Hospitality Magazine November - December 2014

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No.710 November/December 2014

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foodservice

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INTRODUCING

OUR NEW, FASTER RANGE...

WE TAKE THE TIME, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO hospitalitymagazine.com.au

hospitality | November/December 2014

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No.710 November/December 2014

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foodservice

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accommodation

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beverage

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management

PLUS:

10 minute training sessions for your staff

Hunter gatherer

Brae reaps the benefits b of a stellar awards season

Good fry, bad fry

8 expectations

Cooking with oil is all about technique

Trends we can expect on menus in 2015

What lies beneath?

Lose the cloth and let the table speak for itself

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20 editor’s note

A

Editor: Danielle Bowling danielle.bowling@ cirrusmedia.com.au

PUBLISHER Martin Sinclair martin.sinclair@cirrusmedia.com.au MANAGING EDITOR Danielle Bowling Ph: (02) 8484 0667 danielle.bowling@cirrusmedia.com.au JOURNALISTS Brea Carter Ph: (02) 8484 0661 brea.carter@cirrusmedia.com.au Aoife Boothroyd Ph: (02) 8484 0907 aoife.boothroyd@cirrusmedia.com.au Jasmine O’Donoghue Ph: (02) 8484 0854 jasmine.odonoghue@cirrusmedia.com.au

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

No.710 November/December 2014

Print Post Approved PP100007268

s this final issue for 2014 goes to print, details of the Restaurant Australia program are emerging.

Eighty of the most respected food and wine journos, bloggers and social media influencers will soon be in the country, sampling our gastronomic delights. Meals will be enjoyed at The Bentley, Pinbone, Kitchen

by Mike, Muse and Darley’s, amongst others. They’ll also be cooked for by Peter Gilmore, Neil Perry and James Viles.

But MD of Tourism Australia, John O’Sullivan has insisted “everyday Australian businesses” will be in the spotlight too.

“This isn’t just about five star high end dining … This is about cellar door experiences, sitting on Manly beach eating fish and chips, it’s about food and wine tours, cafes and so on,” he said.

This got me thinking about what else the best of the world’s food media should enjoy while Down Under. They’ve got to try a pie with mushy peas and mash from Harry’s Café de Wheels, right? And what about a stroll through Salamancer markets? They should pull up a keg at Brothl in Melbourne, slurp down some soup and hear all about how Joost Bakker is taking sustainability to a new level. What about rice paper rolls at misschu or some Messina gelato (will they skip the queue??).

There are so many incredible food experiences to be enjoyed; too many to count, almost. Let’s hope they all get some time in the sun.

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

foodservice

■

accommodation

■

beverage

■

management

PLUS:

10 minute training sessions for your staff

Hunter gatherer

Brae reaps the benefits b of a stellar awards season

Good fry, bad fry

8 expectations

Cooking with oil is all about technique

Trends we can expect on menus in 2015

What lies beneath?

Lose the cloth and let the table speak for itself

cover

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Brae’s Dan Hunter with his sous chef Damien Neylon.

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Image credit: Colin Page

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contents FEATURES

12 Eight expectations

REGULARS

6

Trends you can expect for 2015.

16 Hunter & gatherer

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10 Wine Part II of our myth busting feature.

28 Industry observer

Lose the cloth and let tables speak for themselves.

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Justine Dunn Ph: (02) 8484 0757 designer2@cirrusmedia.com.au ADVERTISING NATIONAL Rhonnie Merry Ph: (02) 8484 0642 Fax: (02) 8484 0915 rhonnie.merry@cirrusmedia.com.au PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Mary Copland Ph: (02) 8484 0737 mary.copland@cirrusmedia.com.au

New openings Some recent arrivals on the hospitality block.

Cooking with oil is all about the technique.

23 What lies beneath?

29 Rant

The latest industry news.

Dan Hunter’s Brae is benefiting from a stellar awards season.

20 Good fry, bad fry

News

With opposing restaurant guides; what’s a diner to do?

30 Ken Burgin 10 minute training sessions that can empower your staff.

31 Workplace A guide to unfair dismissal.

32 Shelf space

Managing staff during the festive season can be a struggle.

Some of the latest new products to hit the market.

SUBSCRIPTIONS Ph: 1300 360 126 ONE YEAR: $132.00 incl GST TWO YEARS: $220.00 incl GST

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hospitality | November/December 2014

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newsonline

Hospitality industry rated best for customer service The hospitality industry has been named Australia’s best industry for customer service.

TrueLocal surveyed 1,000 Australians on their sentiments and behaviours in relation to customer service in 10 industries.

Of the respondents, more than one in four Australians (27 percent) rated restaurants as offering the best level of customer service, highlighting the hospitality industry’s efforts to engage customers and satisfy more than just their appetite.

Medical centres came in second, followed by automotive services.

Only eight percent of respondents chose professional services such as accountants, brokers and lawyers.

TrueLocal spokesperson, Bradley Taylor said, “It appears that Australians are associating good customer service with the services that make us feel good. Tax returns and getting finances and legalities in order are life admin tasks that don’t generally feature on the top of a consumers’ ‘fun’ list.

“Dining out, on the other hand, tends to be a pleasant experience shared with friends and family. Similarly, having our wellbeing supported by a good doctor can make us feel cared for.”

The survey also asked respondents about poor

customer service. When asked what it would take to drive them to share a bad experience with friends or online, 72 percent of respondents selected rudeness, 57 percent chose being ignored, and 62 percent indicated hidden costs or additional charges.

When respondents were asked what businesses had most commonly done to remedy poor service, 42 percent said that no action was taken while 10 percent reiterated their terms or conditions or personally blamed the customer for things going wrong. Nineteen percent of businesses offered respondents a refund or discount on future services, and 12 percent offered gift vouchers.

Taylor said the best customer service comes from businesses that are willing to go above and beyond their transactional contact.

“Businesses most popular for good service are likely to be active in the spaces where their customers are, encouraging honest feedback, and — perhaps most importantly — noticing and taking action when a customer is unsatisfied,” Taylor said.

“These are the key elements of building a great reputation. In this regard, it’s no surprise that restaurants are the most popular for good service, as this is an industry that has a strong presence on the ground and online.”

Out & about 16 October Pei Modern launch

Industry events the Hospitality team attended this month...

22 October Power of Mushroom lunch

28 October Tasting Success cocktail night

31 October Carlton Draught unpasteurised beer launch

6 November Ravesi’s 25th birthday

7 November FSAA lunch @ Wolfies

For other stories and information please visit our website: www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au 6

hospitality | November/December 2014

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newopenings Ippudo

Japanese ramen brasserie, Ippudo has opened a second Australian venue at Sydney’s new dining and shopping complex, Central at Central Park.

The new venue focuses on authentic ramen, with the highest quality soup, noodles and ingredients served in a casual and relaxed ambience. With its own central kitchen dedicated to soup and noodle production, Ippudo uses fresh local products and fuses them with Japanese elements. Ippudo features two signature dishes – Shiromaru Classic, the original white, pork-based broth ramen, as well as Akamaru Modern, a red broth seasoned with garlic oil and Ippudo’s own miso paste. The tonkotsu (porkbased) broth is created with a 15 hour cooking process, and then blended to achieve a creamy soup with a light aroma. The decor features the typical Ippudo-style communal tables, and showcases the Ippudo wall mural, which is made up of ramen spoons, counter-seating and an open-kitchen.

