July 7, 2025 • 52 mins
We headed down to Aldinga, South Australia, to sit with Trinh and Mike—the couple behind The Little Rickshaw. What started as a weekend pop-up in an old blacksmith’s workshop is now one of the most talked-about restaurants in South Australia.
In this episode, we unpack their journey—how they built this restaurant from scratch, what it’s really like working side by side, and the bold, creative approach they bring to modern Asian cuisine. We also talk about life in South Australia—why the slower pace, the strong sense of community, and the focus on quality of life offer a welcome contrast to the hustle of Sydney or Melbourne.
Check out The Little Rickshaw's Website here: https://www.thelittlerickshaw.com.au/
South Australia. Celebrate the Simple Pleasures. Visit southaustralia.com.au to discover yours.
You can subscribe to the Mentored newsletter here: https://mentored.com.au/newsletter-sign-up
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Mentor and I'm Mark Boris. Well, I'm
here in South Australia for a special edition of the
Mentors series, and I'm in a little I guess you
call it a suburbs to be more like a village
called Aldinger, and I am speaking with Trin and Mike
from the Little Rickshaw. Welcome guys, Thank you, How are
you going good? It's a pretty cool spie. Yeah. Can
(00:29):
you just maybe explain this joint to me a little bit,
because I mean, it's all it looks like it's made
three hundred years ago, but can't be right because it
has meself for that long.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
But no, it's pretty old, well for South Australia. So
originally this was the blacksmith back in the day.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So it's actually technically the blacksmith, coach builder and coffin
maker in Aldinger. So you have an original wall just
behind us here and then this a little bit here
so where we're sitting now was has all fallen over.
You see a little bit of an old wall just
behind me here. But it was a coach builder next
(01:07):
door which is now a coffee shop and then they
made coffins and with the blacksmith just behind the coffins. Coffins,
so back in the day in Ordinger, if someone died,
they didn't go to the morgue. They just kept the
body at the house. And if there was a light
on down just behind us, that meant that they were
quickly trying to build up a.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Box to put the person in.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
And then there's another little spot down the back here
where the hearse used to be, so they used to
pick up and go down pick up the deceased person.
And the cemetery is just up the road. So it
was that for a long time, and then it turned
into a mechanic. So if you were here forty fifty
years ago, there would be this would have been the mechanic.
If you go in next door to the coffee shop. Again,
(01:49):
there's actually the old pit still in the ground, but
it was rubble for about twenty thirty years, I think,
and then someone did it up enough and now it's
too busy is in it? We take a decent chunk
of it. We got a little coffee shop next door,
and then.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So that's your coffee shop.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
No, there's some really nice people do a little I've
got a nice little business next door that we just share.
We share a little courtyard with them and the toilets
and a few other spots.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
So you males explained what this is a restaurant. Restaurant does,
like what's the deal? Like a min it's obviously food,
but whatever food we do all about here, Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
That's my.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Food.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It hasn't always been a full blown restaurant. And yes,
as we're on the street, we were a pop up
where we really did just fall into the space when
we were grabbing a coffee mixed.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Door is sorry, this wasn't a plan.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, it was not a plan. So we used to
both live in the city like North Adelaide area, Prospect area,
and we would come down to the coast almost every
weekend and just one day we just happened to walk
into the coffee shop. Had to peek around next door
here to see just a vacant area where there was
a little market store, and we made some inquiries and
(03:15):
happened to bump into the landward. So we just got pudding,
had a coffee handshake deal on the.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Spot, um style do a deal.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
So that's so we literally fell into this spot. Given
that we come down to we visited the area so
frequently on the weekends.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So just to give us some context where we are.
This is near the Florida Peninsula. It would be part
of it. It is part of the Floura Peninsula, which
is on the on the I guess it's great Strain
Bier or it's at least the ocean.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Sort of the boot if you have a look at
it in South Australia, it's sort of the boot area.
So it'll take everything sort of from where Adelaide is
and south and it sort of kinks around at the
bottom and then you've got if you where you would
at the very bottom of that boot is where you
would get the ferry across the kangar Island.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So k I would be straight out.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The ocean's running all the way along this coast here,
and then it all go around and k I would
be sort of in that direction. If we went straight south,
you'd basically be a Victor Harbor. And the next stop
from Victor Harbor is Antarctica.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
It's pretty beautiful around here. I actually we make a
whiskey at the peninsula right on the water. Nice you
know where the river, the river meets the sea, that's
where that's where our whiskey distillery is right. Yeah, so likeway,
but I'm going to gather tomorrow. We can circle back.
(04:46):
And your background is wine, isn't it all? Both your
backgrounds I can't remember now.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Background Mike's the publican.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I run pubs for twenty years in mainland Adelaide, and
then I was sort of in some teach roles because
no one wants to run pubs, wants there over a
certain age because who wants to stand on the front
door at three o'clock in the morning. And then yeah,
we kind of so I wouldn't suggest that this is
moving into restaurants. Wasn't my forte or something I was
(05:16):
thinking that I wanted to do, But it kind of
just worked. So I think we've it's been good because
we've been able to come at it as a trends,
coming at it from a certain angle, not being in
the industry, and I can come at it from an
angle where I don't. We can come at it and
from a sort of pubby angle. And at the very
(05:37):
least I had worked for some big companies, so at
least I feel like we had a good understanding that
there's definitely no money in hospitality and we kind of knew,
we sort of knew what we were getting into a
little bit that we would We knew that there wasn't
going to be a well we'll just open up some
food business and how hard can it be and we'll
just make money. We were sort of at least had
(05:57):
a good understanding from the beginning of Yeah, how you
know where the margins are?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
What Mike going to say from a pub point of view?
You look coming up from a pup point of point
of view, Do you mean as as in hospitality? You know,
you know how to make people comfortable, you know what
they like to drink, I feed people to put in
a joint? Is that what you mean?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Or?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And I think so I think.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
That you let's see if I can explain this. I
think because I'd come from essentially a reasonal amount of
time with al h which is, you know, is war
worth it's not war worse? But you know, forget the
semantic set. It's coming from a big corporate background, and
Trin probably has even more corporate background than me. So
(06:41):
at least we looked at numbers a lot and sort
of understood that just because you're passionate about something doesn't
and you open, it doesn't really mean that there's going
to be much money at the end of it. So
I knew that hospitality is kind of one of those
ones where you do put a lot of money in
the two, but you're going to take a lot of
money back out again as well. So that, I suppose
is probably one of the reasons why we outed so
small and didn't go and throw ourselves into a big
(07:03):
lease or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
When you say saw do you mean as in the
pop up pop up?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
So we actually had a look at a few other
venues and sort of said, okay, well could we run this?
And we thought, oh, well, we could make this work,
but we didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I think at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
One of the reasons that we had some success was
because we kept everything so small from the beginning and
just did what was in our wheelhouse rather than I'm
so glad we didn't go and get a one hundred
seat venue, ten year lease, lock it in, put the
house on top of it, and then sort of go, Okay,
now we need staff, and now we've got to open,
(07:40):
and now we need to pay. You know, the rent's
going to come in every every week. We could sort
of sit back and go, Okay, well we can do
this really small. We both worked for Contacts. The first
six months that we were open, we both worked full
time and just did it on the weekends, and then
Trin went part time and I kept going full time,
(08:01):
and I think I quit my full time job.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Two years in.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, I think around years.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Of working, Trend did the full business and I worked
full time and did the weekends so that there was
cash flow coming in. And if we hadn't done it
that way, I don't know whether we would have made it.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So it was fairly purposeful. You weren't being that sort
of typical flare flair entrepreneurs going to take on the
world and to create something no one else has ever
tasted before, and you're all in. You just yes, you
just step by step by step by the way. I think,
especially in the hospitality game, is probably the safest way
to do it.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I think there's the time and place for risk
is good, but when you're not quite sure about it, particularly,
I mean, I'd come from pubs, so I think customer
service is there. I'm glad we've got a kind of
is a pubby flare to to what it does because
it gives you a humbleness and maybe an ability to
talk to everybody and maybe not pretend that just because
someone doesn't know about wine that they're there for.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know, how could they not know what this is?
You come at it from them too, precious. Yeah, if you.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Want, you just want straight down the line, savvy b
that's that's that's completely okay. There's nothing wrong with it,
you know, a little Pino grisio. Nothing wrong with that.
You don't have to have all the bells and whistles
attached to it. And I think we just came at
it from a let's start small and see where goes
because we could always pull the pin.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So I think that was a I'm glad we did
it that way. Well, I'm going to say, guys, meant
in a second, but you're probably don't kill me in
the you know, in the meadows or something like that.
But dream, what's your background, because Mike said, you've got
even a heavier corporate background.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Oh gosh, it's distant. It's a nine to fiver. So
I suppose I it's a job where I didn't love
my job, where if you're not a certain type of person,
you don't quite fit into an office space where they
celebrate a certain type of personality and they make celebrations
(09:49):
over cake around the water cooler.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So it was that birth days.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yes, So it was that type of environment where I
didn't fit in. So I'm not saying wasn't good at
the job. I didn't fit in any friends, but I
was good at the job. Went to the gym a lot.
So that doesn't fit a lot of the culture of
a workplace where no one else really does that. It's
more of a you don't stand out, you do the
(10:18):
job where you have to conform. And I wasn't someone
who really fit that mold very well. Hence why I
didn't have that many friends at work. And I was
in let's just call it middle management where it's even
like that little step lonelier, you know, more you climb
the ladder. But I did end up in wineries.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You've had winery, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
So, but that was a lot more organic where it
was such a hands on job with growers, with seller hands,
where it's so far from that corporate world that I.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Was used to.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
And that's actually where probably the business started in its infancy,
because I would do vitty meals for the team because
because they had a full blown i'm commercial kitchen in there,
and that's actually where it started trickling, where I actually
cooked at work.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You started cooking.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
So when we first moved down, so we lived in Adelaide,
and when we moved down, we'd found we found this place,
and Trin was able to get a job at Tintara,
which is one of the big ones just in McLaren
v winy. Yeah, sorry, so that was and then that
turned into Trin cooking for vita culture we do when
(11:30):
they have when they do vintage. I don't know if
you if you've ever been around an area like this
place during vintage, is you're just walking zombies of people
doing twenty hour shifts because when.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
The grapes have arrived, the grapes of ripe, and when they.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Come in just whenever they come in, so they got
to make some calls and people have to work stupid hours,
so everybody is dead on their feet and hungry. So
Trin would then go and cook and take meals for
everybody at the at the winery and in return, I
don't think would be a stretch to say that the
wine industry, the McLaren our wine industry is why we
(12:05):
made it, or we're able to survive the first year.
I don't think that's a bold statement, isn't.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
No, I don't think it is.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
They were the ones that supported us and got us,
got us, you know, got us to where they got
us over the first hurdle, which was making that first
year possible.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And word of mouth, we hand on heart could verify that.
We haven't spent any money on marketing since day one.
