RC August 2015

AUGUST 2015 $6.95 GST incl.

Official Journal of

Restaurant & Catering

“Eighteen-hour days were pretty much the norm, but we were there for a reason. If I couldn’t learn 10 things every day, I was wasting my time.” David Pugh, Restaurant Two, Brisbane

Restaurant Catering

INDUSTRY GUIDE TO:

The very best pork products,

page 27

Bistro-theque

Content creationEasy ways to engage with

your customers, taking your business to the next level

Effective odour controlSimple and high-tech ways to get rid of bad smells in

the kitchen, page 33

MARKETING SPECIAL

How much-admired chef Nic Watt combined his international experience to develop an über-cool community-

style eatery in Adelaide. Page 20

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Contents

In this issue ...Upfront4 From the Association

John Hart on the new battle before the Fair Work Commission, and Matteo Pignatelli on the roller-coaster ride of business this year

6 News & eventsThis year’s Awards for Excellence series kicks off in Victoria, and much more …

Wisdom

10 Special feature: Why content matters

Why content creation for small business is booming in popularity and what you can do to get started

14 Collaborate and listen How sub-leasing your space could bring a whole new clientele into your business

18 What I’ve learntDavid Pugh on his circular journey with food and business

Stuff

24 New productsThe latest and greatest stuff

27 Product guideRestaurant & Catering magazine’s guide to the best pork products on the market today

33 TechnologyWhat technology is available to get rid of unwanted smells in the kitchen? You’d be surprised …

36 DrinksHere are the best ways to deal with common problems customers may encounter with your drinks

38 DetailsStudio You Me duo married an original Victorian terrace with a commercial space to design The Kettle Black in South Melbourne

August 2015 $6.95 GST incl.

RESTAURANT & CATERING 3

14

10

36

18

Food futurist Acclaimed international chef Nic Watt brings Madame Hanoi to life in Adelaide

COVER STORY20

Restaurant & Catering magazine is published under licence on behalf of Restaurant & Catering by Engage Custom Media, Suite 4.17 55 Miller Street, Pyrmont NSW 2009 www.engagemedia.com.au

Editor: Nicole Hogan Art Director: Lucy Glover Sub-editor: Kerryn RamseyContributors: Ben Canaider, Sarah Norris, Angela Tufvesson, Chris Sheedy, Ilona Varga, Tracey Laity Sales Director: Adam Cosgrove

Direct: (02) 9660 6995 ext 505Fax: (02) 9518 5600 Mob: 0404 351 543 Email: [email protected]

Editorial Director: Rob Johnson Commercial Director: Mark Brown

For all editorial, subscription and advertising enquiries, ph: 1300 722 878Print Post approved PP: 2255003/06505, ISSN 1442-9942

©2014 Engage Custom Media. Views expressed in Restaurant & Catering magazine are not necessarily those of Restaurant & Catering or that of the publisher, editor or Engage Custom Media.Printed by Webstar

Simple systemsHere’s hoping the Fair Work Commission will see sense in R&C’s submission on penalty rates

From the Association

Restaurant & Catering’s mission: To lead and represent the Australian restaurant and catering industry.

Contact details

8,557 - CAB Audited as at March, 2015

Restaurant & Catering AustraliaAddress: Level 3, 154 Pacific Highway, St Leonards NSW 2064Tel: 1300 722 878Fax: 1300 722 396Email: [email protected]: www.restaurantcater.asn.au

President: Matteo Pignatelli (VIC)Senior Vice President: Mark Scanlan (NSW)Junior Vice President: Kevin Gulliver (QLD)Treasurer: Richard Harper (VIC)Chief Executive Officer: John Hart

The Association has now lodged our submissions to the penalty rates case in the Fair Work Commission. This case will most likely be heard in September this year with a view to a decision in early 2016.

The submissions were extensive and focused on the employment impact of penalty rate reform. Survey work undertaken by the Association found that 40,000 jobs would be created by simplifying the penalty rate system to a weekday rate and one weekend rate at a 125 per cent increment.

This sort of structure would go a long way to making the system simpler. While not as simple as one rolled up rate, one weekend rate could replace the 12 possibilities for the weekend rate under the current system. This simplification, of itself, would enable a much higher level of compliance with the Award.

The other aspect of the penalty rate reform case would be 60,000 additional hours created on each Sunday/Public Holiday during which the reform applied. This in fact means that most staff working on an hourly rate on these days would work at least one extra hour. If this was to be the case, staff would not take home any less pay—just work additional hours. It is our great hope that the arguments that R&C are mounting will get traction with the Commission. There is only one thing that is certain—the unions will not agree with the logic of our argument.

John HartCEO, Restaurant & Catering

RestaurantCatering

4 RESTAURANT & CATERING

Join the conversation on theSavour Australia Restaurant &Catering HOSTPLUS Awards forExcellence with #savourawards

/savouraustralia@savouraus

/savour-australia

Discover Hospitality is here to help your career take off—and stay on track. Discover the career possibilities or find suitable staff with #discoverhospitality

#discoverhospitality/discover-hospitality

Keep up to date with Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA) news, events, products and programs, and ‘like’ and ‘follow’ the association on social media with #restcatering

/restaurantandcatering@restcatering

restaurant-&-catering-industry-association

Uncertain timesTourism spend is the one bright spot in a strangely roller-coaster year for restaurant businesses

We are now over half the way through 2015. It has been a very mixed year of results with trading being very variable across the country.

Here in Melbourne turnover has been far stronger than it has been in the recent past. This is contrasted by other areas in Victoria

and, of course, several other States are experiencing very weak trading conditions. Unfortunately SA and WA are both some way down on last year and NSW is flat,

albeit, Sydney is still outperforming the rest of the State. The very concerning trend is a variability week-on-week. I continually experience that we don’t know what to expect on a daily basis with two Thursdays in a row being half the number of each other, for example, with no explanation. As you know, this makes it very difficult to optimise staffing and material costs. This is the great challenge of our industry during times when we can’t rely on event driven or seasonal periods of high demand. Admittedly we are in the depths of winter and the upside months at the end of the year seem a long way away, but lets hope we see a sustainable lift in spending. The only real bright spot is tourism. The Restaurant Australia campaign has increased spend on food and wine by International tourists by 5.7 per cent. This result accompanied by a 22 per cent increase in the recognition of Australia as a food and wine destination will see even more additional spend in the future.

Matteo PignatelliPresident, Restaurant & Catering


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News&events

6 RESTAURANT & CATERING6 RESTAURANT & CATERING

Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA) has begun transitioning to a new website, electronic newsletters, and member database that feature a fantastic new look and are easier to navigate.

HOW TO LOG IN TO THE NEW WEBSITE The new R&CA website is live at www.restaurantcater.asn.au.

The member-only section of the website can be reached by entering your details in the ‘LOG IN’ section featured in the right-hand side toolbar. Members will need to log in using your email address and the postcode of where your business is located.