Owner: Shigemi Kawahara Head chef: Yano Kohei Where: 28 Broadway, Chippendale, Sydney E: info@ippudo.com.au W: www.ippudo.com.au

The Nelson

This new St Kilda bar has a strong rum focus, offering over 35 variations and a selection of unique rum cocktails using its own house infusions. The Nelson also offers a full back bar of traditional and craft spirits, Australian beers (such as Stone and Wood, Colonial Kolsch and Feral Hop Hog IPA) on tap and bottled, and a wine list boasting a strong selection of Australian wines. Designed

by Techne Architects and inspired by its seaside location, the bar has a nautical feel, with recycled pier wood used to create the feature bar and long communal table. The selection of snacks includes beachside tapas such as southern spiced chicken wings and salt and pepper calamari.

Owners: Sasha Noble and Brendan Drinan Head chef: Chris Hall Where: 2/56 Acland Street St Kilda, Melbourne P: 03 9537 3582 E: info@thenelsonstkilda.com.au W: thenelsonstkilda.com.au

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Lennons Restaurant & Bar

Brasserie-inspired and edgy, Lennons Restaurant & Bar has opened up at Brisbane’s NEXT Hotel. Lennons Restaurant & Bar offers food using local produce and it employs multiple cooking styles which focus on a wood-fired oven, a Brazilian BBQ and grill, and Asian woks. At dinner, guests are offered signature dishes including smoked Tasmanian salmon, pickled beetroot, horseradish and sorrel and spiced free range chicken with ligurian olives, beans and tahini yoghurt. The venue offers craft beers and ciders as well as artisan wines, and classic cocktails with a contemporary twist, such as a lillet-basil blanc, a moscato mule and a pomegranate swizzle.

Owner: Silverneedle Hospitality Head chef: Todd Adams Where: Level 2, 72 Queen Street, Brisbane Hours: Daily, 6.30am - 10.30pm P: 07 3222 3232 W: www.lennonsrestaurant.com

Dumpling Republic

Dumpling fans are in for a treat with the opening of Brisbane’s first Dumpling Republic. Located in the Wintergarden, the CBD’s newest addition has been designed to provide customers with high quality, authentic Asian cuisine with a contemporary influence. The Wintergarden fit-out of Dumpling Republic draws on the underground Asian grunge scene emerging in cosmopolitan Hong Kong, aligning modernism and comfort with historical Asian folklore. The menu includes a number of unique offerings such as a selection of ‘mixed dumpling baskets’. There is also an extensive range of noodle dishes and stir-fries on offer.

Owner: Alexandra Korina Head chef: Sim Kim Kwee Where: Shop 3, Level 1, Wintergarden Shopping Centre, Queen Street, Brisbane Hours: Daily from 11am P: 07 3210 1818 W: www.dumplingrepublic.com.au

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beverageswine

TIPPLE TALES: Part II

In part two of a feature aimed at encouraging sommeliers not to fall victim to stereotypes, Christine Salins looks at some more myths surrounding wine.

1. Vintage is better quality than non-vintage (NV) This perception comes about because vintage Champagne is usually more expensive than non-vintage. Unlike vintage Champagne, which comes from a specific harvest and reflects the character of the vintage, non-vintage is a blend of different harvests and is made consistently to a house style.

There are some excellent NV Champagnes that rival vintage Champagne.

2. Champagne doesn’t age well Actually, Champagne ages very well.

It must, however, be carefully cellared in a cool, dark, humid place. Great vintages can be aged for decades, perhaps losing some effervescence but taking on a delicious complexity of flavour. A heady degustation dinner at Tetsuya’s in the late ‘90s paired dishes with Dom Perignon from 1985, 1980, 1973, 1964 and 1959. Even the 1959 was remarkably fresh.

3. Champagne should be drunk out of flutes The jury’s out on this one. In 2012, scientists from the University of Reims wrote that flutes were better than wide shallow coupes because higher levels of carbon dioxide collect at the top of the glass, giving rise to the tingling sensation that Champagne drinkers love. But have you considered using a large, big-bowled glass such as a Burgundy glass? It allows the beautiful aromatics to be savoured, enhancing the drinking pleasure.

4. Red wine causes more headaches than white wine Contrary to popular belief, sulfites do not cause headaches, although they can cause an allergic reaction for some

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unlucky folk. Sulphur dioxide is a common preservative found in many foods, as well as in wine, and is naturally produced by the body. But red wines generally have less added sulfites than white wines. Any headaches are more likely caused by over-indulging and dehydration. Not sure how you’re going to broach this with diners who are convinced that red wine gives them a headache. Let sleeping dogs lie perhaps.

plate – they’ll cover up imperfections if the wine and cheese pairing isn’t quite right.

5. Red wine goes with meat; white with seafood

8. Screw caps are an indication of lower quality

Not necessarily. It’s more important to look at a dish’s intensity of flavours and the sauce used. A tomato-based fish stew, for example, pairs more easily with a Spanish red like Tempranillo than it does with a white.

Big flavours require big wines; more restrained dishes call for more restrained wines. Although a bold red might not match a delicate piece of fish, meatier fish such as swordfish or tuna can work beautifully with a light red like Beaujolais while pan-fried salmon pairs nicely with Pinot Noir.

Pork and veal match equally well with red or white, depending on the dish.

Flavours, aromas and textures matter; colour doesn’t.

6. Cheese and wine is a perfect match Some cheeses, such as creamy camembert, soft brie and other surfaceripened cheeses, coat the tongue and actually disguise the nuances of a good wine. Choose your cheese and wine match carefully. White, fortified and sparkling wines are often better matches for soft cheese than red wine. And just to be on the safe side, pop some dried fruit, nuts, bread or crackers on the cheese plate.

They’re not just there to fill up the

7. Only leftover white wine should be refrigerated Refrigeration helps preserve wine as much for red as it does for white.

Having said that, all wine should be consumed as soon as possible after it is opened.

“It’s a romantic notion so sorry to disillusion you, but bigger wine producers benefit from more resources ... winemaking talent and economies of scale.”

This is certainly no longer the case in Australia.

9. Wine is better with legs The legs, or the streaks that run down the inside of the glass when you twirl it, are not an indicator of quality but rather of alcohol content. Because of the way that alcohol evaporates, wines that are higher in alcohol usually have slower dripping legs.

10. Small wineries make better wines It’s a romantic notion so sorry to disillusion you, but bigger wine producers benefit from more resources (financial and otherwise), winemaking talent and economies of scale. It’s feasible for large companies to make boutique-style wines within the context of a mass-production facility.

(Not that they all do; we’re talking about what they can do.) Yet people love the stories that go with familyrun, boutique and heritage wineries, and diners are generally reluctant to order a wine that they can easily find at the bottle shop next door.

For more wine myths, check out our October issue, or head to www.hospitalitymagazine.com.au

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trends2015

Eight expectations

4

David Lovett, head chef at Sydney’s Uccello restaurant, has his finger on the pulse and is making some predictions about what trends will be influencing menus in 2015.

Q

uinoa, kangaroo and kale chips were some of the on-trend ingredients of 2014. Foraging, burgers and bugs were also high on the hit list this past year.

Local and competitively priced Asian and Italian joints serving up top quality food have also been popping up around the country.

So what does the new year have in store for us?

More of the same perhaps? Will the expansion of these trends and techniques be fine-tuned and continue to grow and flourish?

Here are some of my predictions for 2015.

1. The eating ‘experience’ Dining out is so much more than filling an empty belly for most people these days, especially chefs!

It’s about eating well, being inspired, finding new ingredients, cooking methods and techniques.

