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MOVERS AND SHAKERS: MEIRA HAREL
Meira Harel
The sommelier and general manager is carving out a new legacy for Adelaide’s hospitality scene.
-WORDS Aristine Dobson
SOUTH AUSTRALIA IS one of the country’s goto destinations for good food and wine. In recent years, Adelaide’s hospitality scene has been on the up, which is a huge credit to the local venues showcasing the best the city and its home state have to offer.
Meira Harel is part of newly established hospitality group Another Kind, which is changing the industry for the better. Harel speaks to Hospitality about starting her career in Israel, the importance of work–life balance and maintaining consistency across the group’s multiple venues.
Meira Harel’s first job was at an Italian restaurant in Israel, where she worked as a waitress. Although she would find herself in a community firmly focused on food and beverage, Harel was initially a professional athlete and had aspirations to pursue sport as a full-time career, however fate had other plans. “I had quite a severe injury that forced me to quit,” she says. “I needed to do something, so I became a waitress because I felt comfortable and familiar with food and wine.”
Restaurant work was a natural fit for Harel, who became immersed in all things food and drink. “I was immediately hooked,” she says.
“I tried to read, drink, taste and learn as much as possible during the first few years before I became a restaurant manager.”
Harel had a particular interest in wine and became a sommelier, working in various top-end restaurants across Tel Aviv. In 2012, she decided to make the move to Melbourne. “My first role was as an assistant sommelier at a restaurant called Brooks of Melbourne,” she says. “I got to meet some incredible leaders in the industry who really opened their arms to me. In the next two years, I learned everything I needed to know about Australian hospitality.”
Harel went on to complete stints at venues such as The Town Mouse and Lake House before moving into consultancy, co-founding not-forprofit group Grow Assembly and welcoming her first child. With so much happening, it was time to slow things down and make a change.
“I moved to Adelaide in 2019 which was good timing with everything that was happening in the world,” she says. “I do miss Melbourne, but I’m content with the decision.”
- Meira Harel
Harel currently works with Another Kind, which is behind beloved venues including Leigh Street Wine Room, Press* Food & Wine and Peel St. She joined the group a year ago before it officially launched as Another Kind. “I did the opening for Leigh Street when we moved to Adelaide, wrote the initial wine list and worked there for its first three months,” says Harel. “We had a very positive and professional relationship and there was an opportunity to regroup and take the next step.”
Another Kind’s launch came with a new leadership team and structure which saw the appointment of former Noma partner James Spreadbury as creative director. Together, Spreadbury and Harel are working together to progress the overall vision of the group. “Diversity, inclusion and equality is the mission for us,” says Harel. “We want to introduce attention to community, service, gender balance and work–life balance.”
Harel’s role with the group includes everything from creative direction and organising the beverage offering to people management. She oversees operations across the group’s multiple venues, which each have their own identity. “What they’re targeting, what they’re doing and how they behave is different from the size to the type of food they do, the wine they serve and the people they attract,” says Harel. “For us, it’s a big plus because they’re not competing with each other.”
Although the concepts are all unique, the same attention to detail is applied across the board. “The same standards come into play when it comes to integrity and honesty in what you do and the genuine hospitality side of things,” says Harel. “The message is consistent no matter which restaurant you work at. You implement it according to the concept, and that’s where we all connect without taking away the personality of each restaurant.”
As part of a shared mission to progress as a group, Spreadbury and Harel are also looking to upskill workers and provide growth opportunities. “We want to start a community in Adelaide that offers a career path in the hospitality industry,” says Harel. “When you start on this road, where does it take you and what can you become? It’s much more obvious for chefs, but when it comes to front of house, we’re here to start from scratch and offer mentoring and training.”
Harel hopes training initiatives and career growth can lead to conversations around gender equality and help women advance in the industry. “I would like to think there’s an opportunity to empower women to have a family, step off the floor and still have longevity and sustainability in the space,” she says. “For me, it hasn’t been straightforward to get to the point of doing what I’m doing now as a mother of two.”
While Another Kind has set a new standard within the local community, there’s potential for growth further afield. Harel hopes the group will expand outside of Adelaide in the near future. “We’re definitely looking to establish one more beverage space before we [branch] out from South Australia into the eastern states,” she says. “I feel like we’ve got a lot to give, so we don’t want to limit ourselves. But it will only happen after we feel more established and have a solid foundation. It’s important to be patient and make sure we tick all the boxes.”