Once you are logged in, you are able to change your password and contact details as necessary. For security purposes, it is highly recommended you change your details to a personal email address and personalise your password. You will then be able to access members-only information and exclusive discounts from suppliers. HAVING PROBLEMS LOGGING IN?If you have any issues logging in to your account, please contact the R&CA membership team on 1300 722 878.

New R&CA digital communications

The best restaurateurs, caterers and cafe operators in Victoria and Tasmania have been announced at the Savour AustraliaTM Restaurant &

Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence held in Melbourne last month.

More than 520 guests gathered at Peninsula, Docklands, to celebrate the industry’s night of nights, recognising hospitality operators who provide exceptional service, demonstrate culinary excellence, and deliver great ambience and value for money.

The winners of the major award categories include:• O.My restaurant, Beaconsfield.

Restaurant of the Year—Victoria• Me Wah Restaurant, Sandy Bay.

Restaurant of the Year—Tasmania• Fenix Events, Richmond—Caterer

of the Year• SkyHigh Mount Dandenong, Mount

Dandenong. Consumer Vote Award—Victoria Regional/Tasmania

• Bright Young Things, Cremorne. Consumer Vote Award—Victoria Metropolitan.

• Don Cameron of Mudbar & Restaurant in Hobart was honoured with the Lifetime Achiever award.

In addition to their major awards,

Tasmania's Me Wah Restaurant also won best Asian Restaurant while Victoria's Fenix Events won the Function/Convention Centre Caterer category.

Restaurant & Catering Australia (R&CA) chief executive officer John Hart congratulated all the winners who were judged as the best in their chosen category.

“The winners should be proud of their achievements. The dining experiences in Victoria and Tasmania are world-class. The winners tonight make a significant contribution to the industry and our reputation as a destination for great food and wine,” he said. “Serving great food is only one part of the mix; the Awards for Excellence highlights those operators who deliver an exceptional culinary experience. It is this culinary experience that attracts international visitors to our country and is proudly promoted in Tourism Australia’s Restaurant Australia campaign.

“The Awards for Excellence provides an opportunity to promote the fantastic produce and wine grown in these states. R&CA has had a longstanding relationship with Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and

the Victoria On Your Table campaign encourages operators to promote

and source local produce and wine. Local produce is a key selling point for international visitors and avid food

enthusiasts.“I thank all the operators

who participate in the Awards for Excellence program for their passion, commitment

and dedication to their craft,” added Hart.Stewart White, chair of judges for the

Awards for Excellence, said it is important to note that businesses are judged using criteria established by their customers.

“Knowing your customer and exceeding their expectations is pivotal to success. The Awards for Excellence provides a benchmark for this success. Businesses need to serve great food, to evolve and innovate, and invest in their staff. The Awards for Excellence criteria are determined by consumers who rank what is important to them in the dining experience.

“The Awards for Excellence program encourages businesses to be the best they can. The winners are clearly and unequivocally scored as the best hospitality operators in their category,” said White.

Awards for Excellence series kicks off in Melbourne

http://www.restaurantcater.asn.au

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News&events


Apprentices from William Angliss Institute have enjoyed exceptional success in the kitchens, winning a number of prestigious cookery

competitions.The Press Club Restaurant

apprentice chefs, Aimee Cahill and Emma Kaye who are completing their Certificate III in Commercial Cookery at William Angliss Institute, won the Victorian challenge for the 2015 Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award and will go on to represent Victoria in the national final in September.

Mark Agius, manager of the William Angliss Institute Centre for Food Trades and Culinary Arts, said he was proud of all the apprentices who had participated in these

competitions, including those who had won.

“These competitions are a very important

part of training in the industry. It is great to see industry supporting these students and investing in their

development.A team of

apprentices from the Institute also won the

2015 VicTAFE Cookery Challenge, which is Victoria’s most prestigious TAFE cookery competition aimed at developing excellence and achievements in the Victoria student cookery community.

Mentored by professional cookery instructor at William Angliss Institute of TAFE, Lisa Morrison, the team of level-two commercial cookery apprentices Lachlan Maddigan, Ashley Kinnersley-King and Adrienne Coad won the trophy with their three courses judged on the best taste and presentation, professional practices and preparation.

Awards for Angliss apprentice chefs

Right: Aimee Cahill and Emma Kaye. Below, from

left: Ashley Kinnersley-King, Lachlan Maddigan, Lisa

Morrison and Adrienne Coad.

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SEPTEMBER

AUGUST

September 13

Sydney Contemporary art fair, Sept 10-13. sydneycontemporary.com.au Fri 11Go Grazing at the Mudgee Wine Festival in NSW on Sept 11-Oct 5. mudgeewine.com.au Sat 12Sunshine Coast producers, retailers and restaurateurs come together for the Real Food Festival in Maleny, QLD, on Sept 12-13. realfoodfestivals.com.au Sun 13Try decadent desserts at Smooth Festival of Chocolate in Sydney all weekend and in Melbourne on Oct 24-25. smoothfestivalofchocolate.com.au Mon 14See well-priced food options at World of Food India on Sept 14-16. worldoffoodindia.com

Fri 21Get the cold facts on fridge advances at IIR International Congress of Refrigeration in Prague on Aug 21-26. icr2011.org Sat 22More customers requesting gluten-free? Get the facts at the Gluten Free Expo in Sydney on Aug 21-22. glutenfreeexpo.com.au Sun 23Bring your spreadsheets to the Franchising & Business Opportunities Expo in Melbourne on Aug 21-23. franchisingexpo.com.au Mon 24Celebrate in style during WA’s Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. restaurantcater.asn.au Tue 25Future chefs and caterers can learn about school-based apprenticeships during National Skills Week on Aug 24-30. nationalskillsweek.com.au Thu 27Sydney Fish Market Seafood Excellence Awards announce the People’s Choice

Sat 15Brains, Hog Back and Wadworth are just some of the UK’s successful breweries—see more at Great British Beer Festival on Aug 11-15. gbbf.org.uk Sun 16Hong Kong Food Expo is the place to negotiate with wholesalers and suppliers at Trade Hall on Aug 13-17. hktdc.com/fair/hkfoodexpo-en Mon 17Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence continues with ACT winners announced tonight at Hotel Realm, Canberra. restaurantcater.asn.au Tue 18People’s Choice Awards have been announced, all part of next month’s SMH and The Age Good Food Guides. goodfood.com.au Wed 19Last few days to apply for The Len Evans Tutorial, a five-day scholarship in the Hunter Valley. lenevanstutorial.com.au Thu 20Literary lunches abound at the Melbourne Writers Festival on Aug 20-30. mwf.com.au