With the ever-growing comradery and friendships amongst chefs from restaurant to restaurant, this can only get better. The impact of social media sets a fine example of how it is both crucial and sacred for chefs to evolve and create, but be able to share those thoughts and ideas through something as simple as a photo. Chefs need to spread word of the eating ‘experience’ to the masses.

2. Reading There’s a truck load of crap in our bookstores, let’s be honest – but dig your way through the ‘MasterChefs’, singers-come-actors-come-cooks and paleo-whatevers and you’ll find some true gems

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that are aimed squarely the ability to offer locaat chefs and real cooks. vore something excluMany of the big boys sive – a particular crop are putting pen to paper of vegetable or certain and sharing their secrets breed of cow and then with fellow cooks, and to having it grown or bred to David Lovett read some of them is almost your own specifications, will like doing a stage without leavallow chefs to have that special ing the comfort of your own home, or something that will instantly separate kitchen. Immersing yourself in these books althem from the pack. lows you to not only see the thought process and inspiration behind them, but also the execution of 4. Travelling some of the world’s greatest dishes which, in years This year I’ve seen a few chefs heading overseas, gone by, would have been top secret and kept so not on holidays but on research trips. Boarding a close to the chest that only a select few would have plane and eating your way around a country or a known! I can see this continuing and getting bet- particular region in a couple of days seems to be ter and better in the coming year. In this past year the best way to find that perfect pide or classic we’ve seen Rene Redzepi, Massimo Bottura, Sean carbonara and then head home armed with reciBrock and Christian Puglisi and our own Dan pes, tips and ideas. With new restaurants opening Hong release books that have given us an all access every other day, owners and chefs will be shooting overseas to get the low-down on their chosen theme pass into their kitchens. and cuisine so they can serve up the most authentic 3. Farming and sympathetic rendition possible. And where will It doesn’t quite cut it these days for customers to they be going next? Maybe Turkey, Lebanon, Tunionly know where something is from. We need to sia, Japan or China. know where, how old it is, what it ate, what breed it is, and who the farmer is. With this knowledge 5. Home-made available and with both the consumer and industry Interest in in-house growing, curing, baking, discraving a more personal connection with their pro- tilling, churning, smoking, ageing, drying, ferduce, I think the coming year (and beyond) will see menting and pickling (without trying to sound like chefs and restaurateurs buying a little stake in small a Daft Punk song!) will continue to gain traction farms and growers. Why wouldn’t they?! Having in 2015. Chefs are so well informed and highly

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trends2015

3

6

6 5

7 skilled these days that they are taking things into their own hands. Products which were once specialities or artisan are now being recreated in restaurant kitchens across Australia, and more often than not the end result is better than what suppliers can provide. This will hopefully encourage producers to lift their game and start delivering a more superior product.

6. Fire, wood and charcoal With the rise of Southern American smoking, barbecue and South American kitchens, we’ll be losing the gas powered grills and primitive smoking methods and introducing wood and charcoal fuelled grills and big industrial smokers. Briskets, salmon and ribs are being smoked, whole pigs and lambs are being barbecued or cooked on an asador

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over cherry, maple and apple wood, and that’s just for starters! I think chefs will really take this up a notch in the coming year.

7. Local Finding and using local ingredients may very well push on in 2015. Jock Zonfrillo is really kicking goals in his new digs, Orana in Adelaide. Along with Shannon Bennett and Ben Shewry, chefs are really utilising what’s in their backyards, and menus are littered with indigenous flora and fauna.

8. Sharing A selection of house cured meats followed by a whole leg of lamb, a large bowl of roasted vegetables and perhaps a crunchy salad … then maybe some freshly baked crumble or tart to finish and

a large stack of share plates. Sounds like Sunday lunch at Mum and Dad’s house? I really think most dining rooms are adopting the shared dishes idea now and a few places have been popping up with this as the only option. It’s great; it gives people the chance to taste more than just the standard entree, main and dessert.

A table of four could yield as many as 12 dishes as opposed to three. What’s not to love about that?

Platters of roasted and smoked meats at LP’s Quality Meats and Papi Chulo, steamed baskets of dumplings and piles of peking duck, accompanying pancakes and hoisin sauce as seen at BBQ King or Mr Wong and mountains of slow cooked pork and lamb from the asador, fried brussel sprouts, char grilled sweet breads and lashings of chimichurri as served at Porteno … I hope this is a sign of things to come.

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Hunter

&

gatherer

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coverstory

D

espite only opening in December last year, Dan Hunter’s Brae has already received three hats in The Age Good Food Guide, as well as a swagger of other awards.

Located in Birregurra, Victoria, the fine diner was named Restaurant of the Year in The Age Good Food Guide and the Time Out Melbourne Food Awards; it also received both the New Restaurant of the Year and Regional Restaurant of the Year title at the Australian Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards.

“It was really great to get several awards across several media outlets with a slightly different demographic – it sort of feels as though we are ticking the right boxes for many different people,” he told Hospitality.

Hunter admits that opening a new restaurant on the edge of a small town during the month of December was a little risky; however the awards are evidence that he and his team are on the right track.

“I had this sensation of sort of floating in no man’s land. When you open a restaurant in December and you’re not in a guide anywhere in the world, there’s no comparison; people aren’t sure what to expect.

“Until you’re rated and included in a publication that hangs around for 12 months, which people read and buy and follow, you almost don’t exist,” he adds.

While Brae was well received by industry professionals and food lovers from the get-go, Hunter believes the awards have propelled the restaurant into the mainstream.

“We were a bit of a cult restaurant for the first eight months of this year – it was frequented mainly by the restaurant industry and friends.

“They are always great and often your best customers, and of course you love having them in your restaurant, but they aren’t the majority of people in the world – they don’t pay the bills all the time because they are the minority.”

Proof of Brae’s rising popularity is in the numbers – restaurant bookings have increased dramatically since the awards season.

“We’ve been taking 120 bookings a day. Saturdays are being booked a month in advance and it’s pushing people to the other days, so we are seeing the whole week filling up, which is nice,” he adds.

All photos: Colin Page www.colinpage.com.au

Brae has earned several prestigious awards in its first year, and its success is testament to the talent of chef and owner Dan Hunter, writes Brea Carter.

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

The food philosophy Hunter has made a conscious effort to create dishes that are far removed from his work at the Royal Mail Hotel, where he worked for six-and-ahalf years.

“I wanted this to be a very different sort of offering from what I was doing there, and I did change the food style significantly when we opened, which meant I sort of had to find my feet,” he says.

Hunter is keen on utilising the 30 acre property on which Brae sits; he wants to grow more produce, and also mentioned plans to build accommodation on the site.

“We are trying to grow it [the property] as much

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coverstory

All photos: Colin Page www.colinpage.com.au

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as we can, however this is a small business – at the moment we only have a gardener working for us 12 hours per week,” he says.

“I’d probably take one less chef in the kitchen going forward to be able to employ someone to look after the property full time and produce food for us at certain times of the year. We just can’t do it by ourselves.”

Hunter is looking to create an orchard over the next few years, and he’s working on a brand new vegetable garden.

“We’re taking another half an acre of the property and we’ve started to develop a new vegetable garden there – it’s more of a commercial sized paddock.”

He says most staff members are involved in picking ingredients and maintaining the garden.

“Ninety percent of the kitchen team is in the garden first thing in the morning, picking all of

“Some things which could never exist in a city restaurant, where the flavour could never be captured because of transport and storage ... are possible here.”