Still to this day, we don't have a business card,
so we should do that a business card.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
No one has an anle.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
So yes, exactly. So I think word of mouth in
its infancy is the catalyst of suppose how we run
the business?
Speaker 1 (12:45):
And I didn't if I ask you, given that you
were cooking ad hoc and both sounded voluntary, voluntarily for
all these people in the in your industry, where'd you
learn to cook? We owe you. You're not a chef.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
No, I'm not a chef. And I think I'm only
finally gotten over this imposter syndrome of not being a chef.
And we are seven and a half eight years into
the business, and I only have just shaken that that feeling.
But I love to cook. From all my mother at home,
but not to say that I was dedicated cooking as
a child. I was an orphan kid to my mother.
(13:22):
So but she did have the bold flavors and the
generosity where we did not eat a lot of takeaway
when we were children. She would always have a full
on banquet every night. She still lives.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
So she's actually been a big part of the business
in Sewan, so that's cool.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
First, the first when we first opened.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
So Mar lives in This is not this doesn't make
sense to anybody that's not South Australia, but Mar lives
in Modbury Teacher Gully, which is about it's on the
other side of the city, so it's a good hour
and a half hour and.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
A bit drive down here from here.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So what would happen is that we would Marwood Trins
Mum would go and get all the ingredients and then
come down on Saturdays and then cook all day Saturday
with Trin and then Saturday nights stay over our place
and then we would open on Sundays. That's how the
business started was just Sundays in the beginning days, just Sundays,
and then we were able to make that work and
(14:25):
then it sort of developed from there. But I think
that I think with cooking as a general thing is
that Trin can cook. Obviously, I think that's pretty reasonable statements.
But I also think that being a chef is there's lots.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Of people that can cook for four people. I mean,
most people's mums are good cook I even cook for
four people.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's not a skill that should be taken lightly.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
It's an amazing skill.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But then if you try to cook for ten, most
people can do it, but the kitchen is going to
be a mess. You better hold on because it could
be half an hour late. So to cook for ten
and then to cook for twenty. And I remember when
a good example of this when I got engaged. We
didn't want to have a big wedding, so we had
a big engagement party and we did one hundred and
twenty people and Trin and here, no this is before here.
(15:13):
We actually catered it at our house. It's just a
rental property, and Trin's mum and Tren cooked for one
hundred and twenty people. So that sort of gives you
an indication of like people who can do it at scale.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's a talent.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
There's there's cooking and then there's chefing, and probably the
biggest difference is how you do things at scale and
keeping the consistency there. So I think that that's where
we sort of thought we could probably do this, maybe
not a restaurant level, but maybe it's a little weekend.
Maybe we've got something here.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
We never planned to be a restaurant. Was like our
liqua license didn't land until year two. We actually had
aspirations to be like a cool bun me shop like that.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
That was the idea, as in that sort of waste stuff. Yes, yeah,
we were trains of these.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Name and the place still has as a Vietnamese soul,
but we really progressed into more of a modern Asian
style of cuisine. So it's just it's just organically evolved,
Like we didn't choose to make We didn't make a
conscious effort to think, oh we're going to be restauranteurs,
we're going to do this all that we'll accolades. We
(16:25):
just happened to evolve it where it just is a
restaurant now, So we didn't set out to be one.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So your your parents, I presume both your parents are
from Vienna, like born born in vietnamam.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Born in Vietnam, different areas they met.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Here administrated, were they Your mum's on a chef, she's
just like a family cookoth of it.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yes. No, she was a seamstress and my dad was
a fisherman, so very different backgrounds. He's brought us. She's Catholic,
so best of both worlds in my upbringing.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
And there's a lot of Vietnamese and Catholics here, Yes,
a lot. I only just recently found that out. That's
that's I guess it must be the French influence in Vienna. Yes,
the same way I could reconcile in my own head.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
No, it very much so is so it's just growing
up with those different influences, different cultures, and having two
different religions in one household that was really challenging enough.
And then them both living in Australia and having best
of both wells of Vietnamese food in its abundance along
with the Australian lifestyles.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
How would you describe I'm getting my mouth downed water,
but how would you describe Vietnamese food? I mean, like,
if you were to say not so much an ingredients
you perhaps you can go to an ingredientce you want to.
But in terms of the experience that one has when
the Vietnamese food, particularly your style of food here, like
(17:55):
in Vietnamese influence is sort of like it sounds like
it's got a lot of you know, warmth and home
cooking element or whatever. It's not like, you know, high
end by the sound of its correct if I'm wrong.
It's not a high end, but it's tasty, maybe obviously consistent.
It makes you feel welcome. You're talking about the pub
feel too, like you know, you know the community. How
(18:16):
would you best describe Vietnamese food in this establishment, Well,
I don't.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Think I would describe it as Vietnamese food, more of
a not anymore. Maybe a few years ago it has
no Yeah, but we would probably look to play on
steak and chips exactly. It has a Vietnamese soul, but
(18:44):
the food at the end of the day, it's it's
nourishing and what we like to do because we describe
it as it is modern Asian. We like to embrace
all the cultures that comes from the kitchen and that's
where all the influences into the chefs.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, there's probably an evolution of the last few years.
If you if you go sort of a year winers
takeaway like Mar and Trient and I that's it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
And then how you got that smashed up left your
I actually not normally know how those years coming back
actually got finger. Yes, they're doing the same thing. I think,
there you go yesterday. Figure want to think this.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Is from getting punched a bit too much, but no
that you know the idea of working with your wife
and your mother in law and a small businesses.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
You want to be that and drink but that's okay.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
No, we had the first the first year we were
straight up vie and that was great because Mar and
Tren it made sense. And then year two I would
think that we were a little bit more pushed the
boundaries a bit further into my modern v it Potentially.
What happened though, was there was a little bit of
a shift when we hit a we did hit a
glass ceiling, We hit a ceiling where it was there's
(19:58):
only so much that we could do as with there's
only so much that when we just talk about the food,
there's only so much that Trin could do with Ma
as her cooking partner. What happened is we were able
to sort of break through that and when we started
to get staff and get some more interest. Is that
it allowed Trin to go from doing vat, which I
(20:21):
think I can safely say.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Loves, but it wasn't her wheelhouse. So what was nice
is that in years three and four, let's say we
started to push into modern Southeast Asian. So maybe there's
some VA in there, yeah, but there was a much
more of a modern take on a bit of everything else,
I mean, and Japanese. And so then I think in
(20:44):
the last couple of years you really have got this.
If you sort of want to describe what our food is,
it's Trend's background and her family at the core.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
But we've had chefs. We've had a number of chefs
come through, and we have a number with us now.
We have twenty staff, five five full time chefs. We've
had chefs from Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, We've had
obviously born and bred here, We've had guys from the Pool.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
So what's been able to happen Indonesia.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Whi's been great is to pull from what's lovely for
us is that if we just made it, if we
stayed via, I don't think Trim would then be hamstrung
to only do a modern version of that. What's nice
is that we can take food from anywhere in Asia
and sort of mix and match and sort of have
more of an ethos of it has to be punchy
(21:39):
and flavorful and sort of be our kind of food,
but it doesn't have to be. We can take a
little bit like this time of the year, it's great.
You want more hearty, you know, soul food, so you
can take you can imagine some of those regions are
better at that. And then in summer, when you're going
lighter and fresher and maybe more seafood, you can sort
of lean into a bit more of.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
So you say, it's sort of somewhat seasonal, very much definitely,
And when let's say somebody comes here from the pool,
do you sort of lean lean into that and sort
of say, is there some nipolice dish you can cook?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
The last time when when Rajah was here, we had
a goat curry on yeah, so it was like great
love go curry yeah, and it worked really.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Well because it was the middle of winter. But then
when we hit something.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, well I think it's because I because I don't
come from a chefing background, I approached the kitchen a
little bit differently and I actually digitalized all the kitchen
processes too.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
So you mean you reduce everything to writing, but yeah,
you systemize it.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Yes, it's not normal, like there was no handwriting on oily, greasy,
greasy pieces of paper of an old menu. Like everything
is online, so chefs have access to prep list, recipes,
everything is streamlined online. So I think it operates in
such an efficient way where that has been a big
(23:04):
culture shop for a lot of chefs coming through. But
what that also means is because we're not faffing around,
let's just say with the processes of handwriting all the
verbal handovers, we get to embrace the actual cooking and
embrace people's experience because when you come into a new kitchen,
we like to embrace their strengths. And how do you
(23:25):
do that You find out what they are good at,
and that's where we can focus on that. If we're
just dealing with like low end admin, then we're always
trapped in and board, Yes, and board, And I am
someone who can't bared the guests and I can't stand still.
I can't sit still twenty hour days on our feet
(23:47):
do the same cooking. It doesn't.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
It's got to work for it intellectually.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And there's two ways you can run. I think there's
two basic stores of thought in hospitality. Either do you
get a good system, you do it well and you
tell every everybody behay, this is what we've been doing
for ages, and you just knock it out the park
and you become that place that why do we go there?
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Because we've got it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
We have an anniversary at that same place every time,
we get the same dishes, and it's beautiful and lovely
and nostalgic, and you can sort of rewind life every
time you go in or put a line through that
and then do what we I hope what we do here,
which is constantly changing, constantly new things on the menu,
constant pressure on the chefs too. We do not have
(24:29):
this dish. We don't have a replacement for this. We
do can't get that anymore. We're now doing this and
it just for context.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Now.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
In the last two years we've only done set menu,
so everybody who comes in the door is on a
nine course set menu. And then that needs to be
something that is constantly changing so that we can look
after those people. You know, we don't do a summer,
(24:57):
winter or even a seasonal menu. It's try to take
a dish off every couple of weeks and put a
new dish on.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
And it really is based on, well, we have a
local fishman, what has he caught this week? Sorry? Sometimes
well not sometimes often I just throw all the chefs
in the deep end what we're cooking based on we
receive forty helos of nanninggui what are we making? So
we use the whole thing. Oh, nanny guy is a
red snapp up just context, just to fish that is
(25:24):
caught locally. So every week is just generating ideas. And
because when we do higher and it's based on my curiosity,
we have chefs who are also curious, meaning we try
different things that doesn't work, trial and error, and you
have to have a personality where you can take feedback.
And that's where where we probably have clocked up a
(25:49):
lot of experiences. We absorb feedback well and we react
to it well. So that's carrying about one percent. So
that's in the food and the people. So alsoircumstances. So
we have to adapt quite quickly.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Let's make it hard. Sometimes for.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I can completely understand how a chef who is looking
for a new position says, Oh, like, I'm really creative,
I'm really interested, blah blah blah. But maybe they're in
a time of their life where they just want to
go to work, do the job, and then go home.
There are a lot of places where they can go
where it's like, look, mate, this is the menu. It's
going to be the menu for six months. You go in,
you bang it out, and then at five o'clock we're done.
(26:27):
And I can appreciate that. So what we try to
do is be very clear with staff is when they
do come in, that's not the kitchen that we're running.