What’s on

August—September 2015

Award—Best Seafood Restaurant. seafoodexcellenceawards.com.au Fri 28Newcastle’s Food & Wine Expo offers free tastings, appreciation classes and demos. On Aug 28-30. foodandwineexpo.com.au Sat 29Touted as “a four-day, city-wide, epicurean extravaganza”, the Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival is full of gourmet and glitz. On Aug 27-30. lafw.com Sun 30Jamie Oliver joins musician-cum-cheesemaker Alex James to run the The Big Feastival in Oxfordshire, UK, on Aug 28-30. jamieoliver.com/thebigfeastival Mon 31Head to Australia Trade Tasting’s Business Hub for marketing opportunities. On Aug 31 in Melbourne; Sept 7 in Sydney. australiatradetasting.com

Tue 1Check out this year’s Eat Drink Design Awards shortlist at eat-drink-design.com Thu 3Education classes and technology updates are part of The Coffee Experience trade show in Sydney on Sept 3-5. thecoffeeexperience.com.au Fri 4Chefs Rosa Matto and Carmen Vining run regular cooking demos at the Royal Adelaide Show’s IGA Pavilion on Sept 4-13. theshow.com.au Sat 5Some of the finest jambalaya and gumbo are at

the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, Sept 3-7. shrimpandpetroleum.org

Sun 6Be prepared for a frantic Sunday—it’s Father’s Day! Mon 7Celebrate Queensland winners at Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. restaurantcater.asn.au Tue 8Time to upgrade your safety equipment? Talk to suppliers at Safety In Action on Sept 6-8 in Sydney. www.safetyinaction.net.au Wed 9At Festival Flavours, restaurants, bars and bistros offer special offerings, all part of the Brisbane Festival on Sept 5-26. brisbanefestival.com.au Thu 10Revitalise your interior by introducing a striking artwork. See a diverse range at

August 27

Marketing


You can use your website, cookbooks, social media and more to cultivate customers, brand ambassadors and staff. It’s called content marketing, and some of our top restaurateurs are masters of it. Chris Sheedy explains

contentWhymatters

Upon first visiting the website for the much loved Red Lantern [www.redlantern.com.au] in Sydney’s Darlinghurst,

you’re offered a free bonus before you even hit the home page. An e-book containing six secret recipes by co-owner and head chef Luke Nguyen is yours when you subscribe with your name, email and birthday. A short video message from Luke welcomes visitors to the site and points yet again to the free e-book offer, plus other membership benefits including invites to events, competition entries, freebies, monthly newsletters and “something special on your birthday”.

The success of the Red Lantern restaurants is a perfect example of content marketing done exceptionally well. Content marketing involves using content—stories, blog posts, recipes, books, videos and so on—to draw customers to you, where you can record their details and start to market to them. Customers earned this way tend to be more loyal, and spend more with you, than drop-ins.

Luke has authored several best-selling and award-winning cookbooks, has starred in his own cooking and travel TV programs and appeared in many other major TV series, including MasterChef and Gordon’s Great Escape. Luke’s sister and Red Lantern co-owner Pauline Nguyen is also a best-selling author, an in-demand corporate speaker and played an instrumental role in The Serpent’s Tale, a theatrical piece that was voted Best Show of the Sydney Festival in 2014, by critics and audiences alike.

Few of these ideas began as content marketing strategies. “We’re not that smart,” Pauline says, laughing. “We don’t say, ‘Let’s write a book because it is content marketing.’ We do it because we love it, and to be constantly inspired.”

However, the most effective content marketing is always genuine—the key to its success is it’s not advertising.

The work being carried out by the Red Lantern team outside of the restaurant environment is undoubtedly adding to the brand’s overall success. And this is the magic of great content marketing, says Mark Brown, director of content marketing agency Engage Content.

“Red Bull has taken this idea to the extreme,” Brown says. “Its brand is now known as much for its content as it is for its drinks. In fact, Red Bull is now in a position where they can sell their audience through partnerships, to help other brands connect with that audience. Red Bull is in a position where the company could stop selling drinks and continue as a profitable media company.”

How does this connect with a restaurant business? First, Brown says, it is important to understand what ‘content marketing’ means.

“Engage Content defines content marketing as the use of quality content to engage an audience and then build a mutually beneficial relationship between the brand and the reader,” he explains.


The days of the hard sell are over. By using content marketing (which

may involve cookbooks, blogs, videos and more), you can build an

audience for your restaurant.

In that sense, content marketing has actually been around for a hundred years. In fact, an early example is agricultural machinery business John Deere launching its customer magazine The Furrow in the 1890s, which exists today as a magazine, website and app.

These days, rather than reading newspapers and watching TV, people spend much of their time on smartphones and computers. As a result, content marketing plays an important role in customer acquisition, Brown says. Google’s algorithm rewards a site for regular updates of unique quality content, such as a blog, for instance. Do this right and Google will begin delivering your content to searchers, and will therefore build new relationships.

But it’s not all about technology. Pauline points out that wanting to connect with great stories has long been integral to the human condition. “Story telling is an ancient art form; it is part of human nature,” she says. “People are looking for stories they can relate to, stories that resonate with them. That is why the art of story telling can be so reflective and can touch so many people.”

And if agricultural machinery firms can successfully utilise content marketing to boost their brands, he explains, then restaurants can certainly do the same. The first step in creating your content marketing plan is to define your audience. Build a profile from your best current customers then create content they will love, he says.

Rather than relying on platforms such as Facebook, which end up owning all of your audience’s details then charging you to communicate with them, instead


Marketing

utilise promotions and rewards—just as Red Lantern does—to build your own database. At the same time, identify content within your business that is already being produced (recipes, the story behind the restaurant, staff member experiences, etc.) that could resonate with your market.

“Bring out the passion that drives your business into real stories,” Brown says. “To get content marketing right, you need to be unique, genuine and offer quality content. No-one wants to be sold to, so if you’re asking for someone’s time, you need to deliver. Think about what makes your restaurant or catering business different and bring that to life in a way that will be interesting.”

And if you make a promise to deliver—via a monthly e-newsletter containing exclusive recipes and behind-the-scenes information, for example—then make sure you follow up.

Consider bringing a professional agency on board to look at your offering through a fresh set of eyes, including identifying opportunities for creating stories around parts of your business you might not have considered.

“A great agency will marry the creative editorial and design teams with a strategist who can help define target audiences, recommend the

right channels to invest in and how to measure and report on the

campaign. You need to be able to see a

return on investment and always evolve your

strategy to adapt to new platforms and technologies,” Brown

says. But in the end, you must be doing what you are passionate about. As much as the Red Lantern owners do, they don’t have a regular blog on their website, for instance.

“We have been told many times that we should have a blog,” Pauline says. “On my own personal website [www.paulinenguyen.com.au] for my speaking career, I only blog when I am inspired. I don’t want to stick to the time frame of having to blog every three days because then it becomes mechanical. When it comes to content marketing, everything that we do comes from the heart. That way it is inevitable that we will touch people.”