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coverstory

the stuff for the day, and on quiet days they might do some weeding or put mulch down and all those types of things,” he says.

Hunter believes it is impossible for a restaurant that does serious numbers to produce 100 percent of what it uses, and he’s developed his menu accordingly.

“We tend to focus on things that we know we can’t purchase in the marketplace, things that are interesting and give our food some identity and uniqueness.

“We grow things that often aren’t great quality when you buy them – for example we have real issues in Australia with garlic and strawberries, as well as stone fruits at certain times of the year. We also try to grow things that are difficult to get at a good price,” he explains.

While regional restaurants face their fair share of challenges, he says the ability to maintain a decent sized garden is definitely a plus.

“The garden almost makes the impossible possible for some dishes – some things which could never exist in a city restaurant, where the flavour could never be captured because of transport and storage and things like that, are possible here.”

Hunter tends to source ingredients that the restaurant needs in bulk, such as carrots and onions, from local suppliers.

“There’s a guy about seven or eight kilometres from the restaurant who has been a certified organic grower for 22 years – his vegetable garden is over 50 acres.

“We try to grow what’s great for us from a visual and flavour perspective, and then we source the basics from people like him.”

Location, location Brae is situated approximately 90 minutes from Melbourne, near the small Victorian town of Birregura – a rather unconventional spot for a three hatted restaurant, and it took Hunter years to find.

“About four or five years ago we put a ring around Melbourne [which represented] no more than 90 minutes drive or 150 kilometres and literally started looking.

“It took us close to three-and-a-half years to

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find this site; we just couldn’t find the right thing, whether it be financially or the right feeling or whatever. It took so long to the point where we nearly chucked it in two years ago,” he says.

Hunter admits it probably didn’t help that he was after something very specific.

“It is pretty tricky to find the right place when you go ‘ok, I want a restaurant, I want it to be on the edge of a town but not in the town and I want it to have land to grow food on.’ It sort of narrows it down to almost nothing.”

Brae is also located in close proximity to Great Ocean Road – a tourist hotspot.

“Lorne is 25 minutes from here which is fantastic – it means we capture all of that market as well.”

The challenges Hunter has identified two primary challenges that regional restaurants face which their city counterparts do not – the first being freight costs.

“Costs are really different in the country – you are always fighting with this misconception that everything in the country should be cheaper than in the city, yet we pay freight on every single thing that we buy which you don’t ever pay in the city.

“If you look at everything we pay for, there’s a huge amount of freight – we pay tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of freight each year.”

He says staff retention can be difficult; but at the same time the quality of staff can be much higher in regional restaurants than in the city centres.

“It can be a bit of a tricky thing. You are asking people who are often in their 20s to move to a country town and basically work – they don’t have the outlet that they have in the city.

“What you do gain though is the focus that often isn’t there in the city in hospitality businesses. You tend to find that the people who agree to move away for their career are the top tier employees – they are focused and professional and they give you a commitment of a couple of years at least,” Hunter explains.

“They aren’t looking over their shoulder at where to go to next – they are serious about their job and their profession, which is fantastic.”

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GOOD FRY, BAD FRY

Frying food and cooking with oil is part and parcel of being a chef, but employing the correct techniques and using the right equipment is key to transforming mediocre dishes into culinary greats, writes Aoife Boothroyd.

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oilfrying

O

il is a tricky topic to approach. Most chefs love it, diners can be scared of it, and the media sends out mixed messages on its nutritional value. But you can’t argue with the fact that when done well, fried foods are delicious.

Adrian Richardson, owner of Melbourne’s La Luna Bistro uses a host of different frying techniques on his menu, but interestingly enough, he only decided to purchase a deep fryer a few years ago.

“For about 14 years I didn’t have a deep fryer,” says Richardson. “Then I went to the states and had some lovely burgers with fries and I thought ‘you know what, I’ll get a deep fryer.’”

Richardson says that his initial decision to abstain from purchasing the popular piece of kitchen equipment had a lot to do with past experience.

“I just didn’t want one. I worked in a couple of places that had fryers and I was just sick of them,” he says.

“I just thought you know, once you have a deep fryer you just go towards chips, and then before you know it, everything goes in the bloody deep fryer. The deep fryer is often used for evil … so I just wanted to resist having one.”

On the menu at La Luna Bistro, you can find chips and a number of other foods that spend some time in the deep fryer, however they’re a far cry from the greasy, take-away style food that is usually associated with that style of cooking.

“I just use the fryer for specific things. At La Luna Bistro we cut our own fries, we blanch them ourselves and we use good oil and to me, that’s the way to do it. We also do croquettes and a couple of other little dishes in the deep fryer as well, but that’s about it.”

1

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Using the fryer for good, not evil Richardson says that because La Luna Bistro makes its own bread in-house, all the leftovers get turned into breadcrumbs for the restaurant’s croquettes and cottechino sausages.

“It’s only when there are eight or nine dishes that are coming out of the fryer … that’s when you’ve got an issue.”

Deep frying aside, Richardson employees a number of other frying techniques including pan frying and shallow frying, but what might come as a

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3

surprise is that his favourite technique is oven frying.

“For me, using duck fat or chicken fat on potatoes in the oven is my favourite. The safest way to get a nice chip is in the oven on a tray as you don’t have to heat up oil. So for safety and flavour, potatoes cooked in chicken fat, or duck fat in the oven is my absolute favourite.”

Richardson says that while he pre-

dominantly fries in vegetable oil, he is looking to move towards using tallow.

“Tallow is a beautiful fat, and it just gives the food a really nice flavour.

I’ve got a feeling that tallow is coming back in, there is talk that the vegetable oils aren’t healthy for us, and that cottonseed oils aren’t as healthy as the old fashioned tallow so that’s another reason why I’m looking at it,” he says.

“It’s always trendy not to have

fried stuff, and people are more health conscious these days but as far as trends go, chefs are going back to doing their own stuff, like the chips and using good oils, which is great.”

Extracting the right flavours Miguel Cuevas, founder of Sydneybased catering company Flavours of Spain, says that frying is a technique that’s front and centre in his business.

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oilfrying

1: The Oaks’ Fish & Chips 2: The Oaks’ Buttermilk Fried Chicken 3: La Luna Bistro’s Beef Burger 4: Adrian Richardson 5: La Luna Bistro’s Roast Pork 6: Flavours of Spain paella

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4

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The most popular dish that Cuevas makes is his traditional Spanish paella which requires quality olive oil to help bring out all the flavours of the dish.

“All our ingredients are best fried for the type of dishes we make,” says Cuevas.

“We use a low heat for an extended time, frying the chicken to extract a particular flavour for the traditional paella. For seafood, we use a high heat and a short frying time which seals the ingredients, and keep them moist inside.

For chorizo, we only fry them for a little bit — under a minute — to keep their amazing flavour untouched, and we only use olive oil for all the frying.”

As far as trends go, Cuevas says he’s noticed that some people are starting to use coconut oil for frying, and he feels that people are moving away from fried foods in general.

“I think consumers are starting to use oil for what it is intended — more oil in salads, less deep frying, adding more raw oil to the fish once it’s cooked, but less when frying or baking. I recently interviewed a professor from a Spanish university in relation to olive oil and how it’s a key ingredient in the Mediterranean diet. He said that even though we fry a lot of food in Spain with olive oil, we use it in a way that works with the flavours and ingredients, so the

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“For about 14 years I didn’t have a deep fryer ...

Then I went to the states and had some lovely burgers with fries and I thought ‘you know what, I’ll get a deep fryer.’”

dishes remain on the healthy side.”

