Hospitality October 2022

Contents

Regulars

A note from the editor

A RECENT VISIT to Burwood Chinatown saw me sample everything from spicy lamb skewers to guo kui and malatang. Unfortunately, I had to stop myself there, but the sheer number of options was overwhelming (in a good way). So much food ... but only so much a person can eat. It’s a dilemma, but I’ll be back to get my hands on the dorayaki and giant fried squid.

The precinct is filled with concepts that focus on doing a handful of menu items well, which is a sentiment echoed by Zafferano in Paddington — a trattoria that’s as Sicilian as it gets. You’ll find nuts blended with seafood in pasta, herb-crumbed fish and revolving traditional baked goods for breakfast (or a snack) you won’t be able to pass on.

This issue, we also look at cocktails crafted without traditional alcoholic spirits and chat with a distiller and a beverage director who are making drinks for a population that’s either reducing or eliminating booze. I encourage you to have a read of the social enterprise feature with the newly opened Kabul Social and Sibling — both venues are making a big difference in the lives of many people. Inspiring stuff!

Until next time, Annabelle Cloros Editor

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Just a dash

Chef Hugh Piper is turning fruit and leftover wine into vinegar.

WORDS Aristine Dobson

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHY Andrea Veltom

WINE FERMENTS AND turns into vinegar if you leave it long enough. The pantry staple is known for its acidic properties, but there’s a spectrum of options beyond white, rice and balsamic.

Hugh Piper worked for the Love Tilly Group in Sydney for several years, with the chef making his first batch of vinegar from leftover wine at Dear Sainte Éloise. A oneoff experiment would go on to turn into something much bigger — Very Molto.

Piper talks to Hospitality about working with by-products, understanding the scientific process of vinegar-making and the many culinary applications vinegars can feature across.

Very Molto could be described as problemsolver or better yet, a waste-reducing brainwave. Former Dear Sainte Éloise head chef Hugh Piper would often be given

leftover wine from the front-of-house team that would otherwise be poured down the sink. “I’d always keep hold of it for cooking, but it got to the point where I was collecting a lot of wine and I wasn’t cooking with much of it,” he says. “I was like, ‘What can I do with all this wine?’ because I absolutely loathe throwing anything away, so I had the idea of making vinegar.”

The chef’s first attempt was a success and he decided to go bigger, producing larger quantities outside the kitchen with Condimental’s Cameron Stephens, who helped bottle the product. “I did another batch in 2020 called Cube’s Vinegar (that’s my nickname) and it had a ridiculous label with a sticker of my face made by a mate of mine years ago who did it as a joke.”

Label artwork aside, the vinegar started to gain traction among retailers and it was time to legitimise the product. Piper and

his business partner and wife Zoe Morris worked together to give the brand a new start. “Whenever we see something really nice, we say, ‘It’s very molto’,” he says. “It’s always been a bit of joke between us and it just rolls off the tongue.”

Vinegar requires a level of scientific knowledge and a lot of patience to get right. “Vinegar is not the quickest thing to make,” says Piper. “It’s a slow process because it is all naturally fermented. It depends on the product and the time of year we are doing it; I’ve found two to three months is the average timeframe.”

Piper starts by combining wine or fruit with water and symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). “We’ve got some really gorgeous SCOBYs that are ginormous,” he says. “Once the product starts fermenting, the bacteria and yeast

forms a rubbery, jelly-like disc that sits in there and ferments.”

The mixture is left at room temperature to allow the yeast and bacteria to activate. It’s a waiting game, and there has been plenty of trial and error along the way. “The bacteria don’t like it too cold,” says Piper. “It’s where we went wrong with our first batch. We put the vinegar in the shed and it was too cold.”

Piper and Morris relocated from Sydney to Orange and have since been sourcing leftover wine from local businesses. “I’m working with a restaurant here called The Union Bank,” says Piper. “I go and pick up any half to three-quarter bottles that have been left for too long.”

The Very Molto range currently consists of two wine-based vinegars: Ramona and Rudy. Ramona is a mixture of Rosé, white and red wines, while Rudy is made from red wine. “Red and white wines have flavour profiles that carry through to the vinegar,” says Piper. “I wanted to have a few different options.”

But it’s not all about wine. A crowd favourite is Mandy, a fruit-based vinegar made from mandarins. “We bought some beautiful mandarins from the markets and naturally fermented them,” says Piper. “[Mandy] is bloody delicious, super bright and fruity, almost like sunshine in a bottle.”

There are numerous ways to use Very Molto’s vinegars from dressings to sauces as well as in cocktails. “The red wine vinegar works fantastically in a mignonette for oysters,” says Piper. “I really love the mandarin with raw fish; you just dress

it with the vinegar and lots of olive oil, fennel and salt and pepper for a nice summery dish.”

The mandarin vinegar is also ideal to use to make drinks. “Fruit vinegars have a bit of sweetness and work really well as a shrub, which is sort of like a sour cordial,” says Piper. “You can put a little shot in a glass with some sparkling water or you can use it in a spritz.”

Very Molto is sold across Sydney and Melbourne at stockists and venues including Drnks, P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants, Odd Culture, Frank’s Deli, Ministry of Meat and more. The brand’s sustainable, no-waste approach has been a big part of its appeal. “A lot of places really like the idea that it is made from waste wine from the industry,” says Piper.

Very Molto has plans to evolve its range with new flavours and will continue working with local businesses to utilise leftover produce and wine. “There are so many orchards, growers and producers,” says Piper. “I’m really keen to get chatting to people and find the things they struggle to sell or that are leftover at the end of the season and try make products from produce that would otherwise go bad.”

The good thing about vinegar is that there’s a broad world to explore when it comes to what it is made from, with Piper tipping the launch of a blood orange product in the coming months. Very Molto has been a natural next step for the chef, who’s putting his skills to good use by launching a boutique brand that’s carving out its own place in a market that lauds products that provide a sustainable solution and taste damn good, too.

“Vinegar is not the quickest thing to make. It’s a slow process because it is all naturally fermented.” Hugh Piper

Entrée

The latest openings, books, events and more.

EDITED BY Annabelle Cloros

House Made Hospitality launches This Way Canteen

Sandwich and donut bunker This Way Canteen is the latest venue from House Made Hospitality and can be found under the Museum of Sydney. Executive Chef Stephen Seckold was inspired by the fare found in New York delis, with plenty of sandwiches served at the 100-seat venue. “We’ve called it a canteen because that’s the reality of the offering — the food is relatable with a stamp of difference,” says House Made Hospitality Director Scott Brown. Patrons can choose from a range of pastries, bagels, fresh and hot sandwiches, salads and larger plates along with seasonal donuts by Head of Viennoiserie & Retail Jonny Pisanelli. thiswaycanteen.sydney Photography by Steven Woodburn

Not what you think

Is This a Cookbook?

Heston Blumenthal

Bloomsbury Publishing ; $49.99

Global culinary figure Heston Blumenthal has penned a new book that’s all about twisting the essentials. Is This a Cookbook? features 70 meal ideas spanning breakfast to ‘fakeaways’, salads, soups, dinner and sides along with desserts, which are all accompanied by stories from the chef himself and illustrations by Dave McKean. Readers can recreate cricket ketchup, hemp panna cotta, a banana and parsley smoothie and more in the book which is released on 1 November. bloomsbury.com/au

Happy days

Topikos in Sydney’s picturesque Bondi is welcoming the warmer weather with a daily happy hour from 5–6pm. The menu covers $10 Mediterranean martinis made tableside by bartenders. The martinis are crafted with Tanqueray gin and finished off with a feta-stuffed olive. No drink is complete without a snack, and the prawn souvla on house pita created by chef team Danny Corbett and Charles Woodward is the ideal accompaniment. topikos.com.au

Malawi coffee trials hit it big

Malawi has been taking part in a global coffee-growing initiative with World Coffee Research for the past five years, which has seen 16 countries participate in total. Malawi has been trialling a range of coffee varieties in different areas, with the plants taking three to four years to reach maturity. The country’s first significant harvest took place in 2021, leading to a cupping that recently took place which saw 28 variety samples analysed for cup quality. worldcoffeeresearch.org

Photography by Randall Brummett

Ready to Rumble

The Star Sydney has welcomed new restaurant Rumble to its dining portfolio. Benjamin Tan has taken on the role of head chef and has designed a menu influenced by his childhood and travels through South-East Asia. “Rumble is all about blending the traditional with the contemporary; paying homage to authentic flavours with fresh seasonal Australian produce and elevated, modern techniques,” says the chef. Highlights include pipis with sweet Thai basil; lobster rice paper rolls with roe and 48-hour rendang black Angus short ribs. letsrumble.com.au

Black Star turns cake into coffee

The iconic strawberry watermelon cake from Black Star Pastry has morphed into latte form and is now available from the bakery’s Melbourne and Sydney stores. The $7 beverage combines a bespoke strawberry, watermelon and rose syrup with almond milk before the drink is finished with a topping of rose petals, pistachio powder and a spritz of rose water.