It's going to be a bit of an Okay, it's Wednesday,
we don't have this. That means that dish is completely gone,
which means that we've got to create a new one,
which also means that all the alternatives, because if it's
a beef dish, then we have to make the pescatarian option,
(26:50):
the vegan option, all have to then match the new dish.
So we're going to have to create three new dishes
by tomorrow, which means we have to have all the
ingredients here this afternoon, and you guys are going to
have to test run it, get it right, be really
happy to serve it, and then all the front of
house are going to have to learn all three dishes
why tomorrow and get.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
The customer feedback.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
So just on that because that's that's interesting. That's like
how you execute on your on your strategy. So is
that like a Monday is because you're open on Tuesday?
What are we talking about here so that that day
we and do you guys sit down and taste it
or does everyone sit and taste it? How does that
work normally?
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I'd love to say, well that we have a Monday
where we have a day off and then Tuesday is
expect night. It's normally on the Thursday where we're open
in a few hours and it's kind.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Of all go, well a little bit of a little
bit of that time.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Yes, but it's not a perfect system based on a
very obsessive personality. So it is a it's daily, it's
planned daily, it's communicated daily. But do you still do
have a deadline of opening on Thursday where the curtain
call is?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
But what do you do if you're going to on Thursday?
So do you do this on the Wednesday, you do that.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
We have a full prep day on Wednesday the team.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
So you walk in and say take me through it. You
walk and say, this is a fish I've got today.
It's whatever, a snap or something ll be for whatever
the case will be. We're going to do this. Do
you say, asked, how do you want to cook it?
Speaker 3 (28:20):
I have some ideas, but then I ask the chefs
what they have been thinking about as well, because every
individual chef who works here, they are working on the menu.
They're learning the menu and learning cooking techniques that are
on the current menu. But I also have a rule
where they have two or three dishes in their minds.
(28:41):
In the background, there's always what's the next one?
Speaker 1 (28:43):
So it's quite collaborative.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
It is very collaborative, and I don't think we I
could run the business in any other way.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Can you sit down and taste it cooked?
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Everyone hands out?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
How many people taste.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Like everybody front of house, right and back of house.
So it's a whole laborative efforts.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
One of the ways it's worked quite well is that
what we try to do this is probably not financially
the best way to do it, but it has worked
for us is that. So let's say you guys all
came in at eight on this Friday night train probably,
so we're going to get we're going to get eight
or nine courses, so there's plenty of food and it's
good value. And when you sit down, hopefully you read
it and you go, oh, that's like nine courses for
(29:23):
eighty nine bucks.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Is it's good value? It's really good value. Yeah, it's
not bad.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
And then hopefully what happens is you sit down and
then as we go through, let's say there's no dietaries
and you seem like a great table and I flag
you as a good table front of house yep, so
or one of the girls fron one of the staff
front of the house might say, hey, really great table,
really lovely, we like them.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
What Triin might then do is those new dishes that
we're mucking around with, you.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Get to try it. It's really extra one. It's not
it's on top just to give from the chefs.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Throw it out there because worst case scenario if you
don't like it, or it was a bit salty, or
it was a bit this, so we're not quite hitting
the mark.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's an extra gift. Do you get some punishes in
there's get some people it's.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
A nice little like then we can get some feedback
and it's going to be positive because it's just an
extra one.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
We had to handle it. Those someone both experience and
someone gets here goes maybe there needs to be a
little bit more mint in that or something like that.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
How that happens all the time the time, But I
think you take a lot of you take a lot.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Of pressure off that scenario by it being a gift
from the chefs, because if we're just mucking around and
we're getting feedback, then no one has to be too
some of.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
The feedbacks code some of that's valid, and you have
to have a certain type of personality be able to
be objective with any feedback.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
How come we do so calm because most people work
in this industry are mental.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Oh no, that's some of the surface that's questionable. No weed,
Carl in the morning, or we have gone through a
lot of waves with the business like covid et cetera.
Where I think the drinking culture of the kitchen, it's
not something that's not a strong presence in this kitchen.
(31:06):
It may have been at one point years ago, but
now it's a work life balance as far as especially
the physical mental health. And that's for us as those
who we own the business and we work in the business.
We have to take care of our our minds and
(31:27):
keeping mentally sharp is a big one for me because
we have to run services the way we want to.
So it's just being sharp meaning going to you know,
going to the gym, getting a smashed up ear in.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
But I was going to say, how do you how
do you how do you sort of maintain the rage
I mean the energy as opposed to rage for the
energy in the kitchen. But at the same time, you
have to balance your lives out and you're working together
all the time.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Oh yes, we are extremely married.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
We don't have to there's no like.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
If anyone's listening to this and it's like, okay, hang
on to sack Paul this, I need to know what
the answer is.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I don't think there's a good answer. It's no like yet.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
I think trend's pretty It's not going to work for
everybody as far as our staff or customers, etc. But
I think we're both pretty decent at being quite aggressive
is the wrong word, but aggressive early. So if we
don't like something, you tell people straight away this is
shit or this is maybe not shit, but this isn't
(32:26):
going to work. So the amount of time that trend
doesn't yell in the kitchen. But if something hits the
past that is not good, the chef's going to know
there's not going to be a well we'll maybe thinking
maybe we could serve it, and it's going to be
it's not good enough. With disn't work and with the
front of house taking feedback off customers or et cetera,
if we do something wrong. I think it works better
when we are straight down the line as honest as
(32:48):
we can be, because if we can be honest straight away,
it's a lot easier to be nice at the end.
I think if we don't, if we're not honest, then
it kind of doesn't work. So if we can be
a bit more honest with each other and be brutally honest,
it always works out better when we are honest straight
up and then.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
And that's what the customers is true, which is very
transparent and how we operate. I don't think there is
a knee you know, it's it's things in our private life.
We don't have closed door conversations, which I find can
be quite toxic.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Do you make sure that personal life doesn't come into
the into the restaurant to.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
The best of our ability? And is there is he
making a.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Face blue before you start?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
We had a blue today?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
How do you? How do you? How do you sort
of is it like, do you have the ability to
park it and just say we'll pick it up later?
Or just the business.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
We table a lot of things, and we do try
and prioritize just physical.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yes, here again we.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Prioritize just physical activity.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
I think physical is good. I think.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Trid and I actually it's a small window into our
personal life. But Trae and I met when we were
like you were. We've been together for ten years, so
we met. We're a bit not late in life, like
Trin was twenty eight twenty nine and I was early thirty,
so it's not late, but we're probably old enough.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
That how long will it take before we got engaged?
Speaker 3 (34:21):
Oh too much personal information? Maybe three weeks. Anyway, we
were very impulsive.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
It was a very impulsive.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
This works, let's get married, and we've been married for
almost ten years now. My point is is that I
think one of the major reasons that it worked in
not in a lust ful this is going to work
because it's all bells and whistles.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Is that.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
I think Trine in particular is very good at having
honest conversations and then not letting things linger and saying
I'm sorry I said this. This is the reason why
I know you didn't mean it, but we can move on,
So trying to tackle the because everything gets wrapped in
emotion and food is emotional anyway, and work is emotional,
(35:01):
and being married is emotional. But if we unravel the
emotional bit of it and we go what you said
was this, I took it this way, but I think
came mat it this way. So what that does is
I think Trin and I are probably be very good
at going there's a problem between us. Can we both
trying to get to the solution? Because when one person's
trying to get the solution and somebody else is just
(35:22):
trying to get.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Points or defend themselves, it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
So you're going to have that humility, and Trend's very
good at coming to the I know what you said,
you didn't mean it, but this is what you said,
and this is how I took it off.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
There's no tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Don't be sorry, just don't be sorry to be better.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
But getting that straight off the line has I'm not
saying it's a solution for everybody, because it's brutal to
hear like you really pissed me off. Because of these reasons,
it's hard not to go defend and rather going okay,
I can see.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
That, but this was my point of view. I didn't
mean to piss you off. I was trying to get.
What I was trying to say was this, But I
do apologize. You feel more in love today than you
did hours ago. Yeah, seriously, when you look at what
you've achieved and what I'm mean by love, I don't
mean it's a stupid love, you know, where you know,
like you know, like when you first meet somebody, or
(36:15):
you know, when you're impressed by somebody or whatever, but
more admiration of each other. Because the way you're speaking
is very you're talking about you're showing me a lot
of admiration for Trent, like like heap, and you're being
very I think, very well, very loving in in a
sense of someone's been there a long time. Yeah, well,
(36:37):
the love maybe goes out, but it's I don't mean
probably properly probably understanding of each other.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
So it's nice to hear.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Proper understanding of each he's on cameras, I'm looking right now. Yeah,
but would you feel that like, because because it seems
like restaurants evolved and you know, various in the menu
is definitely evolved, and the business as evolve from being
a pop up to what it is now and you've
gone through all the iterations of it, it seems like
your relationship has too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I think if you know, when someone's in there, they've
just met someone and they're about a month in and
they're like, they're amazing, there's nothing perfect, you feel like saying, just.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Go camping, go camping for a week with.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Them, and then you where do god do it?
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Do?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I mean camping camping and go for a week you're
right in winter and then come back and then say same,
she's gone, because she probably is. But it's different different
levels of working together in a small space, because do.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
You reckon though when you're in a small business together, especially
if you're in there with your partner, your wife, your
husband and or partner, that your relationship either makes it
or breaks. Like in other words, you can become much
more resilient and better at you being together or you
completely just fall over the edge off.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
You want to go a long list of restaurants that
have fallen over by husband and wife or together, and
then I've seen because it's just it's so.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
What's your secrets? What do you think your secret sources
between the two of you, Like, why, what is it?
Is it? Is it different personality? Is it because your background,
I mean how you grew up as a kid. What
do you think it is that? Humility is a big one.
You said humility. I think skin, yes, skin, Yeah, that's important.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
We have clear lines in the sand of which sections
of the restaurant we want we operate. So if those
lines are quite defined, the final say. We already have
this veto veto of certain areas. So in the business
side of things, there's a clear line of that's my line,
(38:41):
that's your line. You have the final say. So I
think because by that, yes, and we honor that even
if someone rules. Yeah, we definitely have to have the foundation.
Otherwise we don't have any business.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I'm CFO and you're the chief operations officer. I'm finance
and or operating. So I mean, like in a business, no,
it's it's very similar and that comes from probably from
your experience as being in business prior to this. I
just want to move on to something that I noticed
in the in the notes, is that will you name
when a south Stray's best by Goodma Traveler one of
(39:18):
one off, one off.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
But yeah, but that's just a big deal, which is
a huge What about accolades?