Content marketing has been around for a long time, but digital technology has made it more powerful.

“People are looking for stories they can

relate to, stories that resonate with them.”

Pauline Nguyen, co-owner of Red Lantern, NSW

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Management

Anew wave of industry leaders has discovered that when it comes to maximising the potential

of their businesses, it really pays to think outside the box—or, more specifically, beyond the limits of their own four walls.

By sharing space with a like-minded venture that has a product, aesthetic or goal that complements their own, these innovators have increased their exposure, expanded their clientele and boosted their income during trying economic times.

All it takes is a little imagination—and a lot of give and take—to make a collaboration work. But if you are not operating on a basis of mutual respect, do not even attempt to embark on such a potentially risky enterprise, warns


Sharing space with the right business

could deliver a whole new clientele

to your venue. Tracey Laity reports

Collaborateand listen

Manu Fillaudeau, chef and owner of Fillaudeau’s Café Restaurant in Western Australia’s Swan Valley.

He and his wife Jasmin have been leasing a repurposed building on the grounds of the Pinelli Estate winery for three-and-a-half years now and their modern take on French fare and fine dining has drawn a formidable following of loyal customers.

“If you want to work with, or be next to, another business, you’d better have a very good relationship or you might as well forget about it,” he says. “We have a very good relationship with our landlord; they have given us so much support and help. They really wanted to have someone in the building on their property, but we had absolutely no money. We had to build the restaurant up bit by bit.”

Getting the business off the ground was a “bit of a nightmare” at first, admits Fillaudeau, while he and Jasmin tried to

“We’re delighted that Fillaudeau’s has been so successful in such a short period of time,” says Pinelli. “Our family has been involved in winemaking for 35 years, and as the industry has changed, we realised we needed to have a food offering at our estate. But instead of attempting to do it ourselves, we decided to leave it to the professionals—to those with the expertise. It’s very important to have a tenant who shares the same high standards as you, and it’s really important to ask others in the food industry for advice when making your final selection.”

But a business collaboration doesn’t necessarily need four walls or even bricks and mortar to succeed. In fact, the under-utilised space in your own backyard could be enough. Two years ago, Core Cider House co-owner Emily Lyons looked across the rolling green lawns of her husband’s cidery (which has also been shortlisted for a


CollaborateSavour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence this year) in WA’s Bickley Valley, and saw an opportunity to offer patrons something unique during the popular Sunday afternoon sessions—what would later be dubbed ‘pizza on the green’.

All Lyons needed was a reliable, trustworthy like-minded

collaborator. In stepped Jake Young of J’s Wood-

fired Pizza. His fire-engine-red food truck, a fully equipped commercial kitchen on wheels complete with a huge wood-fired oven that has

to be attached to the rear of the vehicle with

the help of a crane, soon became a familiar sight at

Core Cider House during the busy summer months. “He really helps relieve the pressure

on our kitchen during those hectic summer afternoons,” explains Lyons. “We actually rebuilt our kitchen recently. It’s about four times the size of our old one but we still don’t have room for a wood-fired oven. And J’s truck is really flash. His service is very slick and professional. People are drawn to him and his truck and he adds to the festive atmosphere.”

Lyons admits there were initial teething problems to overcome (“Turns out our property is on a slope—that was a bit of an issue at the beginning. And, of course, in the height of summer, when there’s a total fire ban on, we can’t have J cooking out the back.”), but their collaboration has moved from strength to strength.

Young soon realised that many of the cidery’s patrons were gluten-intolerant so he created a gluten-free pizza base,

fine-tune the menu, work out pricings, adapt the building environment and recruit reliable and committed wait staff. But they had immediately felt the benefit of having a fully equipped kitchen (“the rent included the ice-machine, the dishwasher, freezer, even the tables and chairs”), the winery’s ample parking spaces, its beautiful vistas, and the support of local producers who wanted their meat, fish, fruit and greens to feature on the menu.

With the groundwork painstakingly put in place, the business rapidly gained momentum and the restaurant praise from critics. Fillaudeau and Jasmin’s success has been reflected in a swag of accolades, notably the award for Gourmet Traveller Wine’s Best Food in a Cellar Door and its inclusion in a shortlist for a Savour Australia Restaurant & Catering HOSTPLUS Awards for Excellence this year. And Daniel Pinelli couldn’t be happier.

“It’s very important to have a tenant

who shares the same high standards as you, and it’s really important to ask

others in the food industry for advice.”

Daniel Pinelli, Pinelli Estate

Opposite and bottom: Pinelli Estate winery. Below and right:

Fillaudeau’s Café Restaurant.

Two places at once with

CCTV

as an option for all toppings, well as a signature chicken, pear and rocket topping in tribute to the fruit grown on the property.

“Pizzas are very simple,” says Young, who works the wood-fired oven while his wife Hanae runs the kitchen, “but I put a lot of passion into them. I make them how I think they should be, how I would want to eat them. I don’t cut corners and I think people have responded to that. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback.

“Working with Emily at Core Cider House has given us a lot of exposure. We’ve had a lot of customers come to us, asking us to cater for their parties,


Management

weddings and events. The business has built up slow and steady. It takes time for people to get to know you and your products. But word has definitely gotten around.”

Lyons and Young are already making plans to add a small dessert item to the food truck menu, perhaps a chocolate and pear dessert or something with apples. When asked what is the key to a lasting and fruitful collaboration, Lyons responds: “It takes a lot of give and take between both parties. You both have to be committed to important things such as quality and service. And you’ve got to have a generosity of spirit. You won’t get very far without that.”

Above and right: Core Cider House. Below: Jake Young with his food truck.

Pizza bases

What I’ve learnt


David

Restaurateur and chef David Pugh’s journey has taken him from Auckland to London and back. Queenslanders are pretty happy it ended at Brisbane’s Restaurant Two

Pugh


Longevity doesn’t come easy. We’re

seeing a lot of places open, but

we’re also seeing a lot of places shut. No-one’s immune.

Staffing remains the biggest problem.

INT

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It’s true—I used to cook breakfast for my parents when I was a kid. Using their Sunbeam pan, the bacon would go in first, then the eggs. I’d make sure the toast was on; the kettle boiling. It was a timing thing, and I was good at it.

It was an interesting time, growing up in Auckland. A lot of English chefs coming out were contracted to the New Zealand government to improve the standard of food within the hotels. The really good ones were tied into the colleges on five-year contracts. We were quite lucky that we had some excellent teachers back then.

My time at the Melbourne Hilton really opened my eyes—it was the hotel in Australia. We were doing some nice food in a big kitchen with a lot of staff. The Australian chefs were considered okay but the Europeans were always the best. I didn’t agree—and still don’t. If we can be better in sport, there’s no reason we can’t be better at cooking.

