilac is also known to pop up at The Garage Chilwell for their Sunday Market, where they take their creations and serve them street food-style to hungry market-browsers.
Move aside ‘Spoons fry-up; we have a new contender in town, and they take brunch very seriously. With plans for a brand-new location in London later this month, Lilac Eatery is making waves in the brunch scene. We caught up with Gemma, the creative force behind this innovative venture, to learn more about what makes their brunch so special.
Not quite lunch dishes. Not simply a poached-eggs-on-toast breakfast. There was an inventiveness on the table that really intrigued us. Then things started to get fun
So, brunch. Can you tell us a little bit about why you chose this concept for Lilac Eatery?
In early 2022 our friend Alex asked us if we wanted to take a kitchen residency at his cafe in Kimberley. That’s how it all started for us. Brunch was really the only thing that made sense there and there really weren’t enough places in Nottingham doing it at the time. Generally, it’s an underestimated market and also not very competitive in the UK. I think that’s going to change. The industry really doesn’t give brunch the respect it deserves. We thought, “People love brunch. Let’s give it some attention!” Up until then we had just been focused on our street food business, Prad Thai. I remember me, Dom and Jamie sitting in Dom’s room late one night and after about three hours it was Dom that came up with the name Lilac after the Jeff Buckley song.
How did you get into cooking and running Lilac, what’s your origin story?
Cooking at home has always been a huge part of my life. Me and my brothers grew up above my dad’s restaurant. My mum, who was a teacher, supported him with it day to day. We simply couldn’t escape the logistics. When we got older we would go down to the kitchen and help out. There was that side of cooking. And upstairs at home, cooking was also a big deal.
Preparing a meal could be a day-long task. I respect my dad for dedicating so much of his time cooking for us. I think it instilled a lot of good things. I love cooking for people. It’s what makes me happiest, I think. So I think that’s where that came from. In 2023 we got a chance to launch our first business Prad Thai at Pop Brixton in London so we made the hard decision to move things down there. Both Jamie and Dom moved with it to support things. I stayed up in Nottingham to look after Lilac. I suppose that gave the business some space to grow. Up until then we were very much treating it as a sideline project.
Your Hong Kong style French toast caused waves (rightfully so) in Nottingham when you first launched it. I don’t think I’ve seen anywhere else in Nottingham with this on their brunch menu. Can you tell us a little bit more about this dish?
We love bringing something to the table that our customers might not expect. There’s a Thai breakfast that we used to have as a treat as children which was essentially toast slathered in melted butter and dipped in caster sugar. Clearly, we couldn’t serve sugar toast to people over here but there was huge nostalgia connected to it for me and Hong Kong French Toast was doing the rounds at the cafes in Soho. It was similar enough! I think it’s a dish that sprang from the colonial presence in Hong Kong. It’s not French Toast in the traditional sense because it’s deep fried and there’s more emphasis on egg in the batter. There was also a trend appearing for it online so I knew it was the time to strike. You can find it at our stall at The Garage for their Sunday Market.
Where do you draw inspiration for your brunch menu? Are there specific cuisines, cultures, or experiences that influence you?
It started off by being charmed by how the brunch scene looked in Australia, places like Sydney and Perth. Brunch is a culture over there. Brunch cafes will be as ubiquitous as coffee shops over here. It’s cool. We always loved the idea of food as a social activity. There’s nothing nicer than enjoying a slow breakfast on the weekend with friends and family. And the food these cafes were serving was also really interesting. Not quite lunch dishes. Not simply a poached-eggs-on-toast breakfast. There was an inventiveness on the table that really intrigued us. Then things started to get fun. We are half Thai so we started looking to our own heritage to see what dishes could be developed over here. ‘Hey, what do Thai people eat for breakfast - why can’t we serve that?’ That sort of thing. We’re finding our voice in that space.
What would you say is the most popular brunch dish on your menu?
After my previous answer, it’s quite funny to admit that our potato hash is hands down still the favourite dish for customers on our menus wherever we go. It’s probably the one thing on any of our menus that will stay. We make our hashes in house. It did take us a while to find the perfect potato for the job. It comes with streaky bacon, poached eggs and chives. The latest version of the dish is topped with cheese sauce and shaved cheese which we do at Specialty and The Garage. I don’t know why but it just works.
I agree, it really does just work. So, if you could only serve one dish for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
One dish for the rest of my life? Noodles. Which is technically a Thai breakfast food and probably my favourite food ever. That’s what I’m working on right now. I’m really hoping we put it on a menu soon.
What’s next for Lilac? Any upcoming projects or dishes you’re excited about?
It’s an exciting time for us. We have a few residencies going so well in Nottingham now, both branded and unbranded, and on top of that we have just got an opportunity to open our own spot in London in Kentish Town. We’re launching this month. My two brothers and I have run this business since early 2022. Last year we were joined by James (ex-The Berliner in Beeston) and things have now really picked up momentum. This will be our first place with Lilac on the front.
It’s a huge moment for us and also for all of our team. Me and James will continue to grow things in Nottingham while Jamie and Dom look after the project down there. We approach every venture as a learning opportunity. We’ve worked hard to make the kitchen residency model work for us in Nottingham and there’s no sign of that slowing down for us now. We’re still looking for more residencies. But it is a dream come true for us to open our own cafe. Let’s see how we go.
Find them at The Specialty 50 Friar Ln, Nottingham NG1 6DQ or at The Garage Chilwell 63 High Rd, Chilwell, Beeston, Nottingham NG9 4AJ.
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