Speaker 1 (39:24):
How important is it to you? Adelaide accolades? Accolades.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
We appreciate the recognition, but we didn't set out to
be considered.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
At that level.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
But there's a weird there's a weird like you need
to put things in brackets so they're great, but you
need to put a comment button because I think if
you sort of go, if you judge yourself on the
accolades you get, you're going to get to get a
lot of trouble because like so for the last two
years we've made the top ninety five restaurants in Australia,
so that's normal.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
It's South Australia that's top ten, so that's great and
good restaurants and Celestrat.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Really really good and for us, I think that what
happened was like the number one thing for us would
be like, well, don't celebrate them. Don't celebrate it, because
they'll go away next year, you know, don't don't don't
take them.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
But I think they don't celebrate.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
But I suppose that's they don't get carried away. No,
don't get carried away.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
But I think what's good and healthy is when you go, no,
we're going to celebrate the crap out of this one,
because this is a big achievement and we're really stoked
and it's great for the staff and it's great for us,
and everyone should just celebrate it.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Do you deserve it? I mean, do you say to yourself,
you know it's important to say fuck it, I deserve it.
We deserve it or not just YouTube, but everybody.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Based on hard work. I feel like it is quite valid.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
I mean an arrogant I'm just saying, like, because you have,
you got to bank you wins and give yourself a
bat And that's.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Probably what I supposed. I think we probably are on
the side of like, oh, we don't deserve it. You think, well,
maybe you should celebrate it, and but don't take it.
My point I suppose I was trying to make is
that you don't want to look at next year and
you don't make the lists, like, oh my god, it's
all gone. Like maybe the most important thing out of
this is the accolades are really important, and we'll put
that at number four. Number one is is there eighty
(41:18):
people every night Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday that are
happy to come and eat and ninety nine point nine
of them leave happy? Is more important than the accolades
because this you can sorry if I'm talking too much,
but that the restaurants that seem to win all the
awards seem to be here for a few years and
(41:40):
then they fade. The ones that's a trend. The pub
down the road that's full every night because it's a
decent part and it looks after the community, and you know,
the food's pretty good, and everyone's kids have worked there
at some point. It's been here for twenty years. That's
probably more impressive and financially better than being the place
that's the new hot spot. They're amazing for two years
(42:04):
and then someone leaves and it all kind of goes
pear shapes.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Will you guys do a longevity You've been here for
a long time, and do you know your customers like
I mean. What I mean by that is, do you
recognize them as to come in they're local people or
people coming from adelaide from the city.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Yes, no, we have. I think that's that's probably one
of the main stays of the return customers. We know
a lot of them by first name, where I know
them by their requirements or dietares. So it's all ingrained.
Because we've been here for seven and a half.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
For nearly eight years now, I would be concerned if
the restaurant didn't have twenty five to fifty percent customers
that we at least know by name or at least
have got some connection in action too.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
And do do you do deal with them in a
digital sense to like in other words, you get people's
details and email them and oh we make not dates, Okay,
you've got to make notes about it, and you communicate
with them. We have to say, for me personally, I
think that food is such a train's working such a
hard environment where there's so much professionalism and so much
to do. Customer service in Australia is good, but it's
(43:07):
not treated like a real industry. So that's a really
hard one to work in.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
But what's good about it is it leaves open some
opportunities for people just to do Like if you get
good service anywhere, it's like, oh my god, this is
amazing because it's so it's not that it's the norm
to get decent service, but get to get great service.
So my point is is that if we have as
we have an online booking system, we can make we
can do lots of things with those bookings. But what
(43:32):
we try to do is in a completely positive sense,
if you guys came in on Friday and you really
love these chairs here, making sure that we make a
note to say that you really love this table, because
then if you come back, we can give you that tape.
So maybe if you're a really lovely table who come
in three times a year, will make sure you get
(43:52):
that tape. Maybe you're someone who tries a local wine,
you really like the good doctor Mont's pushing on it,
Let's make a note in the booking to say that
you're likes them onto pushiano. Then that way, when you're
come in next time, we can say, hey, last time
you're in, that I've got that I've got the new
vintage you want to try it.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
It's so easy to do. But if we can do that.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
That just gives us a I might not know you,
I might recognize the name, I might recognize the face,
but I can't remember the details.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
But if we can make some notes and not me
as the owner, I.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
Mean all of the front of house staff, then that
relates the kitchen, because then we've got all these people
who want it.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Then we can give the little gifts and the little
things and the little got a database. You're giving a database? Yeah,
we do.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
I think at the end of the night, the front
of house try and give feedback that these couple were
going to visit x inery. Was it wedding anniversary. They
love this picture frame. They wanted to know where we
got the print from. We actually give them the details. Hey,
we know you like this, this is where we purchased
it from. They really liked a table or a chair,
This is where we purchased it from. So it's just
(44:56):
little weird details that make the experience memorable.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Like you said early, they're the one percenters.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
Yeah, thank you for coming, or that's that's nice, thank
you for visiting us. But I think it's a nicer
touch to say, hey, I hope you enjoyed going to
Samson's Taol Winery, or you know, thank you, this is
where I got my dress from, like often in the
front of house because they all dressed quite beautifully. They
exchange like where they get their clothes from with our patrons.
(45:23):
So or they have a theme where this is not
to my support, they dress in leopard print one night
and then the ladies who are in please mate, let
me know if that's what the theme is, and they
attend the restaurant we're in the same as the front
of house. So it's all those small little details that
I think make the experience memorable.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Can I asked you want to find a question the
Little Ritual being the name, but what's the origins of that?
Or is it just more dipping you had to where
your parents came from. I think it is.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
It was hard to try and find a name, But
really I think the Little Ritual tries to capture it's
a collection of food and what we like to embody.
It's a collection of people as well, so it is
just a it's a.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Yeah everyone, yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
So we didn't want to be like even though we
said it was v at start, we sort of didn't
want it to be like, oh, we don't want to
put anything where it sort of says it pigeonholes us
into that.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
It was nice to kind of go, well, there's rickshaws everywhere,
or maybe we do that.
Speaker 3 (46:25):
And we were supposed to stay little. It's still little.
We only see forty at once, but we didn't expect
it to all our customer's joke. Now it's the big rickshaw,
so we could change the name.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
But having met you guys and listen to the story,
I actually think and looking around the joint, I think
the little rickshaw actually suit's perfectly to be frank with.
It just feels right. It's by the way. For anyone
listening or watching this, it looks outside looks fantastic. The
little sign out of the front there and it looks
it looks awesome, Like this is a sort of place.
I don't want to call it quaint, quaints and shitty word.
(47:01):
It sort of doesn't do a justice. But I'm just
looking around the way you've well, I don't know if
you decorated. I mean, I'm not talking at the pictures,
but it's the building is sort of already decorated, given
its age and stuff. You've got a bit of tin
up there and you've got the exposed beams and you know,
you've got the beautiful big Persian rugs on the ground
and it's sort of oozers. Authenticity.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
Well, you want something when you walk in the door,
you go okay, yeah, And if the music's on and
the music has played it, you know, we try to
set everything so that's like, you know, everything should have
a purpose.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
There's nothing worse.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
If you walk into the music's make a little bit
too loud for you, but that sort of sets say like,
well maybe there's a bit of a party place. That's
a bit more, it's not too serious. And then if
it's warm and family, you think, oh this is nice.
And then if I if you sit in the table,
there's no there's no good tables. All the tables have
got kind of.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
A all the tables are good.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
Well, if you sit on the night this is the
one of the nicer tables, right next to the door.
If you sit on the nice table down the back,
but it's really close to the kitchen. If you've got
a really lovely table, you're probably in.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
A bad spot.
Speaker 2 (48:07):
So trying to make it so that it doesn't it's
balanced so that but there's no terrible tables either. So
you've sort of got this thing where you never feel
like you're being stuck next to the loose and you
feel like it because it's so small. So where we're
sitting right now, we've got into one, two, three, four five,
there's six tables. So if you've got one front of
house looking after you, you've got six tables. You've probably
(48:28):
got eighteen people, so you don't feel like you're getting
lost in some big space. Now there's another section that's
got another four tables, and then there's the courtyard that's
got another.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Seven tables as in outdoors.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah, so just behind this little coffee shop, there's a
courtyard that we share with the coffee shop. So when
they shut it to a clock, we set that up
and we open it five o'clock. But if you're in
these little sections, you feel like you've only got there's
only five or six tables per section, so you don't
get lost in a grand expansion of space. And then
that means that the kitchen can look after each section
(49:02):
at a time, and then the front of house can
also add into that too.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Well, if I was I mean, I haven't eaten here,
but so I'm not talking about the quality of the food.
But if I was just to summarize, this is my
terminology three words in relation to this place. It's I
think cool. Cool comes to mind. It's cool. You guys
(49:27):
look like a couple of cool, cool dudes, like as
a couple and yea, but running the joint, I think
that's not cool cool with that long But I think
it's cool as a restaurant. And I think you guys
are cool. But I think the place, I think intimate.
Sort of I get that intimate feel like because maybe
because everyone's close and it's sort of very looks a
(49:50):
bit like a home in some respects. I feel like
I'm someone. I feel like I'm someone's home. I get
that sense. And and I think the final word you
used the word earlier on but like I feel like
I'm going to be fed well nourished. I just get
that sense I'm going to get fed well because I
don't have to make decisions. It's already set menu, and
they're like, I'm going to someone's home. We've got some
(50:13):
it's a cool going on. Music's going to the front
of houses wearing whatever they're wearing. And but that nourishing
thing that's that's at the end of the day, that's
what you want when that's the experience you want when
you get food. Well, I also think that trend does
a really good job of.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
At the beginning, it's very hey, look how amazing these
little plates are. But at the end we always have
had a reputation of feeding feeding people. So you leave
like there is no chance I need to go get
a pizza. At the end of this we are done,
like stick a fork in me. I need to roll
home and.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Crawl a curl up in the corner to sleep.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
At the end of the day, you know, it's great
going out and trying these restaurants that hit you know,
top hundred whatever, it's great, but at the end of
the day, if you're paying for dinner, we want to
give you dinner.
Speaker 1 (51:05):
Leaving well, thanks for your time today. I mean, I've
actually really enjoyed talking to you two guys, and I
think you're probably from my point of view at least,
a good example of why people travel to South Australia.
Outside we're outside of Adelaide, but to Soustralia they want
to come to these cool, little, intimate and nourishing sort
(51:27):
of joints, and now they've had a chance to hear
your story. I think that apart from everyone just thinks
of Adelaide or South Astralia's wine, But wine's no good
on this as food. I mean, you're gonna sit there
and drink whinal down as you've got something to eat
with it. You know. I come Greek background. We do
not drink unless we eat. You must eat at the
same time. And I think foods like makes wine, and
(51:50):
wine makes food and makes conversation and makes friendships and
all that sort of stuff. So I really appreciate it.