In terms of frying equipment, Cuevas’ first port of call is — naturally — the paella pan, but he also favours planchas, also known as flattop grills.

“In Spain we use a plancha to fry the tapas. It is an amazing piece of equipment and very easy to use… If you eat tapas in Spain, 90 percent of it will come from a plancha.”

Technique is king Danny Russo, executive chef at popular Sydney pub The Oaks, recently revamped the venue’s menu to feature a Southern American flair. Offering the likes of buttermilk chicken and popcorn prawns, the new menu demands a variety of different frying techniques.

“Besides the crowd pleasers like fries and fish and chips, we do classic deep fried potato scallops, buttermilk chicken cooked in a pressure fryer, pan-fried brussel sprouts and popcorn prawns cooked tempura style or shallow fried,” he says.

In terms of trends, Russo says that the popularity of fried chicken has resulted in an increase in pressure fryers, but he’s also seen an increase in dry-frying.

“Dry-frying has become a popular way of cooking fish and meat, especially bacon rashers,” says Russo.

“First you heat a frying pan with a heavy bottom on a high flame until it is hot. Meanwhile, prepare the meat or fish. If it has little fat of its own, drizzle a small amount of oil over the surface and rub it in. However, if the meat has natural fat or the fish is oily, simply season with freshly ground black pepper.

“Dry-frying is also used to extract and bring out the flavour of whole spices, seeds or nuts. Fry them without fat in a heavy-bottomed pan over a high heat, shaking the pan from time to time.”

When it comes to health concerns relating to fried food, Russo says that bad technique is the culprit, not the deepfrying method itself.

“Food that is fried is often dipped in a batter, or coated in a crisp crumb to protect and further seal in its natural moisture,” he says. “Because most foods have some moisture in them, and because oil and water don’t mix, the food’s natural moisture creates a barrier against the oil surrounding it.

As long as you’re keeping your oil hot enough — high heat ensures that the water in your food will boil, evaporate, and keep oil from seeping in — your food won’t get overly soggy or greasy.

Assuming they’ve been cooked properly, deep-fried items should actually have very little oil on them.”

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What lies

BENEATH? “Do something different” has long been a mantra in the hospitality industry, but when it comes to memorable tabletops – what makes your business stand out? Jasmine O’Donoghue reports.

P

aul Kelly, founder and owner of Paul Kelly Design, has seen a rise in the number of his clients who are paying close attention to the tabletop, and many of them want more detail.

“Just a standard tabletop doesn’t exist anymore, it’s either got a brass edge to it, an inlay, or it’s got a painted surface. Because people aren’t having tablecloths anymore, the actual tabletop is very important in the detail that it shows,” Kelly says.

The move towards casual dining has seen fewer restaurants incorporate the crisp white ‘fine dining’ tablecloth in their design. “[A tablecloth] sends the wrong message,”

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Kelly says. “It sends the message ‘come stay here all night, sit on one bottle of wine and enjoy your meal slowly.’ When people own restaurants, they might be paying huge rent; they might be paying $20,000 a week in rent, so they want the tables to turn. So have your meal, it’s beautiful, the service is really fast, it’s an amazing experience but when you finish, it’s time to go.”

Deciding on your tabletop design can be like piecing together a puzzle; there are many different elements but they all come together to create a picture, and send a message.

“It’s the weight of the product, it’s the brand, it’s the visual design, and it’s the colour tone, the textures. And that’s just for cutlery.”

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tabletopdesign

Estelle’s bowling alley bar.

An authentic experience Kelly says competition has turned up the heat for many restaurants, causing them to become more specific in their offering.

“People want that authentic experience now, they want to touch the plate and feel the napkin and feel the weight of the cutlery and glassware and if all the stars align, that’s when people get a good result as far as a financial return on investment.

“People are going to the nth degree to make these places very authentic … and I think that the high-end dining situation is very much in the distant past.”

When it comes to offering something unique, it’s difficult to go past tables made out of wood from a former bowling alley.

When Scott Pickett, owner of Estelle in Melbourne’s Northcote, first arrived at the venue, there was one table made out of Canadian maple and oak – which he describes as “a wonderful” and “extremely heavy” hardwood.

By chance, when Pickett took a walk down the laneway behind the restaurant, he stumbled upon scrap wood from the Northcote Bowling Alley, sitting out the back of a furniture design workshop.

“I saw a couple of ends of the bowling alley sticking out from under a tarp and I walked in, introduced myself and said ‘I’m looking for some more wood because I want to do a new bar and more tables but with the old Northcote Bowling

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Alley.’ He pulled off this tarp and he had about 12 metres of this wood that was perfect and it worked out almost to the inch, exactly what we needed. So I bought the wood off him, and said ‘OK, how do I get it back to the restaurant?’ and it was a bit of a Michael J. Fox moment out of Back To The Future, – he flipped up a skateboard and said ‘Northcotestyle’ and gave me the skateboard.

“Myself, my brother, my father, and five friends, eight of us loaded this wood onto a skateboard with ropes underneath and wheeled it down the backalley and then we carried it into the restaurant, and had the tables made in the space, on-site; so it worked perfectly.

“I think it’s a really good backdrop for our food to be on. It’s almost like a canvas that we put our food onto; it’s like a frame, if [the food] was a painting.

“People love the story, they love the fact that we sourced the wood ourselves, that we rolled it down on a skateboard, that we then had it built in the room and that it’s got a story that fits in with Estelle being in Northcote, and this is where we are and what we do and there’s this lovely link between the old and the new.

“With the organic and natural movement of not only food but restaurant design, people are moving away from the tablecloth to a less formal environment and that’s encouraged the table to be a centrepiece and a feature.”

With such a unique back story, Pickett wouldn’t

Estelle’s indoor dining area.

Scott Pickett of Estelle

“When it comes to offering something unique, it’s difficult to go past tables made out of wood from a former bowling alley.”

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tabletopdesign

dream of covering the tables with a tablecloth, but interestingly enough, Estelle uses tablecloths in its outdoor area.

“I think dining’s becoming a little bit less formal and as a general rule, tablecloths can be a little bit intimidating,” he says.

“There’s no way I’d have tablecloths in the front of the restaurant because people would walk in and they sort of associate tablecloths and extra linen with expense. So having them in the back of the restaurant when they walk through, we’ve already captured the diner, they’ve already walked through our lovely sort of Northcote-ish environment and then they see something different, and they don’t feel scared anymore because they’re already in here.

“Tablecloths have got their place, and I love to use them sometimes but it depends where you are, what your demographic is. Now more so than ever people are moving to finding good tables … it’s becoming a feature in the restaurant, not just ‘we’ll buy cheap tables and put tablecloths on them.’”

The recently opened Bowery Lane, in Sydney’s O’Connell St, features a combination of three different tables.

In one room, there is a rectangular Xbond (cementitious latex applied over a timber substrate), round European oak and square black laminate tables.

Sokyo, designed by Paul Kelly Design.

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Bowery Lane co-owner Kaz Derbas says it’s all about offering customers a point of difference, and a “wow” factor.

“At first we chose all black tables, and we thought it was too sharp for what we’re trying to do, so by introducing the wood colours as well, it introduced another feel to the place, and it brought warmth.

“The whole interior is industrial, with a lot of sharp edges and I think the wood and the round edges give it another look.”

In particular, Bowery Lane offers an 18-seat communal table, which plays into the communal dining trend.