Speakeasy Esq opens in Sydney’s QVB

Esq Bar & Dining is the latest venue from Trippas White Group and sees guests transported to another era via a hidden entrance. Esq celebrates the 1920s and is serving a long list of classic cocktails including a gimlet, martini and negroni. Head Chef Guillaume Dubois says he was inspired by the prohibition era when it came to creating the menu, which includes house carrot crackers teamed with French onion dip and a pork schnitzel with egg, white anchovies, capers and jus gras.

High in antioxidants

Can be found in dry, powdered form

Key ingredient in tom yum soup

Available at specialty grocers

Member of the ginger family

Three different varieties: lesser galangal, greater galangal and light galangal

The root is harvested

Prefers rich, moist soil

Galangal

The root herb is a spicy, tangy and piney member of the ginger family.

WORDS Aristine Dobson

Origins

Galangal is one of four rhizomes in the Zingiberacae (ginger) family. The root herb was first cultivated in China and flourished in the Eastern Himalayas. It was introduced to Europe during the 9th century and was widely used for medicinal purposes. It quickly spread throughout South-East Asia via trade routes and became a staple ingredient for many cuisines within the region.

Galangal is prevalent in India, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as the South Pacific. In Australia, galangal is mostly grown in Queensland, but is produced as far south as Victoria.

Growth and harvest

The root is considered a perennial plant that prefers warm tropical climates. Crops are usually planted by setts (small roots) in the

spring to avoid frosty conditions. Setts can be planted on ridges in rich, moist soil at a depth of 10–15cm and at least 30cm apart.

Galangal plants can grow 1m to 2m in height and have long, slender, bladeshaped leaves that reach up to 35cm long. Flowers bloom at the top of the plant and are mostly white in colour with thin streaks of red. Rhizomes can be harvested at any time of the year and are typically dug up carefully with a spade or a shovel. It is recommended rhizomes are harvested and removed as required.

Appearance and flavour profile

Galangal bares resemblance to ginger in shape and texture, but is considered a separate root herb and has its own unique characteristics. Rhizomes have tough, dark red to brown skin with a mostly white interior and are generally hard to break. Galangal rhizomes can vary in size and have

a cylindrical branch-like appearance with bulbous knobs.

Galangal is spicy, peppery and tart and is comparable to ginger when it comes to flavour profile. It’s described as citrusy and piney with an underlying heat. Some varieties of fresh galangal exude a strong, sour, menthol taste when used in cooking.

Culinary applications

The root should be peeled before use. The flesh can be sliced, bruised, minced or grated depending on the recipe, but it can also be turned into a powder or a paste.

Galangal is an essential ingredient in South-East Asian cookery and is mainly used in marinades, curries, stir fries and soups. The root is commonly accompanied by lemongrass and is a key ingredient in tom yum soup in Thailand. Galangal is also heavily used in Malaysia and Indonesia in dishes such as sambal, laksa, satay and beef rendang.

The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook

WHEN I RECEIVED the invitation to compile a book of Mexican vegetarian recipes, I saw the opportunity to show the deep vegetarian roots that traditional Mexican cuisine has. The further back we go in the history of the region, the more vegetarian the roots of its cuisine become. Let’s start by recognising three fundamental traits: that the domestication of corn by the ancient inhabitants of Mesoamerica (today’s Mexico) began more than eight thousand years ago; that there was no type of livestock available — they had domesticated certain farmyard animals in small quantities, such as rabbits, hairless dogs and turkeys; and, finally, we should recognise that the great natural biodiversity of the vast Mesoamerican lands is manifested in the large quantity of its endemic ingredients: fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds, edible flowers, etc.

In this, I saw an opportunity to show to the world that Mexican cuisine is not what many people think: that it is a greasy, unhealthy and unbalanced with little variety and excess sugar. This is absolutely false and it shows the need to promote our culinary wealth and culture. Mexican cuisine is one of the most varied and sophisticated in the world; so much so that in 2010 it was included on the list of Cultural and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, given that it unifies the diversity that characterises the Mexican nation, as well as its antiquity, originality, and authenticity.

Beyond corn, beans, and chile, the multitude of produce that defines Mexican cuisine is woven across the different regions of the country like a tapestry. These ingredients define the territory from where they hail, as well as referencing the history of the area. This is why it is impossible to pigeonhole Mexican cuisine to a few known staples.

In Mexico, we usually eat a very substantial breakfast or a light breakfast and a substantial lunch, depending on our work schedules. Then a large lunch, where we start with a snack or appetiser, which is often offered with a shot of tequila or mezcal, before lunch with friends, family, or guests; then comes a light, hot or cold starter, and some soup, comforting for the body and the soul.

For our main course, we offer delicious dishes in which you can substitute the vegetables according to your taste and their seasonal availability.

The dishes I am sharing in this book are designed so that you can introduce more variety into your daily vegetarian diet, as they have all the necessary nutrients to constitute a healthy diet. I hope you receive it with good spirit and that you prepare these dishes with pleasure, so that you can enjoy them in your home, as I do in mine. Mi casa es tu casa (My house is your house).

Beans and quelites tamales

Region: Central Mexico

Cooking time: 1 hour

Preparation time: 45 minutes, plus 20 minutes resting Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 60g onion, sliced

• 2 tablespoons corn oil

• 500g quelites (wild greens), or spinach, watercress or any edible green leaf, rinsed and roughly chopped

• 2 cups (340g) cooked black beans, with some of their cooking liquid

• 3 large sprigs epazote, leaves finely chopped

• 1 cup (250ml) water, vegetable stock or bean broth

• 1⅓ cups (300g) vegetable shortening

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon fine salt

• 8¾ cups (1kg) masa harina

• 2 bunches of dried corn husks, soaked in hot water until soft, then drained

• Sea salt

Method

1. Sauté the onion in a pan with some of the oil, add the chopped quelites (wild greens) and cook until any juices are released. Season with salt to taste and tip into a strainer (sieve). Using the back of a spoon, press the leaves against the strainer or squeeze them between your hands, to remove all excess liquid.

Set aside.

2. In another pan, cook the black beans

in the remaining oil, until they lose most of their liquid. Smash with a potato masher. Add the chopped epazote leaves and salt to taste.

Set aside.

3. Beat the stock, shortening, baking powder and fine salt into the masa harina. If it’s too stiff, add more liquid a little at a time.

4. Take a corn husk and spread a generous spoonful of corn dough onto it. Next, add a tablespoon of beans at the center of the corn husk and another of quelites. Close the tamal by folding the sides of the husk inwards and then the bottom tip back over to enclose that end.

5. Place the basket in a steamer and pour water into it — the water must not exceed the level of the basket. Line the basket with corn husks and place the tamales standing upright, with open ends up, just tightly enough to keep them standing. Lay a few soaked corn husks or a damp tea towel over the top of the tamales before adding the lid, to prevent steam from escaping.