So Trin and Mike Richard's really great to meet you guys,
and I'll enjoy myself here at the Little Rickshaw. M
h m hm, m hm
Welcome to the Mentor and I'm Mark Boris. Well, I'm
here in South Australia for a special edition of the
Mentors series, and I'm in a little I guess you
call it a suburbs to be more like a village
called Aldinger, and I am speaking with Trin and Mike
from the Little Rickshaw. Welcome guys, Thank you, How are
you going good? It's a pretty cool spie. Yeah. Can
(00:29):
you just maybe explain this joint to me a little bit,
because I mean, it's all it looks like it's made
three hundred years ago, but can't be right because it
has meself for that long.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
But no, it's pretty old, well for South Australia. So
originally this was the blacksmith back in the day.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So it's actually technically the blacksmith, coach builder and coffin
maker in Aldinger. So you have an original wall just
behind us here and then this a little bit here
so where we're sitting now was has all fallen over.
You see a little bit of an old wall just
behind me here. But it was a coach builder next
(01:07):
door which is now a coffee shop and then they
made coffins and with the blacksmith just behind the coffins. Coffins,
so back in the day in Ordinger, if someone died,
they didn't go to the morgue. They just kept the
body at the house. And if there was a light
on down just behind us, that meant that they were
quickly trying to build up a.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Box to put the person in.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
And then there's another little spot down the back here
where the hearse used to be, so they used to
pick up and go down pick up the deceased person.
And the cemetery is just up the road. So it
was that for a long time, and then it turned
into a mechanic. So if you were here forty fifty
years ago, there would be this would have been the mechanic.
If you go in next door to the coffee shop. Again,
(01:49):
there's actually the old pit still in the ground, but
it was rubble for about twenty thirty years, I think,
and then someone did it up enough and now it's
too busy is in it? We take a decent chunk
of it. We got a little coffee shop next door,
and then.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So that's your coffee shop.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
No, there's some really nice people do a little I've
got a nice little business next door that we just share.
We share a little courtyard with them and the toilets
and a few other spots.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
So you males explained what this is a restaurant. Restaurant does,
like what's the deal? Like a min it's obviously food,
but whatever food we do all about here, Yes.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
That's my.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Food.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It hasn't always been a full blown restaurant. And yes,
as we're on the street, we were a pop up
where we really did just fall into the space when
we were grabbing a coffee mixed.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Door is sorry, this wasn't a plan.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
No, it was not a plan. So we used to
both live in the city like North Adelaide area, Prospect area,
and we would come down to the coast almost every
weekend and just one day we just happened to walk
into the coffee shop. Had to peek around next door
here to see just a vacant area where there was
a little market store, and we made some inquiries and
(03:15):
happened to bump into the landward. So we just got pudding,
had a coffee handshake deal on the.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Spot, um style do a deal.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
So that's so we literally fell into this spot. Given
that we come down to we visited the area so
frequently on the weekends.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
So just to give us some context where we are.
This is near the Florida Peninsula. It would be part
of it. It is part of the Floura Peninsula, which
is on the on the I guess it's great Strain
Bier or it's at least the ocean.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Sort of the boot if you have a look at
it in South Australia, it's sort of the boot area.
So it'll take everything sort of from where Adelaide is
and south and it sort of kinks around at the
bottom and then you've got if you where you would
at the very bottom of that boot is where you
would get the ferry across the kangar Island.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
So k I would be straight out.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The ocean's running all the way along this coast here,
and then it all go around and k I would
be sort of in that direction. If we went straight south,
you'd basically be a Victor Harbor. And the next stop
from Victor Harbor is Antarctica.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
It's pretty beautiful around here. I actually we make a
whiskey at the peninsula right on the water. Nice you
know where the river, the river meets the sea, that's
where that's where our whiskey distillery is right. Yeah, so likeway,
but I'm going to gather tomorrow. We can circle back.
(04:46):
And your background is wine, isn't it all? Both your
backgrounds I can't remember now.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Background Mike's the publican.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
I run pubs for twenty years in mainland Adelaide, and
then I was sort of in some teach roles because
no one wants to run pubs, wants there over a
certain age because who wants to stand on the front
door at three o'clock in the morning. And then yeah,
we kind of so I wouldn't suggest that this is
moving into restaurants. Wasn't my forte or something I was
(05:16):
thinking that I wanted to do, But it kind of
just worked. So I think we've it's been good because
we've been able to come at it as a trends,
coming at it from a certain angle, not being in
the industry, and I can come at it from an
angle where I don't. We can come at it and
from a sort of pubby angle. And at the very
(05:37):
least I had worked for some big companies, so at
least I feel like we had a good understanding that
there's definitely no money in hospitality and we kind of knew,
we sort of knew what we were getting into a
little bit that we would We knew that there wasn't
going to be a well we'll just open up some
food business and how hard can it be and we'll
just make money. We were sort of at least had
(05:57):
a good understanding from the beginning of Yeah, how you
know where the margins are?
Speaker 1 (06:01):
What Mike going to say from a pub point of view?
You look coming up from a pup point of point
of view, Do you mean as as in hospitality? You know,
you know how to make people comfortable, you know what
they like to drink, I feed people to put in
a joint? Is that what you mean?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Or?
Speaker 1 (06:19):
And I think so I think.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
That you let's see if I can explain this. I
think because I'd come from essentially a reasonal amount of
time with al h which is, you know, is war
worth it's not war worse? But you know, forget the
semantic set. It's coming from a big corporate background, and
Trin probably has even more corporate background than me. So
(06:41):
at least we looked at numbers a lot and sort
of understood that just because you're passionate about something doesn't
and you open, it doesn't really mean that there's going
to be much money at the end of it. So
I knew that hospitality is kind of one of those
ones where you do put a lot of money in
the two, but you're going to take a lot of
money back out again as well. So that, I suppose
is probably one of the reasons why we outed so
small and didn't go and throw ourselves into a big
(07:03):
lease or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
When you say saw do you mean as in the
pop up pop up?
Speaker 2 (07:08):
So we actually had a look at a few other
venues and sort of said, okay, well could we run this?
And we thought, oh, well, we could make this work,
but we didn't want to.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
I think at the beginning.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
One of the reasons that we had some success was
because we kept everything so small from the beginning and
just did what was in our wheelhouse rather than I'm
so glad we didn't go and get a one hundred
seat venue, ten year lease, lock it in, put the
house on top of it, and then sort of go, Okay,
now we need staff, and now we've got to open,
(07:40):
and now we need to pay. You know, the rent's
going to come in every every week. We could sort
of sit back and go, Okay, well we can do
this really small. We both worked for Contacts. The first
six months that we were open, we both worked full
time and just did it on the weekends, and then
Trin went part time and I kept going full time,
(08:01):
and I think I quit my full time job.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Two years in.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
Yeah, I think around years.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Of working, Trend did the full business and I worked
full time and did the weekends so that there was
cash flow coming in. And if we hadn't done it
that way, I don't know whether we would have made it.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
So it was fairly purposeful. You weren't being that sort
of typical flare flair entrepreneurs going to take on the
world and to create something no one else has ever
tasted before, and you're all in. You just yes, you
just step by step by step by the way. I think,
especially in the hospitality game, is probably the safest way
to do it.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I think there's the time and place for risk
is good, but when you're not quite sure about it, particularly,
I mean, I'd come from pubs, so I think customer
service is there. I'm glad we've got a kind of
is a pubby flare to to what it does because
it gives you a humbleness and maybe an ability to
talk to everybody and maybe not pretend that just because
someone doesn't know about wine that they're there for.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You know, how could they not know what this is?
You come at it from them too, precious. Yeah, if you.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Want, you just want straight down the line, savvy b
that's that's that's completely okay. There's nothing wrong with it,
you know, a little Pino grisio. Nothing wrong with that.
You don't have to have all the bells and whistles
attached to it. And I think we just came at
it from a let's start small and see where goes
because we could always pull the pin.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
So I think that was a I'm glad we did
it that way. Well, I'm going to say, guys, meant
in a second, but you're probably don't kill me in
the you know, in the meadows or something like that.
But dream, what's your background, because Mike said, you've got
even a heavier corporate background.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
Oh gosh, it's distant. It's a nine to fiver. So
I suppose I it's a job where I didn't love
my job, where if you're not a certain type of person,
you don't quite fit into an office space where they
celebrate a certain type of personality and they make celebrations
(09:49):
over cake around the water cooler.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
So it was that birth days.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Yes, So it was that type of environment where I
didn't fit in. So I'm not saying wasn't good at
the job. I didn't fit in any friends, but I
was good at the job. Went to the gym a lot.
So that doesn't fit a lot of the culture of
a workplace where no one else really does that. It's
more of a you don't stand out, you do the
(10:18):
job where you have to conform. And I wasn't someone
who really fit that mold very well. Hence why I
didn't have that many friends at work. And I was
in let's just call it middle management where it's even
like that little step lonelier, you know, more you climb
the ladder. But I did end up in wineries.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You've had winery, yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
So, but that was a lot more organic where it
was such a hands on job with growers, with seller hands,
where it's so far from that corporate world that I.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
Was used to.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
And that's actually where probably the business started in its infancy,
because I would do vitty meals for the team because
because they had a full blown i'm commercial kitchen in there,
and that's actually where it started trickling, where I actually
cooked at work.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You started cooking.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
So when we first moved down, so we lived in Adelaide,
and when we moved down, we'd found we found this place,
and Trin was able to get a job at Tintara,
which is one of the big ones just in McLaren
v winy. Yeah, sorry, so that was and then that
turned into Trin cooking for vita culture we do when
(11:30):
they have when they do vintage. I don't know if
you if you've ever been around an area like this
place during vintage, is you're just walking zombies of people
doing twenty hour shifts because when.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
The grapes have arrived, the grapes of ripe, and when they.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Come in just whenever they come in, so they got
to make some calls and people have to work stupid hours,
so everybody is dead on their feet and hungry. So
Trin would then go and cook and take meals for
everybody at the at the winery and in return, I
don't think would be a stretch to say that the
wine industry, the McLaren our wine industry is why we
(12:05):
made it, or we're able to survive the first year.
I don't think that's a bold statement, isn't.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
No, I don't think it is.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
They were the ones that supported us and got us,
got us, you know, got us to where they got
us over the first hurdle, which was making that first
year possible.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
And word of mouth, we hand on heart could verify that.
We haven't spent any money on marketing since day one.
Still to this day, we don't have a business card,
so we should do that a business card.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
No one has an anle.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
So yes, exactly. So I think word of mouth in
its infancy is the catalyst of suppose how we run
the business?
Speaker 1 (12:45):
And I didn't if I ask you, given that you
were cooking ad hoc and both sounded voluntary, voluntarily for
all these people in the in your industry, where'd you
learn to cook? We owe you. You're not a chef.
Speaker 3 (13:01):
No, I'm not a chef. And I think I'm only
finally gotten over this imposter syndrome of not being a chef.
And we are seven and a half eight years into
the business, and I only have just shaken that that feeling.
But I love to cook. From all my mother at home,
but not to say that I was dedicated cooking as
a child. I was an orphan kid to my mother.
