Charissa Lam Local Business Owner

IN CONVERSATION WITH

 

Charissa Lam
Local Business Owner


Words by TIFFANY JADE
Photos By JAKE RODEN


For Charissa Lam,
Chatswood is a place that she has continued to orbit.

As a high school student, she spent a lot of time window shopping and socialising in parks with friends. As she grew into her adult years, Charissa lived in an apartment located at the heart of this vibrant urban metropolis on Sydney’s North Shore. Today, while Charissa has moved to nearby Castle Cove with her young family, her patterns of liveability still largely play out in Chatswood.

“It’s where all the shops are. It’s a mecca for shopping and eating, while being one of the very few places in Sydney that you don’t need a car to get around.”

As an ABC (Australian Born Chinese), Charissa proudly blends the culture of her Hong Kong born parents and husband, with Australia’s quintessential way of life. Which, in Sydney, largely centres around its temperate climate and coastal context.

It’s a mecca for shopping and eating, while being one of the very few places in Sydney that you don’t need a car to get around.

Like the millions of Australians who celebrate a coalescence of family origins, Charissa’s metric for connecting with family, community and friends is food. Once a week she runs a co-op from her garage, sourcing and providing produce for 60 families who come from Chatswood, Castlecrag, Rosedale and more to collect staples that often resurrect enduring cultural identities, leaning into a sense of heritage and nostalgia while beginning to forge communities connected by geography and a shared passion for food.

Chatswood has long been a destination for foodies, cultivating a flourishing gastronomy scene that is as diverse as it is numerous. So it’s no surprise that both culture and community played a large role in Charissa’s establishment of her co-op through Minifarms. As Chatswood continues to evolve into a mini city in its own right, creating and recognising opportunities to temper the urban density through authentic neighbourly connections has become central to its identity.

 

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