6. Cook over high heat for 1 hour or until the dough comes off the corn husk easily when the tamale is unwrapped. Let the tamales rest, covered, for 20 minutes before serving.

■

This is an edited extract from The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook published by Phaidon.

Margarita Carrillo Arronte

Bar cart

Thirst quenchers, slow sippers and all things beverage related.

EDITED BY Annabelle Cloros

Mix it up

Bartenders now have a new option when it comes to rum and whisky mixers thanks to Fever-Tree. The brand has launched Distillers cola, which is made from Caribbean kola nuts, Tahitian limes and distilled botanicals and spices. “Many people have mastered what to mix with their favourite light spirits but are confused when it comes to the world of dark spirits mixing,” says Brand Ambassador Trish Brew. “With aromas of zesty lime and subtle spice, we’re proud to offer a mixer that your whisky truly deserves.”

Available nationally in four packs for $9.49 from Dan Murphy’s. fevertree.com

Good days

Days & Daze are making wines with a difference — drops produced with a minimal carbon footprint that also happen to be natural, organic and vegan. The range covers Sunchaser Rosé ($22), Wild One Pet Nat ($24), Freethinker Shiraz ($22) and Sunswill Pinot Gris ($22). “From our 100 per cent recyclable and compostable packaging right down to our considered winemaking practices, we’re as serious about creating sustainable change as we are about making delicious wine,” says Brand Manager Kate Lawton. daysanddaze.com

Get hazy

Local brewery Young Henrys has added a summerappropriate pale ale to its core range. Hazy pale ale is made and packed in New South Wales and features Topaz, Mosaic, Idaho-7 and Calypso hops, resulting in a bouquet of tropical stone fruit and citrus. The beer has a 5.2 per cent ABV and is available in kegs and cans.

Citrus hit

Four Pillars is fast expanding its RTD line-up using one of the distillery’s most in-demand gins: yuzu. Fresh Yuzu gin and soda is Four Pillars’ first canned option that includes soda and is an homage to the highball. Extra yuzu has been crammed in during the gin’s distillation process, meaning the low-cal drink doesn’t skip on the flavour. Available in a $28 four-pack from Four Pillars and bottle shops by summer. fourpillarsgin.com

Barrelled down

Sydney distillery Brix spent more than three years working on its debut rum Select Cask Series — Stout Barrel Release. The small-batch specialty rum has a base of single-origin refinery-grade molasses sourced from Bundaberg in Queensland which is combined with Champagne and Caribbean rum yeast. The dark spirit features notes of peach, apricot, cherry and dark chocolate — but hurry, there are just 580 bottles available for $149.

IntroducingNEW Cooking Cream

Spin the wheel

Rumble’s cocktail list offers a glimpse into the wide world of South-East Asian ingredients.

WORDS Annabelle Cloros PHOTOGRAPHY Steven Woodburn

THE ART OF cocktail-making is just that — an art. But churning out the same drinks day after day can take the fun out of the job. While practice makes perfect, there’s something to be said for adding an experiential element to the ordering process, which is what Rumble in Sydney has done in the form of cocktail roulette and an ever-evolving drinks list that showcases the heritage of the bartenders who make them.

The restaurant is based around four pillars — salt, sour, spicy and sweet — with parallels drawn between what you’d find on the plate and in the glass. Hospitality speaks with Head Bartender Patty Chareonsuk about using ingredients the Rumble team grew up with, why cocktail roulette is as fun for bartenders as it is for guests and how to give classic drinks a very welcome twist.

Rumble swung open its doors last August in The Star Sydney and is described as a restaurant that is ‘a collision of SouthEast Asian flavour and culture’. Head Chef Benjamin Tan is spearheading the culinary direction of the venue while Patty Chareonsuk leads a team of four bartenders.

The worlds of food and drink very much collide at Rumble, with Chareonsuk working closely with Tan to create cocktails that are equally enjoyable with food as they are solo. “The cocktails are based on spicy, salty, sour and sweet and South-East Asian flavours,” says the head bartender. “I spoke with the chef and paired my signature cocktails with his

flavours. My background is Thai, and I’ve worked with Thai food for a while, so most of the ingredients I’m using are from Thailand, but I cross over to Malaysian flavours as well. I know a lot of people love Asian flavours and herbs, so I use things like kaffir lime leaf or lemongrass which they can recognise.”

the flower, but it’s difficult to buy fresh, so we buy them frozen. We try to get as much flavour as we can from the flower.”

Rumble’s cocktail list is split into four sections: sweet, salty, sour and spicy with two to three options sitting under each category. While the drinks may feature ingredients that are unknown to some, the framework is clear. “I don’t want to go too far from classic cocktails,” says Chareonsuk. Take the Iced Chiang Mai — a riff on a Long Island iced tea — which sees Bacardi teamed with Thai tea and spiced rum along with sugarcane. “It’s the same as the tea you get in Thai restaurants and has a hint of lemon. It’s quite aromatic compared to Malaysian or Singaporean teas.”

While butterfly pea flower tea is identifiable by its vibrant blue hue and herbaceousness and kaffir lime for its spicy citrus flavour, there’s one ingredient that’s found across the entire drinks list: bunga kantan or torch ginger flower.

The flower is part of the ginger family and is used heavily across Indonesian, Malaysian and Thai cookery, with the perennial plant found in everything from sambal bongkot (chilli sauce) to Penang laksa and fresh Thai salads. “It’s also one of the main ingredients used in the kitchen,” says Chareonsuk. “Almost every cocktail has

Hot in Bangkok has fast become one of the restaurant’s best-sellers and is comparable to a Caipiroska. The drink’s flavour profile is defined by lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaf and chilli — a combination that’s also used to make tom yum soup — which is made into a syrup for the cocktail. “I smash everything together, so the flavours are more complex and then boil it with palm sugar to make the syrup,” says the bartender, who also lines the rim of the glass with a bespoke salt mixture for “double flavour”. The spicy and sour cocktail has punch and is a tribute to a memory from Chareonsuk’s childhood. “My hometown is near Bangkok and when my family gathers together, my parents cook tom yum,” says the bartender.

“In most Thai families, they cook a stir fry and soup and something spicy. I want to

roulette

“Sometimes guests don’t know what they want so they can just pick a card and get a surprise cocktail straight away.” – Patty Chareonsuk

DRINKS

// Cocktail

share flavours through my ideas and my own experiences, too.”

Margaritas have been having a moment for a while now, but Rumble’s is a little different from the norm. “I make it with herbs and create a salt with mint, lemongrass and kaffir lime and infuse the liquor with tropical fruits such as pineapple so it has wow factor,” says Chareonsuk. “Customers understand what a margarita is and it’s easy to explain to the guest.”

It’s a similar story for the Oh Lieng, which sees Thai coffee teamed with vodka and Kahlua for a Rumble take on an espresso martini. “You usually buy the coffee in a bottle and mix it with water and add condensed milk,” says the bartender. “I put the coffee through the espresso machine and it’s light, smooth and has a bit of sweetness.”

For some, picking a drink from an enticing list is a challenge. Sometimes, it’s easier to let the professionals take care of things, which is where cocktail roulette comes in. Double-sided coasters displaying animals are placed in front of patrons who choose from a deck that covers spicy, sweet, sour and salty options. “A lot of people are doing it and sometimes guests don’t know what they want so they can just pick a card and get a surprise cocktail straight away,” says Chareonsuk. “The coasters have animals on them such as a snake, rabbit or tiger and the customer can’t really tell what they mean, but the colour indicates the flavour.”

It’s an exercise in interactivity for bartenders and patrons, who can talk about the inspiration behind the drinks. “When they sit down at the bar, it gives them something to discuss with the bartender and we tell them where the cocktail comes from,” says Chareonsuk. “The drinks are based not just on my own experiences in Thailand and Australia, but my team’s.”

