Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent

Zefy Souvlakis is an immigration lawyer who works with many temporary visa holders, guiding and advising them as they tackle a flawed and faceless bureaucracy. She shares her own joys and frustrations and gives practical tips too.

https://ethosmigration.com.au

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Michael Ng is a chef from Hong Kong and he's in Melbourne on a 482 sponsored visa. This means he's tied to his employer even though he's stood down from his job, has no income or government support, and is now looking at a period of unemployment stretching beyond six months. Going back to an increasingly tense and troubled Hong Kong is not an appealing fallback.

Mike Rapajic is a sommelier who's worked at top restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as Paris and Montreal. A trained scientist with a penchant for analysing and problem-solving, Mike applies himself to the visa worker situation and finds that the whole hospitality industry needs a big shake up.

https://feravina.com.au

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Paul Waterson is the CEO of Australian Venue Co which employs over 4000 staff across 160+ pubs. When the pandemic struck, Paul moved quickly to support the 900 visa holders on his staff, paying them a JobSeeker equivalent. We chat foreign workers, what it's like when there's a COVID case in a venue you own, the fate of CBDs and what happened with a planned deal to buy the Espy.

Attila Yilmaz runs Pazar Food Collective in western Sydney. He employs a lot of visa holders in his restaurant and reckons he wouldn't have a business without them. We chat work rules, life rules, corona rules and how to build a better society. Oh, and oven meat - I'm flying to Sydney for that as soon as my Melbourne germiness allows me.

Kaitlin Chase is a front-of-house star from Texas but she's been back and forth to Australia for five years and has just applied for permanent residency. While she's waiting for that to (hopefully) come through, she's in pandemic limbo - only able to get two shifts a week at her work, and coping with an intense family situation back in the USA.

Clement Demarais is a highly accomplished restaurant manager who lost his Melbourne job when the pandemic hit. As a sponsored worker he's stuck: can't work for his previous boss, can't be hired by anyone else. Clement is French, he's built a life in Australia and he has a few bon mots for our Prime Minister.

This week on Dirty Linen, our topic is visa holders in hospitality. Who are they? What are they struggling with? Is it fair that they were told to 'go home' if they couldn't support themselves during the pandemic. First up, Tugce Bayrakdar is a geneticist turned chef who moved from Turkey to study hospitality in Melbourne. She lost her job at Omnia in March and instantly spiralled into a demoralising period of worry. She's now working at food charity FareShare, which has helped her map out a food dream for her future.

We wrap up 'mental health fortnight' with Dr Claire Kelly, the Director of Research and Curriculum at Mental Health First Aid Australia, a training organisation devoted to 'mental health CPR' - what can we all do to spot the signs of a mental health crisis and be on the frontline of assistance?

https://mhfa.com.au

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Ex-Oakridge chef George Wintle founded his Eat the Issue mental health forums after a friend of his was abused at work and ended up in hospital. George's mum Rae Bonney is a mental health advocate and campaigner so he's grown up thinking it's fine to talk about how you're feeling. Inspired by him mum, George proposes practical ways to create a kitchen culture of encouragement and enrichment.

Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

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Follow Dani

https://www.instagram.com/huckstergram/

Follow Deep In The Weeds on Instagram

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Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

https://www.instagram.com/foodwinedine/

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

https://www.instagram.com/huckstergram/