London was like my second apprenticeship. I was at The Connaught hotel, which had two Michelin stars. It was 1981, a time when there were hardly any Australians over there. Walking out one night, I saw seven Rolls-Royces lined up out front, with the engines running. That was the sort of people we were feeding.

We didn’t want for anything. Executive chef Michel Bourdin brought in the best possible produce from far-flung places—and so much. Food accounted for 50 to 60 per cent of running costs, which is just not sustainable. There was so much wastage, we could’ve run another two restaurants out of it. Eighteen-hour days were pretty much the norm, but we were there for a reason. If I couldn’t learn 10 things every day, I was wasting my time.

But it was a very tribal place—we had our own sections, and there was no working across them. The first thing I instigated back in Australia was that everybody had to be across every section, so we could move if we had to. It also meant we all had respect for what everyone was doing.

The Connaught was the best thing that happened in my life, but it was also one of the worst. Working in a place like that puts you on a pedestal, and there’s only one way to go after that: down. We were spoilt. At Two Small Rooms in

Toowong, we couldn’t get the produce we were used to. We just couldn’t get our hands on a lot of the herbs and fruit and vegetables that we wanted.

So we tried to work with what we had. We developed a good camaraderie with some of the seafood suppliers, and would pick things up ourselves. We grew a lot of our own herbs. There wasn’t a lot of Asian veg around at the time, so we had to source areas where they could be grown.

When we opened Restaurant Two in 1999, Brisbane was really coming of age. We had very

good clientele at Two Small Rooms, but it’s hard to stretch your wings in a suburban

BYO. I’d do six days in the city, and then the seventh, the Sunday, at Two Small Rooms. On a Saturday night, I’d sneak in through the back door and walk through the restaurant so people would still think I cooked there. It was very demanding.

I always say to the guys, the best age to be a chef, physically, is between 18 and 32.

You’re at your peak. After that, the brain may be willing, but the body is not. After 12 months of

running both, I just decided it was too much. I couldn’t hack it anymore so we sold Two Small Rooms.

I can’t believe Restaurant Two turned 16 years old this July. It’s gone so fast. We’re doing a lot of function work these days, and we geared the decor around that four years ago: black and white with soft pastels, which is very versatile. It’s going well. Between now and November, we only have two free Saturdays.

Longevity doesn’t come easy. We’re seeing a lot of places open, but we’re also seeing a lot of places shut. No-one’s immune. The biggest issue is staffing. Last month, in Brisbane, 40 new places opened up, which means a lot of staff are taken, and customers too.

I wouldn’t say I’ve had a charmed life, but I still enjoy it every day. As you get older, your pivotal role changes. I’m more of a brains trust these days. I often say, ‘I’ve forgotten more than you’ll ever know’. Hospitality’s just one of those things. We call it the Hotel California factor. It’s like a drug gets into your system and you can’t get rid of it—that unbelievable rush when service is calling and the pressure’s on. The day you get out of bed and don’t enjoy it, it’s time to pack it in.


Cover story

Acclaimed international chef Nic Watt brings Madame Hanoi to life in Adelaide. By Genevieve Meegan

Food futurist


He’s cooked for the Queen, runs a string of hip restaurants around the globe and has cut his culinary teeth

in some of the world’s most prestigious restaurants, yet what stands out about Nic Watt is his genuine humility.

Watt is the man behind Madame Hanoi, the French/Vietnamese bistro nestled in the train station on North Terrace in Adelaide.

As he talks, it’s evident the 42-year-old chef has had input into every aspect of the business, from the detailed pieces of greased serving paper (complete with maps of Paris and Hanoi), to the hand-painted pill cups, staff uniforms, choice of Seletti bone china, to working with the architects on the breathtaking redesign of this historic site.

Watt admits one of the keys to his success is what he calls “stepping over your shadow—your ego”.

“If you can do that, then I think you can run a successful business,” he says. “I might create a dish that I think is the best in the world, but if no-one orders it, or you are only selling five a week, that is where you have to step over your shadow and say, ‘I still think it’s the best dish in the world but if no-one is eating it, I’ve got to change it.’ So, it’s being able to know when you’ve got a winner.

“How many times have you been to a restaurant and said, ‘It was better last time I came’? Too often chefs want to change the menu all the time but when you go to a restaurant, you should have signature dishes that stay. You change seasonally around them.”

In the six months since Madame Hanoi opened, Watt says he is exceptionally happy with how business is tracking.

“The understanding of a bistro is getting there. People weren’t quite sure if we were a restaurant or not. We’re not ‘tablecloths and fine dining’,” he says. “We get people coming in for a quick bite, and then come in a week later

and for the guest. So, when ‘Jane’ walks through the door for her flat white, Lee is doing the same shift on breakfast. He recognises Jane and says, ‘Hi Jane’, and she becomes our friend—part of our extended family. That is how we build our Madame Hanoi community.

“Familiarity is key because when you walk in somewhere and you are recognised, it makes you feel good.

“Across the day we cater for everybody—a coffee or a croissant, a light lunch with some baos, or come in pre-footy or theatre, and have a drink at the bar or a full dinner.”

Watt is based in Auckland with wife Kelly and children Kiana, aged nine, and Lucas, six. He travels to Adelaide once a month for a week to spend PH

OT

OG

RA

PHY:

SH

AN

E R

EID

for a full meal, so

the public is really starting

to understand the multi-offerings

we have here.”Key to the success of

this bistro-style dining is Watt’s philosophy and practice of building communities around Madame Hanoi, whether that be a coffee community, the office worker lunch crowd or the pre-dinner drinkers and diners.

“What we are trying to do is build Madame Hanoi as our family, our people,” explains Watt. “It’s really important that to build that community, we need to keep familiar faces, both from our point of view

“How many times have you been to a

restaurant and said, ‘It was better last time I came’? Too

often chefs want to change the menu

all the time.”Nic Watt, Madame Hanoi

Nic Watt of Madame Hanoi: “If you can step

over your ego, you can run a successful business.”

Cover story

you look? You look in, so that whole composition was a real collaboration.

“Emma and I were keen on the whole body painting thing. The first drawings were [cut off] across the shoulder and Emma and I both said, ‘Let’s go down, tastefully and beautifully’, and we worked on the colour tones. Emma was amazing to work with, and because she

was so good with the mural, we then commissioned her to

curate the whole room. She went to Hanoi

and purchased all this art and frame work.”

There are 21 items on the Madame Hanoi menu,

including French favourites such as

croque-monsieur and croque-madame. There

is the marriage of French Vietnamese such as the duck

confit with watermelon salad, and then some real Vietnamese aspect such as the pho and a big bar offering with 14 craft beers available. Watt is adamant that all staff should taste all offerings on the food menu.

“I’ve always promised the staff that if there is anything on the menu they haven’t tasted, just to come and ask me


he says. “I still remember when I met them. All I said was, ‘My role is to teach you to be better hospitality individuals and for me to give you the environment and the tools to better yourself for your careers,’ and I stand by that.”