The bartending brigade at Rumble is made up of just five people in total, which gives staff an opportunity to workshop their own creations which often run as weekly specials that change each Friday. “My team comes from different countries such as China, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia and they create their own cocktails based on their backgrounds,” says Chareonsuk. “We try to play with ingredients. We have weekly meetings where we talk about different produce and test drinks and then we pick the best ones which become the bartender’s recommendation of the week.”

Food and drink go hand in hand, but it’s rare to find a bar team that ventures beyond the traditional shared ingredients of citrus and mint to come up with a cocktail list that doesn’t shy away from flavour profiles that are traditionally reserved for the kitchen. With most tables ordering a cocktail at Rumble, it’s safe to say the bartenders have shaken things up for patrons looking for a drinking experience that toes the line between familiarity and fun. ■

A margarita riff sees liquor infused with pineapple

Sugarcane is the sweetener in the Iced Chiang Mai

Hot in Bangkok is made with tom yum syrup

Kantan flowers are used across the menu

Think

Think ResDiary.

Unlock your venue’s full potential

Dave Stewart

WORDS Aristine Dobson PHOTOGRAPHY Kristoffer Paulsen

The Gippsland chef has embraced change at his Melbourne venue Ascot Food + Wine.

OPENING AND SUSTAINING a successful restaurant involves a lot more than just curating an outstanding menu. It requires navigating licences, bookwork, rostering, general operations and much more. Dave Stewart has been through it all. The Gippsland-born chef opened Ascot Food Store in Melbourne’s Moonee Ponds in 2014. While his dream was to run a bistro, technicalities resulted in the launch of a café instead.

Rebranding brings operators a new set of challenges and an element of risk. But after hitting the refresh button, Stewart recently launched Ascot Food + Wine — a venue that teams European fare with a stellar wine selection. The chef talks to Hospitality about growing up in Gippsland, receiving the keys to his first restaurant space and how he transformed the venue from a day to night concept.

The Victorian region of Gippsland is renowned for its incredible scenery, farms and produce. It has long been a source of inspiration for chefs across the country, including Dave Stewart, who spent much of his childhood with his grandparents in Yinnar. “Without sounding too cliché about it all, it got me in touch with that whole ‘living off the land’ thing,” he says. “They had property with orchards and berries and my grandmother had a love for baking and cooking.”

Stewart would later move to Traralgon, a “bigger country town”, where he pulled some strings to get his first kitchen gig. “One of my cousins Jodie [Vogt] was a restaurateur,” he says. “She owned two pubs, a restaurant and a hotel. When I was at school, I was unsure of what I wanted to do, so I hit her up and asked if I could do some work experience and that was where it all began. I fell in love with cooking and the way the kitchen worked.”

It wasn’t long before the budding chef picked up a part-time job with his best mate who shared Stewart’s passion for homegrown ingredients. “His parents owned a big fruit and veg shop in Gippsland,” he says. “We used to spend a lot of time going up to the market buying produce and getting a real understanding of how [it all worked], which was exciting as a teenager.”

Stewart moved to Melbourne in 1999 to start his apprenticeship at Chris Lucas’ since-closed No.1 Fitzroy Street in St Kilda. “I worked there for a while, but I wanted to get into the hotel scene because there was all this talk about cooking competitions,” he says. “Sofitel and Hilton were big on that sort of thing, so I applied for jobs in a few different hotels and ended up getting one at Hilton On The Park with Frank Burger and Stefano Veralio.”

Stewart was plunged into the fast-paced world of hotel kitchens, which meant the chef was cooking for a broad customer base. “Hotels are good because you have the restaurant, catering and functions, so it opened my eyes when it came to learning [about cooking] mass volumes,” he says.

The then 23-year-old chef moved on from hotel dining and worked at a few different restaurants around the Arts Centre in Southbank until he was approached by Chef Chris Moraitis and seafood distributor Nick Frangoulis who asked him to run Tender Trap in East Doncaster.

Stewart

It was a tenure that spanned more then nine years before the chef departed to help open historic pub The Vincent in Albert Park. But the chef had his eye on a prime piece of restaurant real estate in Moonee Ponds. “It was a Spanish deli my mates and I used to go and get sandwiches from,” says Stewart. “The owner’s name was Lewis. Every time I went in there, I was like, ‘Let me know when you want to sell’. It had a lot of character and was in the middle of a residential area.”

Stewart’s persistence eventually paid off and led to a gamechanging phone call that propelled him into the next phase of his career. “He rang me one day out of the blue and said, ‘Alright, I’m ready to sell’,” says the chef.

The concept was originally a contemporary European bistro with a top-notch beverage selection, but the launch was halted due to delays in permits. “It already had a bottle shop licence when I took it on, so I didn’t think getting a general consumption licence would be too difficult,” says Stewart. “We had a lot of issues and objections from neighbouring properties.”

A decision was made to pivot and open a café instead. Ascot Food Store had a flying start when it launched in 2014 and maintained its popularity over the years. “In hindsight, it was sort of perfect for that time and it took off,” says Stewart. “I had never done a café before, so I had a restaurant approach and philosophy [when it came to the] dishes. It ended up becoming successful, but it wasn’t what I wanted it to be.”

Stewart never gave up on the idea of running dinner service, and the opportunity would present itself years later. “After six and a half years of going through council, court and jumping through all those hoops, we ended up getting our liquor licence approved with a lot of conditions,” says Stewart. “We started to put all the bits and pieces together to be able to operate until the end of the year with the prediction of opening in 2020, but then obviously Covid happened.”

The venue would close for almost two years while Stewart took a much-needed break and moved to Byron Bay to reignite his enthusiasm for the kitchen. “Towards the end of Ascot Food Store, I lost a lot of passion,” says the chef. “I ended up getting a job with Jason [Saxby] at Raes on Wategos. It was probably the best thing I did because I got to cook again without the stresses of business. When I came back, I felt like I was in a better place.”

Ascot Food Store reopened under the new name of Ascot Food + Wine in May last year with a refreshed interior and menu. “We couldn’t come back as the same business,” says Stewart. “We absorbed all these costs [from Covid] and I had to look at [growth prospects], so we decided to invest in relaunching and rebranding. The scary part for us was changing from a café to a restaurant.”

Bidding farewell to Ascot Food Store felt like a step in the right

“You can’t be emotionally attached because there are so many decisions to make; everything has to be for the greater good of the business.” Dave Stewart

direction for Stewart. “Everyone thought I was pretty crazy for wanting to kill a successful brand,” he says. “We needed a fresh start with a new look, fit out, brand and name.”

served with mustard, fried capers and chives on top. It’s sour and creamy, but it’s one of those dishes where you can taste every single ingredient on the plate.”

The kingfish vitello tonnato features bonito vinegar

Ascot Food + Wine seats 100 guests Stewart sources seafood from South Australia and Corner Inlet

A zesty and refreshing yuzu sour is on the drinks list

The European bistro covers dinner service on Wednesday to Saturday, lunch Wednesday to Sunday as well as breakfast on weekends. The fare is inspired by some of Stewart’s culinary idols, namely Charlie Trotter and Marco Pierre White, with Stewart poring over books from both chefs. “I’ve always loved classic, elegant, simple food that’s cooked really well,” he says.

“It’s just a little bit more approachable.”

Stewart also decided to hero his hometown of Gippsland by using its produce throughout the menu. “A lot of stuff we’re using is sourced from Gippsland because that’s where I come from,” he says. “A lot of the fruit and vegetables comes from Thorpdale.”

A modern take on vitello tonnato is just one of the dishes that has stirred up plenty of interest. “I turned it into a kingfish dish where we dry it and slice it the way you would with veal,” says the chef. “We lightly cure the kingfish so it’s dry, then we use yellowfin tuna that is confit overnight with bonito vinegar, zucchini and oil, so you end up with a tart tuna mayonnaise

The dinner menu at Ascot Food + Wine works harmoniously with the beverage selection, which has been curated by Co-Owner and Front of House Manager Shaun Hampson. “A lot of the wine is European and there’s a nice range of French, German and Italian wines,” says Stewart. “We’ve got some beautiful Chablis and amazing Australian Chardonnay. It’s a nice blend of everything. A lot of research and tastings have gone into the list.”