(13:22):
So but she did have the bold flavors and the
generosity where we did not eat a lot of takeaway
when we were children. She would always have a full
on banquet every night. She still lives.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
So she's actually been a big part of the business
in Sewan, so that's cool.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
First, the first when we first opened.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
So Mar lives in This is not this doesn't make
sense to anybody that's not South Australia, but Mar lives
in Modbury Teacher Gully, which is about it's on the
other side of the city, so it's a good hour
and a half hour and.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
A bit drive down here from here.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So what would happen is that we would Marwood Trins
Mum would go and get all the ingredients and then
come down on Saturdays and then cook all day Saturday
with Trin and then Saturday nights stay over our place
and then we would open on Sundays. That's how the
business started was just Sundays in the beginning days, just Sundays,
and then we were able to make that work and
(14:25):
then it sort of developed from there. But I think
that I think with cooking as a general thing is
that Trin can cook. Obviously, I think that's pretty reasonable statements.
But I also think that being a chef is there's lots.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Of people that can cook for four people. I mean,
most people's mums are good cook I even cook for
four people.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
It's not a skill that should be taken lightly.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
It's an amazing skill.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But then if you try to cook for ten, most
people can do it, but the kitchen is going to
be a mess. You better hold on because it could
be half an hour late. So to cook for ten
and then to cook for twenty. And I remember when
a good example of this when I got engaged. We
didn't want to have a big wedding, so we had
a big engagement party and we did one hundred and
twenty people and Trin and here, no this is before here.
(15:13):
We actually catered it at our house. It's just a
rental property, and Trin's mum and Tren cooked for one
hundred and twenty people. So that sort of gives you
an indication of like people who can do it at scale.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
That's a talent.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
There's there's cooking and then there's chefing, and probably the
biggest difference is how you do things at scale and
keeping the consistency there. So I think that that's where
we sort of thought we could probably do this, maybe
not a restaurant level, but maybe it's a little weekend.
Maybe we've got something here.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
We never planned to be a restaurant. Was like our
liqua license didn't land until year two. We actually had
aspirations to be like a cool bun me shop like that.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
That was the idea, as in that sort of waste stuff. Yes, yeah,
we were trains of these.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Name and the place still has as a Vietnamese soul,
but we really progressed into more of a modern Asian
style of cuisine. So it's just it's just organically evolved,
Like we didn't choose to make We didn't make a
conscious effort to think, oh we're going to be restauranteurs,
we're going to do this all that we'll accolades. We
(16:25):
just happened to evolve it where it just is a
restaurant now, So we didn't set out to be one.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
So your your parents, I presume both your parents are
from Vienna, like born born in vietnamam.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Born in Vietnam, different areas they met.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Here administrated, were they Your mum's on a chef, she's
just like a family cookoth of it.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Yes. No, she was a seamstress and my dad was
a fisherman, so very different backgrounds. He's brought us. She's Catholic,
so best of both worlds in my upbringing.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
And there's a lot of Vietnamese and Catholics here, Yes,
a lot. I only just recently found that out. That's
that's I guess it must be the French influence in Vienna. Yes,
the same way I could reconcile in my own head.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
No, it very much so is so it's just growing
up with those different influences, different cultures, and having two
different religions in one household that was really challenging enough.
And then them both living in Australia and having best
of both wells of Vietnamese food in its abundance along
with the Australian lifestyles.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
How would you describe I'm getting my mouth downed water,
but how would you describe Vietnamese food? I mean, like,
if you were to say not so much an ingredients
you perhaps you can go to an ingredientce you want to.
But in terms of the experience that one has when
the Vietnamese food, particularly your style of food here, like
(17:55):
in Vietnamese influence is sort of like it sounds like
it's got a lot of you know, warmth and home
cooking element or whatever. It's not like, you know, high
end by the sound of its correct if I'm wrong.
It's not a high end, but it's tasty, maybe obviously consistent.
It makes you feel welcome. You're talking about the pub
feel too, like you know, you know the community. How
(18:16):
would you best describe Vietnamese food in this establishment, Well,
I don't.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
Think I would describe it as Vietnamese food, more of
a not anymore. Maybe a few years ago it has
no Yeah, but we would probably look to play on
steak and chips exactly. It has a Vietnamese soul, but
(18:44):
the food at the end of the day, it's it's
nourishing and what we like to do because we describe
it as it is modern Asian. We like to embrace
all the cultures that comes from the kitchen and that's
where all the influences into the chefs.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah, there's probably an evolution of the last few years.
If you if you go sort of a year winers
takeaway like Mar and Trient and I that's it.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
And then how you got that smashed up left your
I actually not normally know how those years coming back
actually got finger. Yes, they're doing the same thing. I think,
there you go yesterday. Figure want to think this.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Is from getting punched a bit too much, but no
that you know the idea of working with your wife
and your mother in law and a small businesses.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
You want to be that and drink but that's okay.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
No, we had the first the first year we were
straight up vie and that was great because Mar and
Tren it made sense. And then year two I would
think that we were a little bit more pushed the
boundaries a bit further into my modern v it Potentially.
What happened though, was there was a little bit of
a shift when we hit a we did hit a
glass ceiling, We hit a ceiling where it was there's
(19:58):
only so much that we could do as with there's
only so much that when we just talk about the food,
there's only so much that Trin could do with Ma
as her cooking partner. What happened is we were able
to sort of break through that and when we started
to get staff and get some more interest. Is that
it allowed Trin to go from doing vat, which I
(20:21):
think I can safely say.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Loves, but it wasn't her wheelhouse. So what was nice
is that in years three and four, let's say we
started to push into modern Southeast Asian. So maybe there's
some VA in there, yeah, but there was a much
more of a modern take on a bit of everything else,
I mean, and Japanese. And so then I think in
(20:44):
the last couple of years you really have got this.
If you sort of want to describe what our food is,
it's Trend's background and her family at the core.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
But we've had chefs. We've had a number of chefs
come through, and we have a number with us now.
We have twenty staff, five five full time chefs. We've
had chefs from Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong, We've had
obviously born and bred here, We've had guys from the Pool.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
So what's been able to happen Indonesia.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
Whi's been great is to pull from what's lovely for
us is that if we just made it, if we
stayed via, I don't think Trim would then be hamstrung
to only do a modern version of that. What's nice
is that we can take food from anywhere in Asia
and sort of mix and match and sort of have
more of an ethos of it has to be punchy
(21:39):
and flavorful and sort of be our kind of food,
but it doesn't have to be. We can take a
little bit like this time of the year, it's great.
You want more hearty, you know, soul food, so you
can take you can imagine some of those regions are
better at that. And then in summer, when you're going
lighter and fresher and maybe more seafood, you can sort
of lean into a bit more of.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
So you say, it's sort of somewhat seasonal, very much definitely,
And when let's say somebody comes here from the pool,
do you sort of lean lean into that and sort
of say, is there some nipolice dish you can cook?
Speaker 2 (22:11):
The last time when when Rajah was here, we had
a goat curry on yeah, so it was like great
love go curry yeah, and it worked really.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Well because it was the middle of winter. But then
when we hit something.
Speaker 3 (22:22):
Yeah, well I think it's because I because I don't
come from a chefing background, I approached the kitchen a
little bit differently and I actually digitalized all the kitchen
processes too.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
So you mean you reduce everything to writing, but yeah,
you systemize it.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Yes, it's not normal, like there was no handwriting on oily, greasy,
greasy pieces of paper of an old menu. Like everything
is online, so chefs have access to prep list, recipes,
everything is streamlined online. So I think it operates in
such an efficient way where that has been a big
(23:04):
culture shop for a lot of chefs coming through. But
what that also means is because we're not faffing around,
let's just say with the processes of handwriting all the
verbal handovers, we get to embrace the actual cooking and
embrace people's experience because when you come into a new kitchen,
we like to embrace their strengths. And how do you
(23:25):
do that You find out what they are good at,
and that's where we can focus on that. If we're
just dealing with like low end admin, then we're always
trapped in and board, Yes, and board, And I am
someone who can't bared the guests and I can't stand still.
I can't sit still twenty hour days on our feet
(23:47):
do the same cooking. It doesn't.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
It's got to work for it intellectually.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And there's two ways you can run. I think there's
two basic stores of thought in hospitality. Either do you
get a good system, you do it well and you
tell every everybody behay, this is what we've been doing
for ages, and you just knock it out the park
and you become that place that why do we go there?
Speaker 1 (24:06):
Because we've got it.
Speaker 2 (24:07):
We have an anniversary at that same place every time,
we get the same dishes, and it's beautiful and lovely
and nostalgic, and you can sort of rewind life every
time you go in or put a line through that
and then do what we I hope what we do here,
which is constantly changing, constantly new things on the menu,
constant pressure on the chefs too. We do not have
(24:29):
this dish. We don't have a replacement for this. We
do can't get that anymore. We're now doing this and
it just for context.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Now.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
In the last two years we've only done set menu,
so everybody who comes in the door is on a
nine course set menu. And then that needs to be
something that is constantly changing so that we can look
after those people. You know, we don't do a summer,
(24:57):
winter or even a seasonal menu. It's try to take
a dish off every couple of weeks and put a
new dish on.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
And it really is based on, well, we have a
local fishman, what has he caught this week? Sorry? Sometimes
well not sometimes often I just throw all the chefs
in the deep end what we're cooking based on we
receive forty helos of nanninggui what are we making? So
we use the whole thing. Oh, nanny guy is a
red snapp up just context, just to fish that is
(25:24):
caught locally. So every week is just generating ideas. And
because when we do higher and it's based on my curiosity,
we have chefs who are also curious, meaning we try
different things that doesn't work, trial and error, and you
have to have a personality where you can take feedback.
And that's where where we probably have clocked up a
(25:49):
lot of experiences. We absorb feedback well and we react
to it well. So that's carrying about one percent. So
that's in the food and the people. So alsoircumstances. So
we have to adapt quite quickly.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Let's make it hard. Sometimes for.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
I can completely understand how a chef who is looking
for a new position says, Oh, like, I'm really creative,
I'm really interested, blah blah blah. But maybe they're in
a time of their life where they just want to
go to work, do the job, and then go home.
There are a lot of places where they can go
where it's like, look, mate, this is the menu. It's
going to be the menu for six months. You go in,
you bang it out, and then at five o'clock we're done.
(26:27):
And I can appreciate that. So what we try to
do is be very clear with staff is when they
do come in, that's not the kitchen that we're running.
It's going to be a bit of an Okay, it's Wednesday,
we don't have this. That means that dish is completely gone,
which means that we've got to create a new one,
which also means that all the alternatives, because if it's
a beef dish, then we have to make the pescatarian option,
(26:50):
the vegan option, all have to then match the new dish.
So we're going to have to create three new dishes
by tomorrow, which means we have to have all the
ingredients here this afternoon, and you guys are going to
have to test run it, get it right, be really
happy to serve it, and then all the front of
house are going to have to learn all three dishes
why tomorrow and get.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
The customer feedback.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
So just on that because that's that's interesting. That's like
how you execute on your on your strategy. So is
that like a Monday is because you're open on Tuesday?
