Table for Two

Meet Adam Mcasey. 

At the age of 25, Adam decided to head to Bali to invest in property with no plans to go into hospitality. 

But things quickly changed when he realised Bali was missing the high quality venues that he had come to love in Melbourne. 

He had a long lease in a commercial property, where he was operating a homewares business which he decided to turn into the now famous, Sister Fields Cafe. Within the next 3 years he opened 3 more venues next door, Boss Man Burgers, Sibling, and Bikini. He has also been involved in starting Expat Coffee Roasters and Fika.

After seeing his Dad do long hours from open to close, the impact that had on his physical wellbeing as well as the time away from the family he knew how to do things differently in Bali. So from day one he delegated every role in the venue instead of being behind the machine, in the kitchen or on the floor, and over the last 7 years has been able to build an amazing culture with over 600 staff. 

Business in Bali can be very lucrative but as Adam discuss there are so many challenges that come with running venues in a foreign country. Finding staff, understanding the differences in cultures and religions, and having a understanding of the legal requirements of doing business in Bali. 

His venue Sisterfields was averaging nearly a thousand meals a day, but that all changed when covid hit. Some of the biggest hit industries was tourism and hospitality venues. This was a disaster for Adam when you consider all his venues are in Seminyak where 95% of people there are tourists, but seeing his ability to adapt during covid and stay so positive is very inspiring. 

I was very honoured to have Adam come on to this podcast. There was so much wisdom in everything he said.

Episode #26 is now live!

Meet Issac. 

Issac started his hospitality journey as a chocolatier in Melbourne, a few years later he decided to move to Sydney where he met his now wife Sammi. 

He started working for other hospitality venues but when their son Teddy was born 3 months premature he decided he needed to be there for his family and knew he had to start his own business so he could have the flexibility to work when he wanted to. He started his food blog called Issac Eats A Lot. A personal blog which is now verified and has over 200,000 followers. 

His other business (Chew Crew Media) creates content for some of the biggest fast food companies in Australia. Including: McDonald’s, KFC, Red Rooster and Oporto. 

He is constantly calling out other food bloggers that buy their own followers and likes to gain financial benefit from their customers, he believes this is a form of fraud as small business are spending money on fake promises. 

Issac is very passionate when it comes to supporting small business. He is constantly working for free to help other business that need support.

Episode #25 

Meet Chris Sheldrick, Co-owner of Banksia Bakery, Thicc Cookies, Big Brownies and Passion Tree Velvet. 

Chris was born and raised in England, after university the age of 23 he was selected to join the new entrepreneur foundation, a paid program, where every year they pick 25 of the future potential entrepreneurs of the country. It gave him the oppourtinity to meet amazing entrepreneurs and also have breakfast at Richard Branson house. 

After meeting his girlfriend, now wife Hannah, He moved to Australia to helped grow Passion Tree Velvet from 1 store to 13 stores. 

This is just the start for Chris and his business partners and I can’t wait to see what they do over the next few years. 

Chris’s story is so interesting, inspiring and will help anyone wanting to get into the industry.

Episode #24

Meet Osheen Arakelian, owner of The Valley specialty coffee, West Pennant Hills. 

Osheen went to University to study law and finished with a double degree, but once he had graduated he knew his future was hospitality. 

He has now been in the industry for over 15 years and has built an amazing reputation within the cafe and coffee industry. One of Osheen’s best qualities is his positive “can do” attitude - nothing is ever a problem. 

I loved the conversation I had with him. He doesn’t hold back when it comes to certain topics, especially when it comes to people leaving reviews, which we had a good laugh about.

Episode #23 Meet Jesse Orleans and Chris Theodosi - the owners of Happyfield in Haberfield. We previously spoke to Jesse and Chris 35 hours before they opened their first venue. They have now been open for 9 weeks and the whole of Sydney has gone crazy for Happyfield. 

They have had a waitlist every single day since they have opened and have already been featured in some of Australia’s top media publications like Broadsheet and Time Out. 