Running a business has been a rewarding and challenging chapter in Stewart’s career. Transitioning Ascot from a café to a restaurant has been a welcome change for the chef who is keeping longevity front of mind. “It’s a lot better as a business model and is what we set out to do,” he says. “We’ve been around for nearly 10 years now and we plan to stay around for a lot longer. I had to take my chef hat off and put my business hat on. You can’t be emotionally attached because there are so many decisions to make; everything has to be for the greater good of the business.”

“Everyone thought I was pretty crazy for wanting to kill a successful brand.”

Dave Stewart

Sicily in Sydney

A Paddington restaurant that’s Sicilian through and through.

WORDS Annabelle Cloros

SIMONE CRIVELLO GREW up in restaurants — specifically, his father’s seaside trattoria in the town of Porticello, Sicily. Crivello began his culinary career at Trattoria Francu U’ Piscaturi washing dishes, gradually learning the ropes of the family business while mastering recipes passed down from his grandmother and father.

Crivello’s father is known as the man behind one of the most lauded restaurants in Sicily, with the restaurateur once travelling the world with his son to teach people from countries including Japan about the intricacies of Sicilian cuisine.

The thing about Sicilian cookery is that it’s largely defined by what’s found in its picturesque surrounds — aka the sea. And while some similarities can be drawn between Sicilian and Australian climes,

Sicilian restaurants are nowhere near as prevalent as Northern Italian, Roman or even Sardinian eateries here.

The absence presented a cherry that was ripe for the picking for Crivello and wife Bella Galloway, who turned a Paddington terrace in Sydney into Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea. The pair speak to Hospitality about paying homage to traditional Sicilian food and wine and how the family-run Zafferano is as at home in Paddington as it is as its parent restaurant in Porticello.

Simone Crivello’s father founded his restaurant in 1970, and it’s still going strong more than half a century later. “His family were all fishermen, and he opened the restaurant to give us the opportunity to learn how to manage our lives around food,” says Crivello, who started his culinary career in

the kitchen at the age of nine. “I was always around food during my childhood. My childhood was spent running to the wharf, jumping on a boat and choosing live fish to bring back to the restaurant. But I started expanding my knowledge beyond seafood in my 20s. I worked at other restaurants around the highlands in Sicily to learn how to cook game meats such as wild boar and rabbit. I later travelled to India, America, London and South Africa.”

2010 marked the year Crivello became a part-owner of his father’s business alongside his siblings. “After a couple of years, I understood my way of doing business was different from my family’s, so I told them I was going on a holiday for a couple of months so I could take the time to work out what I wanted to do moving forward.”

// Sicilian

“I wanted to reproduce the authenticity of my dad’s restaurant.” Simone Crivello

Australia was the destination of choice, and was a life-changing decision for Crivello, which his father predicted before he had even left Sicily. “My dad looked me in the eye and said, ‘You won’t come back’,” he says. “I arrived on my 40th birthday in 2013 and I really loved the place.”

Crivello spent the next three years studying business and hospitality management while working in restaurants — “anything to stay”, he says. He would meet his future wife Bella in 2016 with the pair discovering a corner shop on Paddington’s South Dowling Street two years later. “It’s how Zafferano was born — from a prospective idea and dream.”

Zafferano is named after the cape in Palermo and is the place where Crivello spent his summers. “My idea was to reproduce the authenticity of my dad’s restaurant,” he says. The chef and his wife always planned to open a trattoria, however a technicality resulted in a different concept — Zafferano Caffe Mediterraneo, which opened in April 2021. “Our landlord didn’t realise the DA didn’t have a liquor licence attached to it and changing it can take months,” explains Galloway. “We had to open [last year] to get some traction, so we were doing breakfast the Sicilian way.”

While the pair waited for the liquor licence to come through, the café iteration of Zafferano was winning customers over with cannoli, sfincione (Sicilian pizza) and sfingi (donuts). When the licence was approved, the state went into lockdown just two weeks later. “We only had a few nights of trade,” says Galloway. “But we got through lockdown by doing pasta with wine and started promoting ourselves as a trattoria to the community. We were burnt out because it was just the two of us — we had no staff.”

Crivello and Galloway decided to “just go for it” in October and officially launched the restaurant they intended to before the false start. For Crivello, the 25-seat Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea “is the highest expression of Sicilian food in small doses”.

The chef has purposely created a concise menu to illustrate dishes that best exemplify the nucleus of Sicilian cuisine. “Our menu is super small and always seasonal [like it is in Sicily], so we try to honour that,” says Galloway, who works with suppliers and producers around Sydney to stock the kitchen alongside Crivello.

The restaurant doesn’t have a cool room, which means the pair are hyper aware of serving ingredients at their peak. “We are waste-free because we don’t have a cool room,” says Galloway. “We constantly go to our sustainable butcher and pick up the meat for the specials and we talk to the fishermen, which is similar to the way they do it over there.”

Zafferano is putting up dishes Sydneysiders may have never come across before, let alone considered the story behind what’s on the plate. “Sicily was dominated by Greece, France and Spain and it influenced the way we cook food,” says Crivello. “There

“You can close your eyes and imagine where the grapes grow.”

— Simone Crivello

SIERRA MELAMINE PLATTERS AND BOARDS

BEVERAGE DISPENSER

are only two areas in Italy where they use fish and Mediterranean flavours which is Liguria and Veneto on the Adriatic side. 60 per cent of Sicilian dishes are vegetarian and there is a lot of beans, cauliflower, potato, artichoke and greens. It’s quite light and fresh compared to the north. The basic dishes are seafood and then we have specials where I do Mediterranean dishes that are made in Sicily.”

The menu is structured according to a ‘quattro, quattro, quattro, quattro’ format, which sees dishes listed under antipasti, pasta, share plates and sides. There’s also a rotating specials board which recently ran spaghetti with artichokes and prawns as well as a lesser-known dish — swordfish impanato. “We don’t do fish like this in Australia,” says Galloway. “It’s put in breadcrumbs with herbs, garlic and olive oil and baked in the oven.”

The seafood risotto is Zafferano’s signature dish and is an homage to Crivello’s father’s recipe. It’s been a big crowd-pleaser for the Paddington trattoria — so much so that patrons have travelled to Sicily to try the original for themselves. “Some of our diehard customers have been to Simone’s father’s restaurant and sent photos saying, ‘This is so crazy — the risotto is exactly the same’,” says Galloway.

Other highlights include prawn and pistachio linguine, a combination that’s unique to Sicily. “It isn’t really found anywhere except Sicily,” says Galloway. “They often blend nuts with seafood.” Seafood misto is teamed with a light red sauce/ broth and served in a traditional Sicilian bowl alongside crostini for dunking purposes. Fried eggplant parmigiana with pecorino is covered with a ‘Napoli’ sauce that’s been passed down from generation to generation. “I learned from my great aunt when I was around 11,” says Crivello, who makes the sauce every two days.

As for the wine list, it’s completely Sicilian, just like the menu. It’s been an exercise in education for Galloway, with many guests accustomed to Australian wines. “Our wine list rotates depending on the seasons and it’s been interesting because a lot of people don’t know the grape varieties,” she says. “Simone also has a background as a sommelier, so he really knows his wine regions. We wanted to do everything Sicilian.”

Nero d’Avola has been described as ‘the most important red wine grape in Sicily’, which means it’s on the list. The medium-bodied wine is perhaps most comparable to a Shiraz and is known for its notes of red fruit and savoury qualities. “It has cherry and chocolate notes, but it’s light enough to drink with a whitebased pasta,” says Galloway. “The red berry and liquorice is incredible,” adds Crivello.