What are we talking about here so that that day
we and do you guys sit down and taste it
or does everyone sit and taste it? How does that
work normally?
Speaker 2 (27:26):
I'd love to say, well that we have a Monday
where we have a day off and then Tuesday is
expect night. It's normally on the Thursday where we're open
in a few hours and it's kind.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
Of all go, well a little bit of a little
bit of that time.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Yes, but it's not a perfect system based on a
very obsessive personality. So it is a it's daily, it's
planned daily, it's communicated daily. But do you still do
have a deadline of opening on Thursday where the curtain
call is?
Speaker 1 (27:57):
But what do you do if you're going to on Thursday?
So do you do this on the Wednesday, you do that.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
We have a full prep day on Wednesday the team.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
So you walk in and say take me through it. You
walk and say, this is a fish I've got today.
It's whatever, a snap or something ll be for whatever
the case will be. We're going to do this. Do
you say, asked, how do you want to cook it?
Speaker 3 (28:20):
I have some ideas, but then I ask the chefs
what they have been thinking about as well, because every
individual chef who works here, they are working on the menu.
They're learning the menu and learning cooking techniques that are
on the current menu. But I also have a rule
where they have two or three dishes in their minds.
(28:41):
In the background, there's always what's the next one?
Speaker 1 (28:43):
So it's quite collaborative.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
It is very collaborative, and I don't think we I
could run the business in any other way.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
Can you sit down and taste it cooked?
Speaker 3 (28:52):
Everyone hands out?
Speaker 1 (28:54):
How many people taste.
Speaker 3 (28:55):
Like everybody front of house, right and back of house.
So it's a whole laborative efforts.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
One of the ways it's worked quite well is that
what we try to do this is probably not financially
the best way to do it, but it has worked
for us is that. So let's say you guys all
came in at eight on this Friday night train probably,
so we're going to get we're going to get eight
or nine courses, so there's plenty of food and it's
good value. And when you sit down, hopefully you read
it and you go, oh, that's like nine courses for
(29:23):
eighty nine bucks.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
Is it's good value? It's really good value. Yeah, it's
not bad.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
And then hopefully what happens is you sit down and
then as we go through, let's say there's no dietaries
and you seem like a great table and I flag
you as a good table front of house yep, so
or one of the girls fron one of the staff
front of the house might say, hey, really great table,
really lovely, we like them.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
What Triin might then do is those new dishes that
we're mucking around with, you.
Speaker 1 (29:48):
Get to try it. It's really extra one. It's not
it's on top just to give from the chefs.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Throw it out there because worst case scenario if you
don't like it, or it was a bit salty, or
it was a bit this, so we're not quite hitting
the mark.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
It's an extra gift. Do you get some punishes in
there's get some people it's.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
A nice little like then we can get some feedback
and it's going to be positive because it's just an
extra one.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
We had to handle it. Those someone both experience and
someone gets here goes maybe there needs to be a
little bit more mint in that or something like that.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
How that happens all the time the time, But I
think you take a lot of you take a lot.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Of pressure off that scenario by it being a gift
from the chefs, because if we're just mucking around and
we're getting feedback, then no one has to be too
some of.
Speaker 3 (30:31):
The feedbacks code some of that's valid, and you have
to have a certain type of personality be able to
be objective with any feedback.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
How come we do so calm because most people work
in this industry are mental.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
Oh no, that's some of the surface that's questionable. No weed,
Carl in the morning, or we have gone through a
lot of waves with the business like covid et cetera.
Where I think the drinking culture of the kitchen, it's
not something that's not a strong presence in this kitchen.
(31:06):
It may have been at one point years ago, but
now it's a work life balance as far as especially
the physical mental health. And that's for us as those
who we own the business and we work in the business.
We have to take care of our our minds and
(31:27):
keeping mentally sharp is a big one for me because
we have to run services the way we want to.
So it's just being sharp meaning going to you know,
going to the gym, getting a smashed up ear in.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
But I was going to say, how do you how
do you how do you sort of maintain the rage
I mean the energy as opposed to rage for the
energy in the kitchen. But at the same time, you
have to balance your lives out and you're working together
all the time.
Speaker 3 (31:53):
Oh yes, we are extremely married.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
We don't have to there's no like.
Speaker 2 (31:57):
If anyone's listening to this and it's like, okay, hang
on to sack Paul this, I need to know what
the answer is.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I don't think there's a good answer. It's no like yet.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
I think trend's pretty It's not going to work for
everybody as far as our staff or customers, etc. But
I think we're both pretty decent at being quite aggressive
is the wrong word, but aggressive early. So if we
don't like something, you tell people straight away this is
shit or this is maybe not shit, but this isn't
(32:26):
going to work. So the amount of time that trend
doesn't yell in the kitchen. But if something hits the
past that is not good, the chef's going to know
there's not going to be a well we'll maybe thinking
maybe we could serve it, and it's going to be
it's not good enough. With disn't work and with the
front of house taking feedback off customers or et cetera,
if we do something wrong. I think it works better
when we are straight down the line as honest as
(32:48):
we can be, because if we can be honest straight away,
it's a lot easier to be nice at the end.
I think if we don't, if we're not honest, then
it kind of doesn't work. So if we can be
a bit more honest with each other and be brutally honest,
it always works out better when we are honest straight
up and then.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
And that's what the customers is true, which is very
transparent and how we operate. I don't think there is
a knee you know, it's it's things in our private life.
We don't have closed door conversations, which I find can
be quite toxic.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Do you make sure that personal life doesn't come into
the into the restaurant to.
Speaker 3 (33:26):
The best of our ability? And is there is he
making a.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Face blue before you start?
Speaker 3 (33:32):
We had a blue today?
Speaker 1 (33:35):
How do you? How do you? How do you sort
of is it like, do you have the ability to
park it and just say we'll pick it up later?
Or just the business.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
We table a lot of things, and we do try
and prioritize just physical.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yes, here again we.
Speaker 3 (33:53):
Prioritize just physical activity.
Speaker 1 (33:55):
I think physical is good. I think.
Speaker 2 (34:02):
Trid and I actually it's a small window into our
personal life. But Trae and I met when we were
like you were. We've been together for ten years, so
we met. We're a bit not late in life, like
Trin was twenty eight twenty nine and I was early thirty,
so it's not late, but we're probably old enough.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
That how long will it take before we got engaged?
Speaker 3 (34:21):
Oh too much personal information? Maybe three weeks. Anyway, we
were very impulsive.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
It was a very impulsive.
Speaker 2 (34:27):
This works, let's get married, and we've been married for
almost ten years now. My point is is that I
think one of the major reasons that it worked in
not in a lust ful this is going to work
because it's all bells and whistles.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
Is that.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
I think Trine in particular is very good at having
honest conversations and then not letting things linger and saying
I'm sorry I said this. This is the reason why
I know you didn't mean it, but we can move on,
So trying to tackle the because everything gets wrapped in
emotion and food is emotional anyway, and work is emotional,
(35:01):
and being married is emotional. But if we unravel the
emotional bit of it and we go what you said
was this, I took it this way, but I think
came mat it this way. So what that does is
I think Trin and I are probably be very good
at going there's a problem between us. Can we both
trying to get to the solution? Because when one person's
trying to get the solution and somebody else is just
(35:22):
trying to get.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Points or defend themselves, it doesn't work.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
So you're going to have that humility, and Trend's very
good at coming to the I know what you said,
you didn't mean it, but this is what you said,
and this is how I took it off.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
There's no tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Don't be sorry, just don't be sorry to be better.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
But getting that straight off the line has I'm not
saying it's a solution for everybody, because it's brutal to
hear like you really pissed me off. Because of these reasons,
it's hard not to go defend and rather going okay,
I can see.
Speaker 1 (35:54):
That, but this was my point of view. I didn't
mean to piss you off. I was trying to get.
What I was trying to say was this, But I
do apologize. You feel more in love today than you
did hours ago. Yeah, seriously, when you look at what
you've achieved and what I'm mean by love, I don't
mean it's a stupid love, you know, where you know,
like you know, like when you first meet somebody, or
(36:15):
you know, when you're impressed by somebody or whatever, but
more admiration of each other. Because the way you're speaking
is very you're talking about you're showing me a lot
of admiration for Trent, like like heap, and you're being
very I think, very well, very loving in in a
sense of someone's been there a long time. Yeah, well,
(36:37):
the love maybe goes out, but it's I don't mean
probably properly probably understanding of each other.
Speaker 3 (36:44):
So it's nice to hear.
Speaker 1 (36:45):
Proper understanding of each he's on cameras, I'm looking right now. Yeah,
but would you feel that like, because because it seems
like restaurants evolved and you know, various in the menu
is definitely evolved, and the business as evolve from being
a pop up to what it is now and you've
gone through all the iterations of it, it seems like
your relationship has too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
I think if you know, when someone's in there, they've
just met someone and they're about a month in and
they're like, they're amazing, there's nothing perfect, you feel like saying, just.
Speaker 1 (37:14):
Go camping, go camping for a week with.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
Them, and then you where do god do it?
Speaker 1 (37:20):
Do?
Speaker 2 (37:23):
I mean camping camping and go for a week you're
right in winter and then come back and then say same,
she's gone, because she probably is. But it's different different
levels of working together in a small space, because do.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
You reckon though when you're in a small business together, especially
if you're in there with your partner, your wife, your
husband and or partner, that your relationship either makes it
or breaks. Like in other words, you can become much
more resilient and better at you being together or you
completely just fall over the edge off.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
You want to go a long list of restaurants that
have fallen over by husband and wife or together, and
then I've seen because it's just it's so.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
What's your secrets? What do you think your secret sources
between the two of you, Like, why, what is it?
Is it? Is it different personality? Is it because your background,
I mean how you grew up as a kid. What
do you think it is that? Humility is a big one.
You said humility. I think skin, yes, skin, Yeah, that's important.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
We have clear lines in the sand of which sections
of the restaurant we want we operate. So if those
lines are quite defined, the final say. We already have
this veto veto of certain areas. So in the business
side of things, there's a clear line of that's my line,
(38:41):
that's your line. You have the final say. So I
think because by that, yes, and we honor that even
if someone rules. Yeah, we definitely have to have the foundation.
Otherwise we don't have any business.
Speaker 1 (38:55):
I'm CFO and you're the chief operations officer. I'm finance
and or operating. So I mean, like in a business, no,
it's it's very similar and that comes from probably from
your experience as being in business prior to this. I
just want to move on to something that I noticed
in the in the notes, is that will you name
when a south Stray's best by Goodma Traveler one of
(39:18):
one off, one off.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
But yeah, but that's just a big deal, which is
a huge What about accolades?
