Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent

Are hotel restaurants ever going to be a go-to option in Australian cities and towns? We chat to Ben Creek, Vice President of Food & Beverage in Asia and the Pacific for Accor. From great coffee to smarter buffets to inclusive employment and AI, he shares the levers he’s pulling to make sure hotel hospitality is attractive to locals and visitors alike.

https://www.instagram.com/bencreeklondon/

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Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

Is there anything more perfect than an oyster? Isabelle Pearl Love-Dack runs Finn’s Oyster Bar, which attends events to offer just-shucked bliss. She also works for Shuck Don’t Chuck, which collects oyster shells to use in reef rehab. Finn’s is named for Bella’s son Finn, who died in 2019 aged 13 months. The grief is always present but there’s joy too.

https://www.instagram.com/finnsoysterbar/

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Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

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Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

Melanie Lionello is a nutritionist, content creator and author of new book From My Little Kitchen, which brings achievable Italian recipes with dietary information and a practical sense of how cooking fits into people’s lives. We talk about why there are no rabbit recipes (maybe in book 2?) and how she has built her social media audience to almost 400,000 followers.

https://www.instagram.com/frommylittlekitchen/

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

Returning to Dirty Linen after a huge 16 months, Umberto Group’s Marco Finanzio has changed the shape of his business, closing venues and refocusing.

In hard times, what matters? Who are we accountable to? What is the mission? A bowl of pasta might be part of the answer…

https://www.umbertogroup.com.au

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

Australia imports most of its seafood, and the most commonly eaten locally produced fish is farmed salmon. Do these facts point to problems? Today’s chat is with return Dirty Linen guest Stephen Nairn (Omnia, Yugen), who has recently opened Portside, a retail store at Prahran Market with a focus on high quality seafood from known fishers.

Stephen’s previous chat on Dirty Linen:

https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/stephen-nairn-omnia-skipping-asparagus-season/id1518946986?i=1000494057149

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

Louisa Dunn farms potatoes, beef and sheep in Blackwood, an hour north of Melbourne. A city girl from Brighton, who married into a fifth generation farming family, Louisa has learnt more about potatoes than she knew there was to know. There are more than 4000 types of potatoes and the Dunn family is proud to grow around 20 of them, both for chipping and sending to market.

Louisa has become a keen advocate for regional farming communities such as hers; she’s a huge wrap for the Great Trentham Spudfest (May 2 & 3), which celebrates local potato farming families every autumn.

Go to Spudfest: ⁠trenthamspudfest.org.au⁠

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Follow The Producers on Instagram

⁠https://www.instagram.com/producerspodcast/⁠

Host Dani Valent 

⁠https://www.instagram.com/danivalent⁠

Host Anthony Huckstep

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

Executive Producer Rob Locke

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

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The Producers is a food podcast telling the stories of producers, farmers, growers and makers.. A Deep in the Weeds Production An Australian Food Podcast from the Deep in the Weeds Network.

Chef John Laureti owns Cafe Lewi in Sydney’s Lewisham with his wife Isabella Leva Laureti, a pastry chef. The pair have a background in fine dining but they decided to bring their skills and experience to a daytime cafe, which now does a couple of nights due to customer demand.

In a tricky time for hospitality, we talk about expectations, scary spreadsheets, and open conversations with a cafe’s community. Oh, and feeding legendary chef Peter Gilmore.

https://www.instagram.com/cafelewi/

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

When you’re busy and always thinking about the next urgent matter, it can be hard to stop to celebrate the milestones. I love it when I see a restaurant share that they’ve turned 1 or 5 or 20. It’s great to take stock, find time to be proud, consider the legacy, and what you want to take forward. For Jason M Jones, there are a couple of milestones - he’s turning 50 and his Melbourne restaurant Entrecote is turning 10. Let’s hear some tales…

https://www.entrecote.com.au

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

If there’s a type of restaurant that I appreciate most intensely, it’s small independent family places where the creativity has to be as much about business structure as food on a plate. Greasy Zoe’s is one of those businesses.

Run by couple Zoe Birch and Lachlan Gardner, the eight seat restaurant is in a leafy suburb an hour from Melbourne. It’s a special place.

As the business clocks up nine years of operation, we check in with Zoe to see what is consistent and what needs to change.

https://www.instagram.com/greasyzoes/

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.

We return to a favourite series on Dirty Linen: Illuminating Lumen. In this occasional catch-up, we enter the world of Lumen People, a cafe and wine bar that launched in North Melbourne in 2023, closed in 2025 and reopened in Fitzroy.

Six months after landing in the second site, owner Emma Sheahan tells us how it’s going.

https://www.instagram.com/lumenpeople/

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Follow Dirty Linen on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dirtylinenpodcast

Follow Dani Valent

https://www.instagram.com/danivalent

Follow Rob Locke (Executive Producer)

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

Follow Huck (Executive Producer)

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

LISTEN TO OUR OTHER FOOD PODCASTS

https://linktr.ee/DeepintheWeedsNetwork

Dirty Linen is a food podcast hosted by Australian journalist Dani Valent. A respected restaurant critic and food industry reporter in her home town of Melbourne, Dani is a keen, compassionate observer of restaurants and the people who bring them into being. Whether it’s owners, waiters, dishwashers, chefs or members of ancillary trades from tech to pottery, Dani interviews with compassion, humour and courage. Dirty Linen goes deep, both in conversations with individuals and in investigating pressing issues. 

Dirty Linen is an Australian food podcast produced by the Deep in the Weeds Podcast Network.