Etna Rosso is made from Nerello grapes (Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Mantellato) grown in volcanic soils. “It’s one of the oldest grapes and it’s quite mineral,” says Crivello. “You can close your eyes and imagine where the grapes grow. When people try our wines, they say they are completely different to the Australian wines they’re used to drinking.”

Zafferano has undergone a significant transformation since it first opened its doors as a café to becoming the trattoria Crivello and Galloway imagined when they drove down South Dowling Street. Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea is emblematic of what Sicilian cuisine is all about — seasonality, seafood and simplicity — and it’s a more than welcome addition to the Sydney dining scene. “Customers will compliment me and say they feel like their grandmother has come down from heaven and made them a plate of pasta,” says Crivello. “As a Sicilian, it’s a big deal. It means what I’m doing is the right thing.”

Sicilian olives to marinate in-house

The trattoria only serves Sicilian wines

Nuts and seafood are often combined in Sicilian pasta dishes

Zafferano sells traditional pastries that are perfect with coffee

Freekeh

Zero to hero

Today’s

THE NO- AND low-alcohol movement (or NoLo) has well and truly shaken off any assumptions it was a trend. Patrons have been considering their drinking habits for a while now, with many making the decision to reduce their alcohol consumption or cut it out completely.

Venues around the country have taken note by providing guests with varied menu options. As non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits continue to rise in popularity and prevalence, bartenders are finding innovative ways to create and serve high-quality drinks.

The industry has traded sugar-heavy mocktails, soft drinks and juices for zero-proof cocktails that are just as good as the real deal. Hospitality speaks to Andrea Gualdi from the Ovolo Group and Carolyn Whiteley from Seadrift Distillery about working with zero-alc spirits, creating cocktails that stack up to the classics and why they think booze-free drinks are here to stay.

Non-alc spirits have completely changed the game for bartenders, who can now craft cocktails for all customers using a wide range of highquality options. “My philosophy is that if you don’t need meat to enjoy a good dish, you don’t need alcohol to enjoy a good drink,” says Andrea Gualdi, Ovolo Group’s beverage director. “Nonalcoholic options give every bartender the ability to play around with non-alcoholic cocktails the

same way they would with alcoholic ones. It opens up a lot more room for creativity.”

The beverage director recently developed a range of zero-alcohol cocktails for Ovolo venues, a move that signals the importance of catering to the drinking preferences of all patrons. “It’s really important for us to have non-alcoholic options because it is not just a temporary trend,” says Gualdi. “It’s really becoming its own category.”

While bars are providing added options, other establishments are completely alcoholfree. Carolyn Whiteley is the owner of Seadrift Distillery in Sydney’s Brookvale — Australia’s first non-alcoholic distillery. “There has been a massive cultural shift in the way we approach alcohol,” she says. “At first people were like, ‘Why would I need a non-alcoholic spirit, beer or wine?’ and now it’s completely accepted.”

Seadrift distils non-alcoholic spirits that have carved out their own pocket in the local market and contributed to a much bigger picture. “There’s a role for these types of products today that allows people to be included in social events and to cut back without questions as to why they’re not drinking,” says Whiteley.

Gualdi’s zero-proof drinks have been designed to fit in with each Ovolo restaurant and bar. “For me, it was important to make sure the cocktails did not compromise the original identity of the

“We shouldn’t have people coming in and ordering water, soft drinks or lemon, lime and bitters. They should have options.” Carolyn Whiteley

venue,” he says. An example is a Middle Eastern-inspired martini bar at Za Za Ta in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. “We introduced teas and other Middle Eastern ingredients.”

Seadrift Distillery’s So-Bar is located inside the facility and sees non-alc spirits whipped up into a range of cocktails that are familiar to most patrons. “We have a core menu with a nonalcoholic margarita, porn star martini, watermelon and mint gimlet and an espresso martini,” says Whiteley.

The team experiments with products from different businesses and develops recipes for bars, harnessing relationships with local producers to evolve its own range, too. “We have a number of brands and partnerships that are providing us with different spirits, mixers and bitters,” says Whiteley.

The scope for non-alcoholic cocktails has changed considerably over the past few years, and it’s all thanks to the advancement of different spirits and liqueurs in the category. “Before the arrival of nonalcoholic spirits, bars were basically mixing up juices they would use for cocktails and putting a little umbrella in the glass,” says Gualdi. “It was not really something people were spending time creating.”

Gualdi has welcomed the change with open arms and cites brands such as Seedlip and Lyre’s as his go-tos. “Seedlip creates very unique flavours whereas Lyre’s mocks the flavour of alcoholic spirits,” says the bartender. “We use both brands because it gives us a broad range of flavours to play with.”

Seedlip’s Spice 94 and Lyre’s bitter vermouth are two of Gualdi’s most-used products. “Spice is very complex and has a beautiful flavour,” he says. “I’m Italian, so I like to go for the bitter or the non-alcoholic vermouth from Lyre’s to make a non-alcoholic Negroni. It’s surprisingly close to a regular Negroni.”

Seadrift distils three products made from local Australian ingredients that have no added sugar. “We have a very fortuitous circumstance in Australia where we have access to such beautiful produce and a really consistent, great-quality supply that’s unique to our place in the world,” says Whiteley. “We have the opportunity to work with fresh botanicals.”

The Seadrift Classic is distilled with fresh coriander, kaffir lime and local sea kelp foraged from the shores of the Northern Beaches. “It’s a really light spirit-based product,” says Whiteley. “It’s quite sessionable, so it’s one you could drink several glasses of. It’s designed to go with seafood, fragrant stir fries and curries.”

The brand has also come out with its own non-alcoholic gin product in response to the rising popularity of the spirit. “You can mix it with tonic water and it’s got quite a deep intensity to it,” says Whiteley. “It has peppery notes from the juniper and the rosemary and fresh basil provides natural sweetness.”

The gin is used as a base for the limited-edition Wild Hibiscus product. “It has tropical notes, and we get a lot of mixologists wanting to use it in cocktails because it has balance,” says Whiteley.

Variety is a key touchpoint for zero-proof menus and allows guests to explore the versatility of the category. “People will go between different types of non-alcoholic spirits,” says Whiteley. “They want to experiment, and they want to try different things. It is a category that Australia is doing well in and we need to support the industry to ensure producers survive and continue adding value to it.”

Bartenders need to pay special attention to equilibrium when it comes to developing non-alcoholic cocktails. “Once you remove the alcohol from a cocktail, it’s really down to the ability of the bartender to balance flavours and deliver a good product,” says Gualdi. “Look for complexity. When you play [around with] nonalcoholic products, sometimes it’s easy to have a one-dimensional beverage and that’s why we take inspiration from classic cocktails. You need to maintain balance between acidity, sweetness and mouthfeel.”

Whiteley believes quality is of the utmost importance and that non-alcoholic options should not be an afterthought. “Start with highquality ingredients from spirits to juices,” she says. “People don’t want to give up beautiful spirits for something average.”

A seasonal approach should also be taken. Ovolo’s menus are in constant rotation and reflect the way patrons drink at different points of the years. “It’s a combination of lots of different styles and it changes seasonally,” says Gualdi. “You have classic long drinks, sipping styles such as a martini or a Negroni [as well as] sours, which are refreshing. We try to create a broad selection to please the majority of people.”

Gualdi tips Alibi’s mandarin kombucha which uses a house-made kombucha for added depth of flavour. “We ferment it for approximately 10 days and change the flavours constantly,” says Gualdi. “We let it sit and then we use a machine that carbonates it so it becomes very fizzy. We serve it over frozen grapes instead of ice so guests can eat them after they finish the drink.”

So-Bar also has a kombucha-based cocktail on the menu, but Whiteley tips the watermelon and pink gimlet as a personal favourite. “It provides a huge amount of indulgence without being overly sweet,” she says. “It has Seadrift Coast in it which cuts through the sweetness of the watermelon really well.”