Broadsheet writer, Pilar Mitchell says it’s “one of the most uplifting places she ever had the pleasure of spending a weekday morning”. 

It’s beautiful to see the respect Chris and Jesse have for each other. They credit the other person for the success of Happyfield which makes this a perfect partnership. 

I highly recommend listening to the first conversation we had with them, which is episode number 14 to see their thoughts before they opened.

Episode #22

Owner of  Pazaar food collective. 

Although Attila was born into hospitality, it wasn’t until a serious incident working for NSW police that he decided to pursue a career in hospitality. 

After gaining inspiration from his travels, his journey as restauranteur began in 2012 where he opened a North Mexican inspired food truck. 

The following year, the space he used in Canterbury as a garage and prep area turned into a pop-up restaurant called La Lupita.

The concept was a hit — and he was receiving recognition all around Australia. 

It was so popular that Attila received a partnership offer from a local businessman to move the restaurant to a central Sydney location. La Lupita relocated, but the business relationship did not last. Left with almost nothing, Attila says it was out of spite he opened Pazaar Food Collective in the old location of La Lupita. 

It is now considered One of Sydney’s best eateries, it has been mentioned in some of the best media publications like New York Times, Delicious 100 and the Good Food Guide.   

Attila is quite outspoken when it comes to certain issues in the hospitality industry. But his honesty is so refreshing. He is not scared to say things that others would never say in fear of losing business or customers. He is so misunderstood and I’m grateful we got to talk to him to get to know the real Attila. 

In today’s episode we talk about his journey as a police officer, how PTSD has helped him in his hospitality career, the cost of running a venue that people don’t see, struggles of finding good staff and the one time he went viral when he banned kids from using phones and iPads at his restaurant.

Episode #20 Is now live! . 

Meet Gee Ozgen. Owner of Mister Gee’s  burger truck.  After finishing school and working in a few different industries, Gee knew he wanted to stay in hospitality and own his own business. After a trip to The States, he was inspired by the amazing burger scene that was happening at the time and knew he could deliver a similar product back home.  With a limited budget he knew building a food truck was his best option. In 2014 Mister Gee’s food truck was born! It didn’t take long for his reputation to grow as the king of burgers. Within a few months he had lines 100m down the road.  A few years later he opened his first brick and mortar store called Happy Ending, a fried chicken and burger shop. Gee was ready to grow his burger empire, but in 2018 everything changed. He recieved a phone call saying his food truck was on fire. Everything he had worked so hard to build was gone. Gee describes it as the worst period of his life.  It didn’t take long for Gee to think outside the box or the truck for that matter. He started collaborating with cafes around Sydney which was a massive success! It showed him even though the food truck was destroyed the brand was as strong as ever!  The future of Mister Gee’s is very exciting and I’m grateful Gee took the time to tell us about his journey and his future plans.

Episode #20.  Meet Gee Ozgen. Owner of Mister Gee’s  burger truck.  After finishing school and working in a few different industries, Gee knew he wanted to stay in hospitality and own his own business. After a trip to The States, he was inspired by the amazing burger scene that was happening at the time and knew he could deliver a similar product back home.  With a limited budget he knew building a food truck was his best option. In 2014 Mister Gee’s food truck was born! It didn’t take long for his reputation to grow as the king of burgers. Within a few months he had lines 100m down the road.  A few years later he opened his first brick and mortar store called Happy Ending, a fried chicken and burger shop. Gee was ready to grow his burger empire, but in 2018 everything changed. He recieved a phone call saying his food truck was on fire. Everything he had worked so hard to build was gone. Gee describes it as the worst period of his life.  It didn’t take long for Gee to think outside the box or the truck for that matter. He started collaborating with cafes around Sydney which was a massive success! It showed him even though the food truck was destroyed the brand was as strong as ever!  The future of Mister Gee’s is very exciting and I’m grateful Gee took the time to tell us about his journey and his future plans.