“We get groups of 10 coming in, groups of 20 coming in and they love sharing different meals. Some people are finding [sharing a long table] a bit difficult, and they don’t like it. I think it’s more of a privacy issue; people coming in and having a one-on-one, but people who want a bit more privacy can go to the booths,” Derbas says.

“It’s a great social thing, you’ll see they’ll start eating with their group and by the end of the evening everyone’s talking and chatting away and enjoying the meal together.”

Adding character Just about every year, Pickett visits Bali to have Estelle’s plates designed, based around the food, the feel and style of the restaurant at the time.

“It’s all hand-made; like a guy sits out the back with a little spinning wheel with clay and I’ll sort of look at what he’s making and then say ‘I like that, I don’t like that, can we do this in this colour, can we do this in this shape?’ and then we’ll do samples and take it from there,” Pickett says.

“You find that in Melbourne when a new plate range comes out or there’s a new hot thing, everybody uses the same plates and you see them everywhere, so we want a unique experience that’s designed not just for our food, but for our restaurant and the environment that you’re sitting in and that is reflective of where we are this year.

“The customer’s so much more informed than they were 10 years ago, with the success of different cooking programs, and the explosion of the internet.

“Chefs have to look at ways that they can be ahead of the pack by doing something new and something different. There’s a constant evolution, not just in the food but in the chairs, the tables, the cutlery, in the plates and everything – the overall experience.”

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industryobserver

Ho ho no?

The peak and lull cycle that is Christmas and New Year can be a challenging time for food service operators, who tend to either be flat chat or begging for business, writes our Industry Observer.

C

hristmas is great for the hospitality industry on any number of levels – customer numbers are up, you can use set menus to help keep your costs stable, casual staff get extra shifts and the punters are often in a happy mood (with occasion to the over-happy); so far, so good.

Then there is the ‘dilemma’ period. The pause between Christmas and New Year and then the January gulf in the cities, while the holiday areas flood with folk soaking up the sun over school holidays.

Some businesses in the city take the opportunity to grab a break and close for a few weeks in January, but for many there are some real challenges offered up by this ‘peak and lull’ season.

The dilemma is how to manage some key elements in your business, from managing cash flow to training staff to ensure you have enough for the peak – and hoping that they can perform under pressure. But then what do you do with all these new faces when the customers all shift to the holiday ‘zones’ at the costal resorts? It’s why there is a strong need for a decent, skilled casual workforce for both front of house and back.

Your regular customers need to have the feeling that all is normal and the service level is maintained through this period, but it gets tough at both locations over January. The holiday areas scream for quality staff that they then struggle to hold on to during the low seasons, and many city restaurants are bereft of customers and cannot afford to keep on the casuals that they’ve just invested money and energy into training.

Perhaps we need a functional national version of a Chef and Waiter Bank – hotels and hospitals are huge users of casual and yet specialised staff. There are agencies and recruiters that can provide staff on call for an event or to cover shifts, but it is much better suited to the function market, not in your local restaurant where it can be like adding a new fish to a busy pond and staff need to fit in quickly and get with the program.

How do you manage the situation best? You want loyalty out of your staff, but can’t find work for them over the quiet period.

The tourist market is often crying out for reliable and well trained staff (also reflected in many country towns), but once the rush is over, they have no way of keeping them. In this situation it’s often “all hail the backpacker” … Will work anywhere, anytime, and may have mystery skills that are useful in times of need.

Is that really the answer? Should we be looking

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“It needs to be more like Tinder for hospitality.

Are you compatible?

Will it be a fling, or something ongoing?”

to more creative solutions? Our schools and unis are the reason for the summer rush on these holiday towns; what can we do to entice a flourishing market of skilled waiters from that motley lot? Possibly not much as they are as entitled to their holidays as anyone else (and yes, I do know how many holidays

they get) or they are under-age and not allowed to work in many front of house roles. Perhaps we can develop a loan system between like establishments (a bit like premier league soccer) for when your inner city bistro is cooling its heels, the casual part of your team could spend a little time on the coast, gaining experience, a tan and making a bit of cash.

The tough bit is making all the connections and developing an effective system to deliver value to both sides of the deal. It’s easy enough to develop an app to provide the back end, but it needs to be more than just a casual version of Seek, it needs to be more like Tinder for hospitality. Are you compatible? Will it be a fling, or something ongoing?

One thing about resort restaurants, pubs and clubs in holiday season is that they are flat chat; they need to have their staffing sorted way before the New Year’s Eve fireworks go off and that can put their recruiting schedule at odds with the busy time of the city staff. I never said this would be an easy problem to solve, but it’s worth some thought.

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managementcomment

BATTLE OF

THE GUIDES: who are diners to believe?

Diners are confused enough when it comes to making sense of our crowded restaurant scene. But to make matters worse, restaurant guides are sending mixed messages about what really makes for a memorable meal. By Tony Berry.

S

o, who are we to believe; or, more precisely, who are the punters we are trying to part from their hard-earned dosh, going to believe?

Just when it seemed one of the world’s leading arbiters of where to dine had at last begun following where the punters were leading, along comes its biggest rival to maintain the status quo.

But more than that. With the grand gathering of our cheffing luminaries that launched its 2015 guide to dining out in Sydney and Melbourne, the Gault&Millau partnership not only put the focus back on top-end dining, but also stole a huge march on its great rival.

While Australia inexplicably remains one of the few corners of the globe to be allocated an edition of the prestigious Guide Michelin – by which so many high-flying restaurant yardsticks have been decreed down the years – Gault&Millau is now into its second year of assessing the top dining outlets in our two main cities.

It is a move which could well sound alarm bells not only in the Michelin boardroom but also much closer to home where the Fairfax capital city guides have decided who’s in and who’s out for so many years.

G&M are obviously determined to forge an aggressive presence, with local inspectors and a flambouyant website which – despite its several glaring errors – is highly promotional and shouts out loud “We’re here – and here to stay.”

But is it in tune with where so much dining-out is heading? Such thoughts are prompted by the release a couple of months back of a Michelin

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edition that has at long last taken serious note of what the majority of punters really want.

And, in the eyes of the guide’s compilers, that is good old-fashioned fare that represents value for money and is served in places that are more informal than formal and do not necessarily worry about such fripperies as tablecloths.

“So many fit-outs are transparently priced way beyond any operator’s ability to recoup the cost by putting food on a plate.”

Cries of ‘sacre bleu’ and similar expressions of shock, bewilderment and downright outrage greeted its launch. This was because the little red book that can cause chefs to weep, have nervous breakdowns or even, in one notorious case, commit suicide, now contains in its UK edition such places as pubs, curry houses, sit-atthe-counter eateries and tapas bars.

This is in considerable contrast to G&M’s rating of the Australian scene where the emphasis is very much on the top-end of the market – superb food and presentation, but at a price

that is outside the orbit of the majority. Its saving grace is that it appears to be shifting the emphasis from an all-round dining experience to weighting much of its assessment on the basis of the skills, attitudes and philosophies demonstrated by the kitchen, rather than the service, ambience or even price. It is, in fact, what might be termed a chef guide rather than a restaurant guide.

Michelin meanwhile is saying restaurants that once required the raising of a double mortgage to pay their overladen bill are being replaced by places as lowly as tapas bars and as convivial and informal as one’s local pub. Its emphasis is on food over ambience and, above all, on true value for money.

And a wage-earner’s money at that.