The demand for non-alcoholic cocktails is largely a reflection of shifting consumer habits, with venues and producers coming to the table. Patrons are reducing their alcohol consumption for various personal reasons and it’s a market operators should tap into if they haven’t already done so. “If you don’t offer a non-alcoholic element on the menu, you are pretty much turning business away,” says Gualdi. “The market is now looking for it and there are a lot of people who are turning to these options.”

Whiteley echoes the sentiment and encourages operators to delve into the realm. “It’s important for bartenders to meet consumer demand because customers are driving this change, not the hospitality industry,” she says. “We shouldn’t have people coming in and ordering water, soft drinks or lemon, lime and bitters. They should have options and there’s a lot to offer.”

Ovolo’s nonalcoholic options change seasonally

“If you don’t need meat to enjoy a good dish, you don’t need alcohol to enjoy a good drink.”

Andrea Gualdi

So-bar’s No-Spresso martini uses wattle seed

Alibi’s mandarin kombucha is served with frozen grapes

The Seadrift Classic is made with local sea kelp

It’s time to reconnect

Dressed for success

Practicality, branding and identity should all be considered when it comes to staff uniforms.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER, and

first impressions of people — right or wrong — can be made through their attire. This is true of individuals and groups of people such as hospitality staff. A professional uniform will likely send a positive impression, but it can do more than that.

If well thought out, it can enhance the impact of a brand as well as convey a sense of a venue’s identity. So, what makes a good uniform?

“There is a feeling of a return to classic and refined styling,” says Felicity Rodgers, founder and creative director of Cargo Crew. “Tailored looks including suiting and buttondown shirts are mixed and matched with considered coordinates to provide layers of interest across teams. These elevated styles deliver a polished, cohesive look.”

Layering is key so a casual yet smart look can be easily changed as the space and occasion requires. “Our most popular pieces include our modern shirting range which can be

elevated with a blazer or layered with a knit for a simple modern aesthetic,” says Rodgers.

The design of the uniforms worn by staff should be well considered. There are many aspects of a uniform to think about and adapt to a venue, including practicality, branding as well as collective and individual identity.

In any form of design, colours and symbols are used to evoke emotion or motifs. The same is true of clothing. Venues can use a uniform to reinforce an identity, whether that suggests if the space is formal or casual or enhances the surroundings.

Both are true for Janelle Barraud, general manager of Bribie Island RSL, who wanted to evoke the seaside nature of the Queensland venue through its new uniforms, while also paying homage to the club’s RSL roots.

“We introduced a predominantly blue uniform to reflect that we are located on an island surrounded by sea,” says Barraud. “The scarf worn is a bespoke

design and once undone and laid flat, is actually an illustration of a poppy flower, a symbol of remembrance.”

When changing the offering at a venue, a uniform swap can also help with the new branding and identity of a space. At Dee Why RSL on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, the club’s new Battery House opened in late 2020, with the enormous sports bar considered a pub within the club. At the same time Battery House was launched, so too were the RSL’s new uniforms. The new look not only incorporates a coastal look, but reflects the casual offering that now exists at the club. “Dee Why RSL isn’t your typical RSL and our uniforms aren’t typical RSL uniforms,” says Lauren Kekwick, executive manager – marketing and communications. “Dee Why RSL is professional, but we aren’t corporate — two of our shoe options are Converse and Blundstone.”

Another consideration of uniform design is that different styles work best in different areas of a venue. “From a practicality

perspective, venues may like to consider the diversity of the roles within the business as well as the diversity of individuals amongst the team,” says Rodgers. “A one-style-fitsall approach can be difficult to execute successfully with the varied tasks and functions within a venue. Instead consider a selection of styles that form a cohesive look through curation.”

Not only do different items of apparel serve different functions within a venue, they can also help identify different roles of staff within the venue and convey the casual or formal nature of certain areas of a venue, as is the case at the Greenbank Services Club, south of Brisbane.

Front-of-house staff sport a navy blue button-up tailored shirt in all areas apart from reception. The reception team

uniform consists of a dusty pink tailored shirt, light-grey skirt/pants and jacket with a patterned scarf or tie. “First impressions are vitally important, hence the uplift in appearance for reception,” explains general manager Tim Wright.

Supervisors present in platinum grey button-up shirts with a scarf or tie and managers wear a blue corporate-style buttoned shirt with scarf or tie and suit, all of the same design. The simplified club logo is present on the left lapel of all upper uniforms and above the right rear pocket of pants/skirts worn throughout the venue by back and front of house. All but reception wear the same charcoal tailored and embroidered pants/pleated skirt.

A selection of choices within a uniform collection gives staff the opportunity to

“Consider a selection of styles that form a cohesive look through curation.” – Felicity Rodgers

imbue some of their own identity, preferences and comfort into their workwear. It was also a major part of the brief for the Bribie Island RSL uniforms designed by Cargo Crew, with Barraud wanting to ensure the team could still express their individuality within the club’s style. “The uniforms are deliberately different, and that is what we strive for each day at Bribie RSL,” she says.

“They represent that there is no single ‘fit’ and we introduced multiple pieces of clothing that our team can mix and match to suit their style, comfort and the department they are working in on any particular day. We believe each person’s experience is individual, whether it be our team’s or patrons.”

Personalised avatar name badges at Bribie Island RSL have been a real hit with staff and patrons alike. It’s another way staff express individuality, and it’s a talking point with guests. “The avatars on each person’s badge are designed by them and then we make the badges with the name on them in-house,” says Barraud. “Again, it’s about finding points that are deliberately different and using them as talking [points] with our patrons. The badges are often the start of conversations and ultimately add to our ability to deliver excellent customer service.”

At Greenbank Services Club, polo shirts were recently issued to all team members as an addition to their regular uniform, promoting the club’s Together We Rise (TWR) program in its platinum blue brand colour as well as working well for the warmer weather and for high-volume outlets when it comes to comfort.

The TWR program is ancillary to Greenbank’s Community Benefits program which is open for applications annually. Members and visitors to the club indirectly contribute to the fund by purchasing products in the venue including its exclusive “poppy” products including select

beers and wines. Since its inception, TWR has raised more than $65,000, with the most recent donation of $15,000 handed to flood-affected community members via Foodbank Australia.

“The uniform piece in particular has created a sense of community within the team and given team members a feeling of pride as they display the logo for Together We Rise, which serves as a visible reminder of their contribution to our community,” says GM Tim Wright.

One of the main considerations of staff uniforms is practicality. Will its design allow staff to perform their functions without hindrance? Are the materials hardy enough to withstand the hustle and bustle of a bar or bistro?

Cotton is essential for breathability, while synthetic materials are more durable. Cargo Crew believes they’ve hit the right balance with the Smith Oxford shirt range, which blends the two, and has been a popular choice for hospitality clients. “An additional benefit of the fabric is the mid-weight at which we manufacture it,” says Rodgers. “Traditional Oxford shirts tend to be made from a heavyweight fabric which doesn’t suit the hustle of a busy venue. Therefore, we find the midweight shirting fabrics such as our Smith Oxford and our Frankie gingham checks to best suit our clients’ needs.”

Another consideration is quantities to order for personnel. Each team member will need a few sets of apparel. The general consensus among operators is that staff should be issued three to four sets per year, with replacements provided as necessary. Thus ordering extras in a range of sizes is essential. Uniforms should also be assessed once a year to ensure they are still an optimal representation of a venue.

A uniform may seem like a simple thing to throw together, but careful consideration of its design can ensure staff are comfortable and take pride in their attire. It can make them feel like a part of a team, while giving them the space to express individuality. It can also send instant visual messaging about what a venue can offer.

Getting the three main considerations of your venue’s uniforms right — branding, variety and practicality — goes a long way to ensuring the first impression your staff and venue makes is a positive one.

This

“We introduced multiple pieces of clothing that our team can mix and match to suit their style, comfort and the department they are working in on any particular day.”