Watt is also incredibly glowing when discussing senior staff, including executive chef Darren Johnson, who Watt brought over from his world-famous Roka in London, chef Krish Dutt and Adelaide local Blake Oliver, who is restaurant manager.

And one of the other stars of Madame Hanoi is the woman behind the giant mural that dominates the front of the bistro—South Australian artist Emma Hack. Watt’s idea was a massive artwork that would encompass Madame Hanoi, with the brief being to “bring her to life”.

“It was a real collaboration with Emma. We worked closely with her, even down to the aspect of where Madame Hanoi’s eyes are looking. So, if you’re walking down North Terrace you look up to her and she is looking in so where do

“I’m an absolute believer in

treating your staff as individuals,

with respect, and retaining them and developing them.”

Nic Watt, Madame Hanoi

a few shifts in the kitchen and oversee all aspects of the business.

During his recent trip, Watt applied his philosophy of being able to adapt and flex to the market. He was adamant that Madame Hanoi would be for walk-in customers only. “It’s a bistro. You should be able to wander in and grab a table or a seat at the bar until one comes up. However, we are finding that people in Adelaide really want to book. They don’t quite believe in the bistro walk-in concept,” he says.

“As a result, six months into it, we are going to take bookings but only for 60 per cent of the restaurant. That’s an example of understanding the local market place.

“I get it in one aspect. Kelly and I have a young family so if we go out on a Friday night, the babysitter arrives at 6pm and we need our table to be confirmed for 7pm. So, to be successful, you’ve got to be able to flex to the market place. It doesn’t necessarily fit the bistro model but that’s okay. I can get over that.”

A challenge for Watt is finding good staff, and he says staff retention is critical to success. Madame Hanoi has a staff of 52, with around 90 per cent signing on when the restaurant launched in January.

“I’m an absolute believer in treating your staff as individuals, with respect and retaining them and developing them,”

http://airmail.calendar/2015-06-19%2020:00:00%20AEST




and I’ll cook it for them. If you are a wait staff and you’re trying to talk about a dish and you’ve tasted it—it’s on your palate—then you’re going to talk about it with genuine honesty,” he says. “You can tell if someone is offering a special and they’re just rattling it off, but when they’ve tasted it, it is genuine when they explain it.”

Another aspect that is key to the success of the business at Madame Hanoi is the “table talk”—signals on the table that let servers know where each table is up to, such as the boxes of cutlery being removed, so staff know to clear the table and bring dessert menus.

“There is nothing worse than sitting at the table and someone comes up two or three times and says, ‘Would you like some more?’. You say, ‘No, I’ve already told the person over there’, and then someone else comes up,” explains Watt. “So, table talk allows anybody to look at the table and know where they’re up to. It prevents multiple, unnecessary interruptions to the guests.”

Watt, who was born in Sydney but grew up in New Zealand, entered the world of hospitality as a waiter, and thought he could never be a chef, “cleaning up at the end of the day, what a nightmare”. But after some time in the kitchen at hospitality school, he fell in love with cooking.

“I love the creative aspect of food and the energy in the kitchen, the energy of service. I’ve always worked in busy, high-quality restaurants where there’s a passion to get everything perfect on the plate and to know that you’ve got backed-up orders,” he says.

Growing up around the water in Auckland and Sydney gave Watt an affinity with the ocean and a love of seafood. However, he believes the best cultural cuisine of seafood is Japanese.

“So, at 23, I took myself off to Tokyo and studied Japanese food. After that, I discovered South-east Asia—mainly Thailand and Vietnam. My wife and I honeymooned in Vietnam in 2004 and that’s when the love of Vietnamese cuisine came through.”

Watt’s incredible attention to detail combined with his big-picture savvy has seen him reach Michelin-star success. His CV reads like a ‘how-to’ guide to climbing the prestigious food chain. In

London he worked in Michelin-starred restaurant Nobu, before moving back to New Zealand in 2001 as executive chef at the prestigious Huku Lodge where he cooked for the Queen and other celebrities.

Then it was back to England where he co-founded the contemporary Japanese sensation, Roka in 2004. However, in 2012 Watt decided it was time to take his family home to New Zealand.

Watt believes Adelaide’s food landscape is going through positive growth, and he cites his favourite restaurant as Peel Street (after Madame Hanoi, of course). “I think it’s an exciting time to be involved with Adelaide and the developments that are coming in—the [Royal Adelaide] hospital, the Casino and the Adelaide Oval. I think the city is on a fantastic trajectory up and it’s a really exciting time to be involved,” he says.

Nic Watt’s vision of a bistro has had to adapt to Adelaide’s dining environment.

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RestaurantCatering

How Adriano Zumbo went from ARL coulda-been to nationally famous chef

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Crazy-hip, palate-popping and precise—meet the 2014 R&C Young Achiever of the Year

START-UP CENTRAL “You have to be prepared

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If all that sounds like a hassle, then don’t bother.”.”Kiren Mainwaring, Co-op Dining

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When wine buffs Angela Brown and Lynette White embarked on a journey to promote Australian viticulture,

they had no idea they were carving out a world first

“By staging each part of the business, it gave every business an opportunity to be the hero and we could give them our undivided attention.”Frank Van Haandel, Stokehouse, Melbourne and Brisbane odysseycaseA

Restaurant Start-up centralAll you need to know about the first year of business, page 16

Automatic tastyHow to integrate new technology into the kitchen, page 37

SPECIAL FEATURE

All the latest hospitality news, views and reviews to help

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Are you: Renewing or New

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M1508RC

Pork product guide

Pork product guide

Restaurant & Catering magazine’s guide to the best pork products

on the market today


B orrowdale Free Range Pork offers a hand selected range of fresh pork cuts and smallgoods which

are sourced from a single property in Goondiwindi. Reared across the spacious open countryside in Queensland, you can’t blame the piggie who would rather stay home.

Having achieved the highest standards of free range pork production as recognised by the RSPCA and APIQ, the farm provides a stress free environment where the pigs can wallow and roam.

Integrity and quality is at the heart of Borrowdale Free Range Pork which holds a strong commitment to igniting diners’ love for pork by reuniting with tradition. Borrowdale carefully manages the rearing and production of their

pork. This delivers sublimely tender and succulent pork without the use of moisture infusion, allowing the natural sweet pork flavours to shine.

All of the Borrowdale products are guaranteed to be free of added hormones, antibiotics and moisture infusion.

Very recently Borrowdale proudly introduced a locally grown free range bacon to stand out amongst the crowd of foreign pork smallgoods. Borrowdale bacon is traditionally cured using Beechwood and a hint of brown sugar to express the natural grain and texture of the pork. Providing a delicately sweet, umami and smokey flavour it is perfect for adding character to meals and irresistible on its own.