In the process, the much-hyped and trendy (i.e. places to be seen at rather than to eat at) are being denuded of earlier recognition. When an establishment such as Nobu, hangout of the glitterati and obscenely rich and claiming to be one of the world’s great restaurants, is stripped of its stars you know there is change in the wind. Especially as other pricey haunts of the celebrity cliques have also been downgraded into the no-star ranks.

For Michelin, recognition is shifting away from the image of equating quality with expensive trappings; of creating the impression that high prices guarantee excellence. The emphasis is more than ever on the refinement of the product and technical brilliance, whether it be a humble tapas in a London bar, or a fish feast at a restaurant on the wild Cornish coast. True to this approach, long overdue recognition is

Tony Berry

being given to pubs that give food the same attention and importance as they devote to their ever-changing range of artisan beers.

In some ways perhaps this is little different from what we are being offered by G&M. In both cases it means chefs devoted to their craft no longer need to base themselves in over-embellished temples of culinary creation. Their surroundings can be modest, even homely, rather than gaudy palaces that ensure riches only for architects and designers.

No wonder we see so many upmarket outlets going to the wall when they have devoted such vast sums to trappings and trimmings merely to impress with settings rather than servings. So many fit-outs are transparently priced way beyond any operator’s ability to recoup the cost by putting food on a plate. Yet still they keep coming, determined to achieve fame and success by the trimmings and trappings rather than by product. Like presenting a child’s daubs in a gilded frame.

Maybe G&M will stop the rot by emphasising culinary skills over table settings. But how anyone will stop the ridiculous rush to throw a week’s wage in Heston’s direction is beyond anyone’s ability.

Now, what’s for dinner down at the pub?

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managementcomment

10

MINUTE

TRAINING

Staff training doesn’t have to be a burden on your time or your bottom line.

Ken Burgin lists some ways to get your crew up to scratch in a matter of minutes.

D

on’t feel guilty, get organised: everyone believes in training, but you can’t close up shop just to run a workshop. Ten minute sessions are a good alternative – repeat them with small groups when they’re available.

Or turn on your iPad and use some of the great YouTube videos available as a discussion starter.

1. Kitchen priorities are product knowledge, speed and technique. Use a picture book of ingredients (often found on the sale table in bookshops) or a quick Google search to show celeriac, ochra or other ingredients you don’t have on hand.

Meat & Livestock Australia has great brochures available on meat cuts and cooking. In a short session you can only look at one particular skill, for example filleting and boning, dicing or chiffonade. Use the timer to see how long it takes to fillet or prepare a certain amount of product, with cheering and prizes when the goal is reached.

2. Costing and number skills may be weak, so short sessions with calculators will be useful – how much yield you can get from trimming a fish or

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“Short quizzes are a great coaching tool, but not like school – 100 percent correct is expected.”

strip of meat, how to cost a recipe, working out menu profits or multiplying quantities. Everyone has a calculator on their phone, so let’s learn how to use it. Or you can set up some simple spreadsheet examples on the iPad and let staff enter details.

3. In the bar, sessions might cover the origins of different wines, beers or spirits. Use an atlas or one of the vast number of alcohol-oriented iPad apps. Work on flavour knowledge, for example juniper flavours gin, but what is it? Frangelico is flavoured with hazelnuts, but what are they? Beer origins and the traditions in those countries will be useful for imported stock, and the details of different beer styles.

For wine knowledge, start with origins – where is Margaret River, Mornington Peninsula or the Clare Valley? Or the popular regions in Italy? Google Maps to the rescue!

4. Train your waiters as ‘amateur psychologists’. Give customer types fun names, then have staff work out the particular needs of ‘first daters’, ‘young business dudes’, ‘ladies who lunch’ and ‘grey nomads’. It sharpens their observation skills and makes them more understanding of people different to themselves.

Product knowledge is essential – what do they know about different types of seafood, vegetables, herbs and spices, meat and game? Tastings will be important (a spoonful is plenty). Sessions could be as simple as a ‘lettuce tasting’, a ‘chocolate test’ or a comparison of berry flavours. The kitchen can help – when the chef is making a cake or a sauce, it’s the perfect time to have two staff watching how it’s done.

Check online review sites like Yelp to see how customer feedback on venues is being handled – your

Ken Burgin

future managers will soon have to face this.

5. Short quizzes are a great coaching tool, but not like school – 100 percent correct is expected, and do what you can to achieve it. Quiz examples could be ‘20 facts about Italian food’ – Parmesan comes from which city in Italy, Riso is the Italian word for what ingredient?

What does ‘al dente’ mean and why is it important?

Another good quiz for front and back of house is ‘20 difficult situations’. You know what they are: ‘a customer returns the fish because she is upset it has a head on it – what would you do?’. ‘A customer’s only credit card is declined and they have no cash – what do you do?’

Red Spice Road in Melbourne really knows how to make quizzes work – when staff get the required number correct, they start to receive full tips.

6. Feel like spending more than 10 minutes on certain activities? This is where your suppliers can help – they owe you a few favours. If you have a friendly butcher, they may be willing to have an audience when they cut up carcasses.

The wine reps are happy to help with product tastings, but don’t allow it to be just a tour of their latest, or a booze-up. A more effective way is to run a tasting of say rieslings or shirazes where you sample a range of the one variety side by side, with food matching done with small samples in spoons.

7. Now record and glorify what you do. Take photos and write a few sentences about your training on the website news page, the newsletter or Facebook page – positive impressions can be formed in many different ways.

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workplaceissues

What does

UNFAIR DISMISSAL

really mean?

Regardless of the size of your business or the quality of your staff, you need to be well versed in procedural fairness. By Restaurant & Catering Australia.

U

nfair dismissal is a complex term that is assessed on a multitude of factors. At a basic level however, the Fair Work Commission is concerned with the question, was the dismissal “harsh, unjust, or unreasonable?” These non-technical words are intended to apply to an infinite number of circumstances and situations where an employee has been terminated.

The employer must show that the decision (and the process leading to the decision) was made in an objective manner. This requires employers to be cognisant of the procedure they follow throughout all disciplinary proceedings with employees.

Procedural fairness is a concept,

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

similar to that of natural justice, which requires a decision maker to follow a fair procedure in determining an outcome. In relation to dismissal this specifically refers to things such as providing a hearing appropriate to the circumstances, doing so with a lack of bias, gathering and presenting appropriate evidence to support any accusations, and making suitable inquiries into all matters relating to a dispute.

Too often issues that arise in the workplace are not appropriately dealt with. This can at times be an unfortunate reality for small business operators, who do not have the same access to dedicated HR experts to specifically deal with issues such as underperformance or miscon-

duct. It is important to note that the Fair Work Act 2009 requires the Commission to take into account small business’ specific circumstances, in particular the fact that smaller enterprises are less capable of following stringent procedures as detailed in s.387 (f).

Despite this, it is still a requirement for all businesses to operate in a fair manner when dealing with internal disputes or performance reviews. Often in smaller enterprises, minor issues of misconduct or underperformance are dealt with in a less formal capacity. This can result in consistent verbal warnings or reminders. This is not a problem, however it can lead to unfortunate and avoidable outcomes. For example, where an

employee shows a lack of ability, or a general laziness, managers may deal with this by verbally suggesting areas of improvement. This may continue for many months, to the point where an ongoing employment relationship can become untenable. The problem in this situation is that whilst the employer may see no alternative other than dismissal, such a dismissal will more than likely be seen as unfair where there is an absence of formal warnings.