Janelle Barraud

For

A seat at the table

WORDS Aristine Dobson PHOTOGRAPHY Kitti Gould for PlateitForward; Everyday Nicholson

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE VENUES are a powerful force within Australia’s dining scene. The establishments are built on the notion that food brings people together and utilise commercial strategies to make a significant social impact.

Whether it is providing support, training and employment to workers or donating meals, social enterprise businesses are designed to assist vulnerable members of the community. For diners, the experience can foster positive interactions and provide an opportunity to learn about food from other cultures.

Hospitality speaks to John Buckney and Roya Rasuly from Kabul Social and Jesi Beaton from Sibling about the importance of collaboration in social enterprise models and making a difference in the kitchen and among the community.

PlateitForward was founded by Shaun ChristieDavid in 2020, with the initiative providing meals to people who were severely affected by the pandemic. Since then, PlateitForward has become a part of Sydney’s hospitality landscape through Sri Lankan restaurant Colombo Social, and most recently, Kabul Social.

The eatery opened its doors in August in Sydney’s MetCentre in the CBD. In addition to

creating authentic Afghan cuisine, Kabul Social provides training and employment opportunities to Afghan refugees settling in Australia.

A group of women from Afghanistan lead the kitchen and run the day-to-day operations, with Roya Rasuly part of the team. “The platform motivates us and is a way to promote ourselves,” she says. “We are a group of women, and when women support women, incredible things happen.”

PlateitForward’s Head Chef John Buckney has worked with the group for a year and says it was a natural fit. “I was really interested in what they were doing and believed in their core values,” he says. “Understanding how a business model like this works is very different. You leave time to make sure you’re compassionate, understanding and adjusted to different cultures.”

Sibling café in Melbourne’s Carlton North opened in 2018 as an extension of the now-closed Kinfolk. “We were effectively their ‘sibling’,” says General Manager Jesi Beaton. “But the demand for volunteer spots was so high that they weren’t able to facilitate it due to space.”

The café is run by a diverse workforce of volunteers who were hired via social media, online advertisements, word of mouth and partner organisations. “At the moment, our

Roya Rasuly

Two social enterprise venues are the embodiment of community enrichment.

“We are a group of women, and when women support women, incredible things happen.”

The number of donated meals is electronically displayed at Kabul Social

Sibling works with Lancaster Consulting to support volunteers with a disability

volunteer cohort is around 32 people,” says Beaton. “They are socially marginalised youth, people who have a disability, have been experiencing long-term unemployment or are just looking for some social inclusion. We provide a space for them to get on-site training and build their skills.”

Sibling’s staff can work at the café for as long as they need to, depending on their own personal goals. “We don’t have a specific timeframe; some volunteered at Kinfolk before Sibling even opened,” says Beaton.

The flatbread at Kabul Social is made to order

Sibling has a small retail space that sells locally made products

Community enrichment is an important aspect of most social enterprise models in hospitality and is usually demonstrated through providing support and employment in the sector. The women at Kabul Social participated in a monthlong training program with PlateitForward and are now gaining valuable experience in a commercial kitchen environment. “We are still learning, but we’ve learned a lot,” says Rasuly. “We work from 11am until 3pm and afterwards we get advice, suggestions and training.”

The team are instrumental in the creation of the menu which features Afghan recipes that have been passed down over generations. “We have lots of experience in Afghanistan with making Afghan food and bread,” says Rasuly. “It [creates] conversations that are related to our culture and to Afghanistan’s traditions.”

Buckney worked with the women to adapt their home-style cooking to a restaurant setting. “I went ahead and gained as much information as I could about Afghan food and I looked at different recipes and asked them if they knew about the dishes,” says the chef. “Sometimes I’d be totally off the mark, and they’d be like, ‘No that’s Iranian’. We basically found the dishes we were after and then they cooked their versions of them.”

While long-term employment is not the objective for everyone, Sibling helps some of its volunteers pursue careers in the industry. “We’re partnering with Fitzroy Learning Network which is our registered training organisation to do a few units for certificates in hospitality,” says Beaton. “We’re starting with an espresso and a hygiene unit and building up as we go along.”

The café has in turn provided some staff with permanent positions in-house. “We have two staff members who used to be volunteers,” says Beaton. “One is the kitchenhand and the other is a front-of-house staff member who’s gone back to volunteering one day a week on top of her shifts because she wants to learn how to bake.”

Both enterprises use food to appeal to the local market while achieving social goals. Kabul Social’s menu encompasses traditional staples such as mantu dumplings, made-to-order flatbread, maash palaw (mung bean rice), Kabuli burgers (wraps) as well as build-your-own Kabuli boxes. “It’s high-quality casual dining with a modern-day health focus,” says Buckney.

“We offer light lunches and Afghan home-cooked meals at the same time.”

Brainstorming and testing dishes has been an exercise in education, bringing the team closer together. “Sometimes we would go through a dish and it just wouldn’t work,” says Buckney.

“We’d go back to the drawing board and make

sure we could find something we knew would sell to the Australian market while maintaining the core of Afghan cookery.”

Every purchase made at the restaurant results in a meal being donated to a family in Australia and another in Afghanistan through Australian aid organisation Mahboba’s Promise. As the restaurant gets busier, more food relief is provided to people in both communities. “Our team is very happy and we are working hard,” says Rasuly. “Day by day, I see improvement. On the first day, there were around 50 people, the second 60 and today 200.”

The team at Sibling also collaborate to workshop dishes for its seasonal menu. “The chefs have control over menu development,” says Beaton. “We have weekly meetings and go through what’s been selling or what’s in season and things we might have seen or tried. The chefs will make the dishes and bring them out for us and everyone in the team gives feedback.”

An example is a vegan mushroom toastie that was originally a weekly special but fast became a staple. “We work with Sporadical City Mushrooms which started years ago [with the owner] growing mushrooms in her garage in Carlton,” says Beaton. “We do weekend specials every Saturday and a lot of regulars will come in and say, ‘This has to go on’.”

Sibling’s dishes also champion produce that is sourced in an environmentally friendly way. “We try our best to find everything as locally as we can,” says

Beaton. “All our packaging is compostable even though it is more expensive.”

The goal of a social enterprise is to make a significant social or environmental change, and Kabul Social and Sibling are doing just that. Rasuly previously worked as a gender specialist in Afghanistan and has always been an advocate for women’s rights. The HR manager is currently utilising her skills to get the word out about Kabul Social and believes the restaurant is empowering others. “When I talk to groups of Afghan refugees or people from Afghanistan, I talk about Kabul Social,” she says. “Every woman wants to come here because they’re motivated and have lots of positive opinions.”

Beaton has witnessed first-hand the positive outcomes of Sibling’s training program. “We can’t employ everybody, but we get them employment ready,” she says. “The confidence and ownership they have of their day is quite wonderful to watch.”

Sibling has firmly established itself within Carlton North’s dining scene and has been highly beneficial for everyone involved. “The community gets really into it,” says Beaton. “Everyone seems to gain a sense of achievement through what they’re doing here.”

Kabul Social and Sibling Café are both thriving in a commercial setting with purpose. The venues share a common mission: allowing everyone to have a fair go in the kitchen while striving for change one dish at a time.

“Understanding how a business model like this works is very different.” John Buckney

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I WORKED AT Sokyo for eight years. It was my second home and always will be. I still miss it a lot now. I worked with some of the best chefs (Chase Kojima, Brian Logan, Sano Takashi and Daniel Kwak) who became my mentors, my best friends and my family. The decision to leave was one of the most difficult I have ever had to make. I really enjoyed working at Sokyo, but I recognised that I needed to change my environment and challenge myself more. I was immediately drawn to LK Hospitalityʼs vision for Yugen restaurant, so here I am! Yugen balances tradition and modernity. The venue aims to deliver a flavourful, innovative and creative culinary experience using Australia’s finest produce. I am learning new things every day from the team. From kitchenhand to director, there is always something you can learn from others.

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My main passion is sushi and sashimi, and platters are my way of showcasing creativity and technique.

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