Borrowdale pork has rapidly gained

popularity within the trending paleo eating movement with the Australian Paleo ambassador Pete Evan’s getting behind it.

“It is so important to source ethically raised pigs that aren’t fed hormones, antibiotics or other nasties. I believe pork is best served as nature intended. So when it comes to fresh pork, my choice is Borrowdale,” says Pete.

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Borrowdale Free Range Pork, just as it should be

Pete’s Balinese Style Crispy Rolled Pork Belly Roast

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Pork Product guide

A recipe to rekindle one’s love of an honest to goodness pork roast

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6 golden shallots4 kaffir lime leaves4 curry leaves2 lemongrass stalks1 B/c tbsp coriander seeds3 tbsp lard or coconut oil, melted1 B/c tsp black peppercorns2cm piece galangal

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Serve up the latest of tastes with the greatest of ease.

Technology

What are the options to get

rid of bad smells in the kitchen?

Samantha Trenoweth

investigates


In 2013, a legendary case in San Francisco closed down a restaurant called Bacon Bacon because it smelled too much like … bacon. The community was divided on the issue

because many of the locals thought the aroma of bacon was akin to heaven. The vegans thought, well, not so much. The case demonstrates, though, what chefs know intuitively—that at least 30 per cent of the dining experience is in the smell of the dishes.

Nothing will delight diners more than aromas wafting through the air and conversely nothing will put them off faster than unpleasant cooking odours or cleaning smells.

It goes back to caveman times. The stench of rotting food is unpleasant because it’s telling the diners that there’s something wrong and potentially poisonous or unsanitary in the cooking area. So, the key to a good dining experience is the perfectly scrubbed kitchen and dining area leading to a neutral aroma.

It’s often the little things that make a big difference—especially in

high turnover establishments. The bathrooms need to be maintained at a sparkling or better level. Food preparation surfaces should be cleaned constantly, keeping raw and prepared food separate. A squeegee is ideal for cleaning down these surfaces. And on the tables, the condiments and accessories bottles need attention so as not to attract and hold dirt and grime.

There are a number of modern, less intrusive, economical and efficient ways to reduce unpleasant smells. Some of the more modern techniques are generations old: vinegar makes a good disinfectant for prep areas. Few commercial kitchens have the time and the manpower to be using lemons to wash dishes (unless you’re running a place that specialises in mung beans and lentils). Chemical cleaners and bleach, if not contained, can also add to the smell of a kitchen and have the sense of ‘what are they hiding with all that bleach?’. But, who doesn’t love the aroma of oranges?

There are citrus-based solvents on the market that can be as effective as petroleum or chemical solvents and

On thenose


still leave a fresh, rather than chemical, odour. Baking soda, borax, soap and elbow grease are all excellent, non-polluting, cleaning agents.

One of the more innovative cleaning processes is electro-chemical

activation (ECA). This process uses salt, water and electricity to

produce two cleaning agents: a non-toxic sanitiser and

a mild detergent. The ECA machines were

traditionally the size of a fridge and they tended to be confined to large buildings but recent advances in technology have brought the machines down to a suitcase size.

“I have my coffee black, sometimes with a little cake and the smell

of detergents or kitchens really puts me off,” says Leo Miles of Ionic Systems, which offers a variety of cleaning solutions. The company is a strong advocate for ECA technology.

“That sticky feeling you get from a table in a cafe or a restaurant is not food—most places in this country are pretty good about bussing tables. The sticky feeling comes from detergents and, when you have three different detergents all mixing it up, people don’t really know what chemical compounds they’re dealing with. We were excited by ECA technology because it’s chemical-free and leaves no chemical residue that can compromise food.”

Commercial air scents were once used to mask food or other unpleasant smells, but this is a bit old fashioned these days, and commercial air scents can be sickly. They sometimes send a message that the restaurateur is ‘covering something up’ and they can clash with the perfumes of the guests in unpredictable ways. There is also an ongoing cost to commercial chemical ‘air fresheners’.

Air purifiers are increasingly found in both domestic and commercial spaces as a way of reducing both smells and pollution. These purifiers

trap particles as the air circulates in a room and are able to

eliminate pollens and other triggers for allergy sufferers.

Most good air purifiers will also extract second-hand

tobacco smoke.Ionic and ultra-violet air purifiers can be useful in reducing pollution and

contaminated particles in the air

and, especially the ionic purifiers, are

great for the comfort of allergy-prone diners,

Technology

“We were excited by ECA technology

because it’s chemical-free and leaves no

chemical residue that can compromise food.”

Leo Miles, Iconic Systems

but they will do nothing to reduce unpleasant fragrances. Ultra-violet purifiers will work against germs and

bacteria but not the smells they

produce.The carbon air

purifier is very popular and very efficient. The carbon filters

are the most absorbent and reasonably priced on the market. The HEPA filter uses a fine cloth filter to do much the same work as the carbon filter and lasts a very long time.

Ozone purifiers, also known as ozone generators, can destroy bacteria and some pollutants and odours but not allergens. It’s best to get professional advice before installing ozone purifiers, follow instructions closely and make certain there’s sufficient ventilation because ozone gas can be toxic in high concentrations.

Liquid ozone is a very different proposition. It is effectively rain. It is produced when electricity produced by lightning passes through water vapour. The feeling in the air immediately after a thunderstorm is ozone.

The creation of ozone in the kitchen is less dramatic than a thunderstorm. The electrolytic method (EOG) produces oxygen and ozone in a machine. A jolt of electricity is pushed through a bottle of water, creating the ozone which is then used to clean. Because ozone is inherently unstable, shortly after use it breaks down into oxygen and water. While active, though, the aqueous ozone is very effective as a disinfectant and stain remover. There is no residue, no harsh chemicals are involved and there is no odour at all.

Aqueous ozone has long been used in water purification and food preparation and the technology is now available for it to be deployed in small businesses and even in the home. Businesses find the lack of chemicals a great saving over time as well.

It seems that as time goes on, the oldest solutions—such as lemons and rain—keep coming back.

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Drinks

The customer is always...

It can be a thankless task. Running the bar or floor of a licensed venue dedicated to premium alcoholic beverages is not always an early Tom Cruise film. You have the odd rough day, particularly when the customer complains, and has to be right.

It’s because drinks complaints, whether they range from the common and everyday

(such as cork taint in wine) to the more bizarre (such as cork taint in whisky…), are a very one-sided affair. Not only is the customer always right, but the customer is invariably wrong. Misinformed and badly considered outbursts of stroppiness about a wine or a beer or a cocktail leaves you no sea room. You just have to agree and offer to replace the glass or the bottle or the round, and magnanimously so. It goes with the territory.

Yet there are ways to offset the lost profits associated with returned drinks, and there are ways to turn the occasion of a complaint into another sales opportunity. Better still, there are also ways to spot real faults in beverages before they even get to the customer, so methods of embarrassing assuagement are not then required.

