She was on the verge of packing in her plant-based businesses and moving to Spain but Shannon Martinez (Smith & Daughters, Smith & Deli) has doubled down on her vegan food brands with new investor Kelly Jarrett. Why don’t the old models work in hospitality anymore? What has Shannon learnt from a finance person about…

There’s no bad time to catch up with Dave Pynt, chef and owner of fire-driven Michelin-starred Burnt Ends in Singapore. However, this seems like an especially good time to talk Michelin stars and New Zealand & South Australia, kitchen culture in Singapore, whether staging (working for free in restaurants) is a good thing, especially in…

Dirty Linen is in Vietnam! We get up at 4am for a dawn tour of Long Bien wholesale market (and more) with local chef Duyen Phan. Along the way Duyen told me some of her own story. She left her village as a young teen and ended up working for vendors at this market for…

When you’ve experienced the worst of hospitality, how do you run a restaurant that exemplifies its best? Fhred Batalona owns Palay, a Filipino ‘house’ in Melbourne’s Fitzroy. He grew up in a multicultural home, trained as a chef in the Philippines, and moved to Australia to work and study. After years as an employee, he’s…

After decades in hospitality, including 18 years at Melbourne institution France-Soir, Franck Sammut has opened an all-day pizza restaurant called Upper Middle. What has kept Franck engaged with restaurant life over so many years, and what challenges is he striking as a first time business owner? Also, how is the tarte tatin so good? https://www.instagram.com/uppermiddlesouthmelb/…