Sometimes a solution to this issue can be for businesses to ‘go through the motions’ by providing often unreasonable warnings for minor issues in an attempt to ‘performance manage an employee out of the workplace’. As a consequence, employers can be too heavily focused on hurrying through the process so as to justify a dismissal, and procedural fairness can suffer as a result.

This situation can be avoided by taking a few simple steps: 1. Operate as though termination is a last resort: The idea of ‘performance management’ should be to improve the performance of an employee to the point that they can undertake their duties to a satisfactory level. It becomes very obvious when one is seeking to ‘go through the motions’. Always approach the situation with the aim of rectifying the problem.

2. Don’t be afraid to give warnings: Where there are genuine instances of underperformance or cases of misconduct, do not hesitate to provide warnings. It is important to weigh up the balance between giving appropriate discipline and keeping employees happy in the workplace. However when dealt with appropriately, all parties can achieve a good outcome.

A failure to give appropriate warnings about underperformance or misconduct can create a problem down the line.

3. Seek advice: Industry bodies like Restaurant and Catering Australia can provide assistance in respect to the often-complex procedures surrounding discipline. Seeking advice early can avoid headaches in the future.

4. Objectivity is the key: Approach any procedure or investigation with fairness in mind.

This article was written by the Workplace Relations Team at Restaurant & Catering Australia.

Contact them on 1300 722 878.

hospitality | November/December 2014

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shelfspace

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1. Globally inspired sauces

Birch & Waite has added a new range to its foodservice offering – Wrap It Up sauces. Developed in response to consumers’ changing tastes, the range is inspired by emerging global flavour trends. It includes five varieties – Mexicanstyle smokey chipotle mayonnaise, Italian truffle mayonnaise and Thai basil and chilli mayonnaise, as well as yoghurt and mint sauce, a healthier alternative, and tandoori yoghurt and coriander, which has an exotic spice flavour.

Check out www.birchandwaite.com.au

2. Linen look napkins

Tork LinStyle is a high quality disposable napkin that looks and feels like linen. The new product comes in three styles – table-ready eight fold napkins and pocket napkins, as well as quarterfold squares, which are available in two sizes and three colours: white,

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burgundy and black. The napkins are FSC certified and biodegradable according to the European Standard EN 846, and they are certified safe for food contact, enabling them to be used in kitchens and establishments that adhere to strict standards.

Go to www.tork.com.au

3. GF poultry products

Inghams’ latest range includes gluten-free versions of its most popular products, enabling foodservice professionals to cater for customers with food intolerances. Products in the new range are made from 100 percent Australian chicken, and have been formulated to taste as good as their regular alternatives. The range includes gluten-free chicken breast tenders, gluten-free chicken breast nuggets, gluten-free chicken breast schnitzel and gluten-free roasted chicken meat.

Visit www.inghams.com.au/ foodservice

4. New Swedish cider flavour

Rekorderlig’s new Dry Äpple Cider offers a modern take on the traditional classic. Lightly golden in colour, the cider has a dry, clean finish. It is best served ‘straight up’ from the bottle and is said to appeal to cider drinkers as well as beer drinkers seeking a new summer beverage. In a first for the Swedish brand, the new flavour is available in 330ml bottles (both individually and as six packs) and as a draught.

See www.rekorderlig.com.au for more information

5. Cast iron cookware with a cause

Palma, a new series of cast iron cookware, is now available exclusively through Chef’s Armoury.

The 160 year old cast iron foundry, based in Iwate, Japan, is designed by Jasper Morrison in collaboration with Oigen cookware. The range comprises a fry

pan, condiment server, grill pan, casserole and kettle, all of which are made from between 50 and 70 percent recycled iron. The new series is a project of non-for-profit organisation, Japan Creative.

Visit www.chefsarmoury.com for more information

6. US-made buffet stands

Rosetto has recently released The Swan, a new US-made multilevel riser system for buffets and other self-serve dining environments. It can be used as either a stand-alone buffet piece or in conjunction with the company’s existing Skycap multi-level risers and surfaces. The system comes with two porcelain dishes as standard, and it is available in two colours: matte black and stainless steel. Rosetto products are available in Australia through Top Shelf Concepts.

Head to www.topshelfconcepts.com.au

hospitalitymagazine.com.au

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THE G R E A T E S T

C U L I N A R Y

B A T T L E FOR THE TITLE OF

RARE MEDIUM’S

C H A M P I O N

CONGRATULATIONS TO

GLENN

FLOOD

SLOW COOKED LAMB FOREQUARTER RACK

TO

&

GEOFF

LINDSAY

OYS T E R B L A D E TARTAR

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eventscalendar

hospitalitydiary DECEMBER/JANUARY 28 Dec - 3 Jan 2015, Taste of Tasmania Taste of Tasmania is held on Hobart’s waterfront on Princes Wharf No.1, Parliament House Lawns and Salamanca Lawns. The event celebrates Tasmanian food, produce, arts, culture and sporting activities, and a new program of activities has been introduced to not only entice participants to sample some of the best food, wine, beer and beverages in Tasmania, but also given them the opportunity to learn about the paddock to plate process. The program includes a new Taste Theatre for food and wine programs, lectures and guided tastings; a new Brasserie Precinct featuring Tasmania’s burgeoning craft brewing and cider making industry along with matched foods; a renewed focus on Tasmanian provenance and new products; and a new Cafe District where people can enjoy coffee and pastries. www.thetasteoftasmania.com.au

FEBRUARY/MARCH 27 Feb - 15 Mar 2015, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival This annual event sees more than 200 events fill Melbourne’s network of restaurants, laneways, basements and rooftops as well as

spilling out into regional Victoria.

Next year’s event will once again include the long-time favourite World’s Longest Lunch, weaving its way through the iconic Queen Victoria Market with a menu designed by chefs Shane Delia and Adriano Zumbo. Dan Barber, chef of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York, will make his first visit to Australia to present at Theatre of Ideas: In Conversation with Dan Barber. The festival will also include e the Festival Artisan Bakery Bar in Queensbridge Square, which will host international guests Justin Gellatly from bakery and baking school Bread Ahead in London as well as Eric Kayser, a fourth generation master baker from Paris with more than 80 Maison Kayser locations worldwide. www.melbournefoodandwine.com.au

MAY/JUNE 31 May - 2 June 2015, Foodservice Australia Hosted at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, Foodservice Australia is the only show dedicated solely to the foodservice industry. Popular features include the Regional Producer’s Pavilion and a Chef’s Corner, as well as the Rare Medium Chef

il k M d n o m l A Bar ista Blesnthdan lor ie 30% less ca regular soy skim milk and

www.almondbreeze.com.au Contact Freedom Foods 1800 646 231 l foodservicesales@freedomfoods.com.au

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hospitality | November/December 2014

P R O D U C T S

competition, the Global Pizza of the Year competition Challenge, World Chocolate Masters and Australia’s Best Pie Competition. The event also includes a number of educational presentations and demonstrations at the Cafe School, with topics this year including Catering Equipment for Small Spaces, Cafe Economics, Building Other Beverage Sales and Food-to-go Innovation Workshops.

The tradeshow also includes the annual Foodservice Gala Dinner and Awards ceremony, which celebrates excellence achieved by individuals and companies over the past 12 months. Categories include Food Distributor of the Year, Food Supplier of the Year, Innovation of the Year and Service Supplier of the Year. www.foodserviceaustralia.com.au

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For more information contact our National Sales OfďŹ ce on (03) 9514 4600. www.mccainfoodservice.com.au

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Are you looking for products for your business?

Look no further.

Go to gohospitality.com.au Australia’s number 1 hospitality directory

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