Common faultsCork taint: With the advent of wine screwcaps, cork taint is hardly the menace it used to be; yet some wines are still sealed by cork and many older cellared wines come with a bit of old Portuguese bark as a stopper. So it behoves anyone serving such wines to be familiar with cork taint and to take the time to assess the wine for the customer when it is served. Cork taint is, of course, that smell of mould and chlorine; and the effect on taste is to strip any wine of its more pristine fruit qualities.

Everyone has a different degree of tolerance (or detection) of cork taint, so one woman’s corked wine is another’s blissfully ignorant pleasure. More importantly is the wonderfully and ritualist theatre that occurs whenever a wine sealed with cork is ordered. The wine has to be assessed by the customers. Eleven out of 10 customers have no idea about cork taint, so this is theatre of the most extreme absurd. But if there’s any doubt about the wine, you have to get another bottle. This raises some issues. Let’s say the bottle is an $850 bottle of lesser Grange Hermitage… Unfortunately, you wear the loss, unless you dare return it to the rep.

Cork taint is not solely associated with wine, however. Any drink sealed with a cork can be so affected—whisky, for instance. Detection of cork taint in such drinks is low, because of the extra complexity and secondary, non-fruit aromas and tastes found in such drinks; so if you get a whisky returned for cork taint, you should buy a Lotto ticket on the strength of ridiculous statistical probability.

Freshness and oxidation: With screwcaps has come another and hitherto oft overlooked problem with both wine and packaged beer: freshness and oxidation. Just because a wine is sealed with a screwcap, it doesn’t mean it can’t be damaged by exposure to high and fluctuating temperatures. Store a bottle of current vintage fresh, aromatic white—such as semillon, sauvignon blanc or

Here’s how to detect the most common wine, spirit and beer

complaints or faults, plus ways to deal

with them when problems arise.

Ben Canaider explains

riesling—in the hottest part of your storeroom for a long summer and you’ll quickly cook the wine. Like cork taint, most customers won’t detect it, but the discerning few will, and it is customers with such exquisite discernment that always raise the biggest fuss. Similarly, screw caps can be damaged in transport and logistics, and the slightest knock or whack can introduce the potential of microscopic oxidation. Given so much wine is nowadays made so cleanly and purely with a strong emphasis on pristine fruit quality and minimal oak, oxidation stands out more than ever. Like cork taint, it strips wine of fruit aromatics and flavour, and adds a faint nail polish remover smell to the drink. Not yum … unless you like sherry, of course.

Speaking of sherry, it is usually the drink that sits behind the bar, opened, for some time. Oxidation occurs in opened sherry as quickly as it does in opened wine. So sherry and all your by-the-glass wines need to be very carefully monitored for opened shelf life. Oxidised wine is certainly the biggest problem this correspondent encounters in licensed premises. Real rigour has to be applied to wines by the glass (BTG) but with more options regarding wine dispensing systems now available, there’s no excuse.

Freshness in packaged beer should also be on your radar, particularly if you’re using

parallel importers or distributors and taking advantage of deals on such beers. If a Euro beer du jour is staggeringly affordable at a wholesale level it’s probably because it’s been doing the rounds for a while. Six months is where all packaged beer tops out, and with Australia’s current craft beer

revolution in full swing, there are more and more customers with Cert 4s in beer

faults sitting at your bar.Of course, all of these potential faults

and problems in your drinks cannot be entirely avoided. A five per cent fault rate would not be

uncommon in most premises. The losses associated with them, and the cost of training staff to detect and monitor and assuage them, are unforgivingly compounded, however. Which is why—as much as you are apologetic and generously charming when dealing with complaints about the perceived faults in any drink (whether real or not …) it’s just as important to do the equation backwards. If five per cent of drinks served are returned because of a ‘fault’, then that five per cent needs to be built into your list price from the get-go. Otherwise, you’re underwriting someone else’s error, and that’s not fair.


It is a great tool which enables us to take snap shots of our businesses, so at any particular time we have the opportunity to make proactive decisions. RedCat allows us to effectively manage our business and all of our costs. George Sykiotis, Made Establishment

“”

If five per cent of drinks served are returned because of a ‘fault’, then that five per cent needs to be built

into your list price from the get-go.

H ana Hakim: “The Kettle Black verges between a restaurant and cafe and that was no accident. Our client,

Nathan Toleman, kept saying, ‘Make this a place that no-one has ever seen before.’ It’s warm and inviting—it has real elegance but it’s friendly. It’s not elitist. We were very conscious that the design should not ostracise anyone or make them feel like, ‘I can’t eat here, it’s too expensive-looking’.

“Nathan had already opened a number of successful cafes [including Top Paddock and Two Birds One Stone] and was very involved with the layout. We spent a good month fleshing out exactly how the operational side of things was going to work. It was really important to ensure the space flowed smoothly. It’s not big but feels spacious because of the planning that was done.”Kestie Lane: “The heritage-listed terrace is positioned under a very contemporary building containing an apartment tower designed by [architecture firm] Elenberg Fraser. The Kettle Black interior fuses together the contemporary and heritage styles, and customers can dine in either area.

“We kept the ornate fireplace, a bay window and leadlight glass in the two-


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Hana Hakim and Kestie Lane of Studio You Me married an original Victorian terrace with a commercial space to create a new kind of eatery in South Melbourne

storey terrace. In the new section, we added floor-to-ceiling glazing that links both sections. This gives it a garden atrium feel, while natural light fills the space. We wanted The Kettle Black to be clean with a warm, friendly ambience. We introduced a palette of white, marble and soft oak, while the mint-green Billiani ‘Doll’ chairs add a pop of colour.

“The oak stools along the bar and on the communal table are by DesignByThem, a very talented Sydney-based firm.”Hakim: “Lighting was also important in these spaces. A collaboration with local craftsmen allowed us to create custom lighting elements that transforms the design to something truly unique and memorable—for example, the sculptural brass disc light is like a warm sun, creating a glow and drawing you in.” Lane: “There’s a cut-out in the wall between the kitchen and the eating area and we decided to place a herb garden there. Patrons can enjoy the interaction with the kitchen but the chefs don’t feel like they’re being watched. We love the energy that greenery brings to a space; plants always make a space feel happy.

“We also added a large black-and-white photographic image of rambling hills that works as a freestanding screen. This image is also used in

Studio You MeStudio 507Lvl 5, 12-14 Claremont StSouth Yarra VIC 3141T: (03) 9826 2536www.studioyoume.com.au

various other places, including the menu. It suits Nathan’s food style very well. He sources beautiful food from all over Australia then presents it with a unique and modern style.”Hakim: “Everyone has a great time at The Kettle Black. It has a real energy and is always bustling. It photographs well but you have to visit to really experience the vibe.”

The Kettle Black

http://www.studioyoume.com.au

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RC August 2015