Speaker 1 (39:24):
How important is it to you? Adelaide accolades? Accolades.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
We appreciate the recognition, but we didn't set out to
be considered.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
At that level.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
But there's a weird there's a weird like you need
to put things in brackets so they're great, but you
need to put a comment button because I think if
you sort of go, if you judge yourself on the
accolades you get, you're going to get to get a
lot of trouble because like so for the last two
years we've made the top ninety five restaurants in Australia,
so that's normal.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
It's South Australia that's top ten, so that's great and
good restaurants and Celestrat.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
Really really good and for us, I think that what
happened was like the number one thing for us would
be like, well, don't celebrate them. Don't celebrate it, because
they'll go away next year, you know, don't don't don't
take them.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
But I think they don't celebrate.
Speaker 1 (40:19):
But I suppose that's they don't get carried away. No,
don't get carried away.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
But I think what's good and healthy is when you go, no,
we're going to celebrate the crap out of this one,
because this is a big achievement and we're really stoked
and it's great for the staff and it's great for us,
and everyone should just celebrate it.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Do you deserve it? I mean, do you say to yourself,
you know it's important to say fuck it, I deserve it.
We deserve it or not just YouTube, but everybody.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
Based on hard work. I feel like it is quite valid.
Speaker 1 (40:47):
I mean an arrogant I'm just saying, like, because you have,
you got to bank you wins and give yourself a
bat And that's.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
Probably what I supposed. I think we probably are on
the side of like, oh, we don't deserve it. You think, well,
maybe you should celebrate it, and but don't take it.
My point I suppose I was trying to make is
that you don't want to look at next year and
you don't make the lists, like, oh my god, it's
all gone. Like maybe the most important thing out of
this is the accolades are really important, and we'll put
that at number four. Number one is is there eighty
(41:18):
people every night Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday that are
happy to come and eat and ninety nine point nine
of them leave happy? Is more important than the accolades
because this you can sorry if I'm talking too much,
but that the restaurants that seem to win all the
awards seem to be here for a few years and
(41:40):
then they fade. The ones that's a trend. The pub
down the road that's full every night because it's a
decent part and it looks after the community, and you know,
the food's pretty good, and everyone's kids have worked there
at some point. It's been here for twenty years. That's
probably more impressive and financially better than being the place
that's the new hot spot. They're amazing for two years
(42:04):
and then someone leaves and it all kind of goes
pear shapes.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
Will you guys do a longevity You've been here for
a long time, and do you know your customers like
I mean. What I mean by that is, do you
recognize them as to come in they're local people or
people coming from adelaide from the city.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
Yes, no, we have. I think that's that's probably one
of the main stays of the return customers. We know
a lot of them by first name, where I know
them by their requirements or dietares. So it's all ingrained.
Because we've been here for seven and a half.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
For nearly eight years now, I would be concerned if
the restaurant didn't have twenty five to fifty percent customers
that we at least know by name or at least
have got some connection in action too.
Speaker 1 (42:44):
And do do you do deal with them in a
digital sense to like in other words, you get people's
details and email them and oh we make not dates, Okay,
you've got to make notes about it, and you communicate
with them. We have to say, for me personally, I
think that food is such a train's working such a
hard environment where there's so much professionalism and so much
to do. Customer service in Australia is good, but it's
(43:07):
not treated like a real industry. So that's a really
hard one to work in.
Speaker 2 (43:11):
But what's good about it is it leaves open some
opportunities for people just to do Like if you get
good service anywhere, it's like, oh my god, this is
amazing because it's so it's not that it's the norm
to get decent service, but get to get great service.
So my point is is that if we have as
we have an online booking system, we can make we
can do lots of things with those bookings. But what
(43:32):
we try to do is in a completely positive sense,
if you guys came in on Friday and you really
love these chairs here, making sure that we make a
note to say that you really love this table, because
then if you come back, we can give you that tape.
So maybe if you're a really lovely table who come
in three times a year, will make sure you get
(43:52):
that tape. Maybe you're someone who tries a local wine,
you really like the good doctor Mont's pushing on it,
Let's make a note in the booking to say that
you're likes them onto pushiano. Then that way, when you're
come in next time, we can say, hey, last time
you're in, that I've got that I've got the new
vintage you want to try it.
Speaker 1 (44:09):
It's so easy to do. But if we can do that.
Speaker 2 (44:11):
That just gives us a I might not know you,
I might recognize the name, I might recognize the face,
but I can't remember the details.
Speaker 1 (44:19):
But if we can make some notes and not me
as the owner, I.
Speaker 2 (44:22):
Mean all of the front of house staff, then that
relates the kitchen, because then we've got all these people
who want it.
Speaker 1 (44:27):
Then we can give the little gifts and the little
things and the little got a database. You're giving a database? Yeah,
we do.
Speaker 3 (44:34):
I think at the end of the night, the front
of house try and give feedback that these couple were
going to visit x inery. Was it wedding anniversary. They
love this picture frame. They wanted to know where we
got the print from. We actually give them the details. Hey,
we know you like this, this is where we purchased
it from. They really liked a table or a chair,
This is where we purchased it from. So it's just
(44:56):
little weird details that make the experience memorable.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
Like you said early, they're the one percenters.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
Yeah, thank you for coming, or that's that's nice, thank
you for visiting us. But I think it's a nicer
touch to say, hey, I hope you enjoyed going to
Samson's Taol Winery, or you know, thank you, this is
where I got my dress from, like often in the
front of house because they all dressed quite beautifully. They
exchange like where they get their clothes from with our patrons.
(45:23):
So or they have a theme where this is not
to my support, they dress in leopard print one night
and then the ladies who are in please mate, let
me know if that's what the theme is, and they
attend the restaurant we're in the same as the front
of house. So it's all those small little details that
I think make the experience memorable.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
Can I asked you want to find a question the
Little Ritual being the name, but what's the origins of that?
Or is it just more dipping you had to where
your parents came from. I think it is.
Speaker 3 (45:57):
It was hard to try and find a name, But
really I think the Little Ritual tries to capture it's
a collection of food and what we like to embody.
It's a collection of people as well, so it is
just a it's a.
Speaker 1 (46:10):
Yeah everyone, yeah.
Speaker 2 (46:12):
So we didn't want to be like even though we
said it was v at start, we sort of didn't
want it to be like, oh, we don't want to
put anything where it sort of says it pigeonholes us
into that.
Speaker 1 (46:21):
It was nice to kind of go, well, there's rickshaws everywhere,
or maybe we do that.
Speaker 3 (46:25):
And we were supposed to stay little. It's still little.
We only see forty at once, but we didn't expect
it to all our customer's joke. Now it's the big rickshaw,
so we could change the name.
Speaker 1 (46:39):
But having met you guys and listen to the story,
I actually think and looking around the joint, I think
the little rickshaw actually suit's perfectly to be frank with.
It just feels right. It's by the way. For anyone
listening or watching this, it looks outside looks fantastic. The
little sign out of the front there and it looks
it looks awesome, Like this is a sort of place.
I don't want to call it quaint, quaints and shitty word.
(47:01):
It sort of doesn't do a justice. But I'm just
looking around the way you've well, I don't know if
you decorated. I mean, I'm not talking at the pictures,
but it's the building is sort of already decorated, given
its age and stuff. You've got a bit of tin
up there and you've got the exposed beams and you know,
you've got the beautiful big Persian rugs on the ground
and it's sort of oozers. Authenticity.
Speaker 2 (47:25):
Well, you want something when you walk in the door,
you go okay, yeah, And if the music's on and
the music has played it, you know, we try to
set everything so that's like, you know, everything should have
a purpose.
Speaker 1 (47:34):
There's nothing worse.
Speaker 2 (47:36):
If you walk into the music's make a little bit
too loud for you, but that sort of sets say like,
well maybe there's a bit of a party place. That's
a bit more, it's not too serious. And then if
it's warm and family, you think, oh this is nice.
And then if I if you sit in the table,
there's no there's no good tables. All the tables have
got kind of.
Speaker 1 (47:55):
A all the tables are good.
Speaker 2 (47:56):
Well, if you sit on the night this is the
one of the nicer tables, right next to the door.
If you sit on the nice table down the back,
but it's really close to the kitchen. If you've got
a really lovely table, you're probably in.
Speaker 1 (48:06):
A bad spot.
Speaker 2 (48:07):
So trying to make it so that it doesn't it's
balanced so that but there's no terrible tables either. So
you've sort of got this thing where you never feel
like you're being stuck next to the loose and you
feel like it because it's so small. So where we're
sitting right now, we've got into one, two, three, four five,
there's six tables. So if you've got one front of
house looking after you, you've got six tables. You've probably
(48:28):
got eighteen people, so you don't feel like you're getting
lost in some big space. Now there's another section that's
got another four tables, and then there's the courtyard that's
got another.
Speaker 1 (48:37):
Seven tables as in outdoors.
Speaker 2 (48:38):
Yeah, so just behind this little coffee shop, there's a
courtyard that we share with the coffee shop. So when
they shut it to a clock, we set that up
and we open it five o'clock. But if you're in
these little sections, you feel like you've only got there's
only five or six tables per section, so you don't
get lost in a grand expansion of space. And then
that means that the kitchen can look after each section
(49:02):
at a time, and then the front of house can
also add into that too.
Speaker 1 (49:06):
Well, if I was I mean, I haven't eaten here,
but so I'm not talking about the quality of the food.
But if I was just to summarize, this is my
terminology three words in relation to this place. It's I
think cool. Cool comes to mind. It's cool. You guys
(49:27):
look like a couple of cool, cool dudes, like as
a couple and yea, but running the joint, I think
that's not cool cool with that long But I think
it's cool as a restaurant. And I think you guys
are cool. But I think the place, I think intimate.
Sort of I get that intimate feel like because maybe
because everyone's close and it's sort of very looks a
(49:50):
bit like a home in some respects. I feel like
I'm someone. I feel like I'm someone's home. I get
that sense. And and I think the final word you
used the word earlier on but like I feel like
I'm going to be fed well nourished. I just get
that sense I'm going to get fed well because I
don't have to make decisions. It's already set menu, and
they're like, I'm going to someone's home. We've got some
(50:13):
it's a cool going on. Music's going to the front
of houses wearing whatever they're wearing. And but that nourishing
thing that's that's at the end of the day, that's
what you want when that's the experience you want when
you get food. Well, I also think that trend does
a really good job of.
Speaker 2 (50:33):
At the beginning, it's very hey, look how amazing these
little plates are. But at the end we always have
had a reputation of feeding feeding people. So you leave
like there is no chance I need to go get
a pizza. At the end of this we are done,
like stick a fork in me. I need to roll
home and.
Speaker 1 (50:52):
Crawl a curl up in the corner to sleep.
Speaker 2 (50:55):
At the end of the day, you know, it's great
going out and trying these restaurants that hit you know,
top hundred whatever, it's great, but at the end of
the day, if you're paying for dinner, we want to
give you dinner.
Speaker 1 (51:05):
Leaving well, thanks for your time today. I mean, I've
actually really enjoyed talking to you two guys, and I
think you're probably from my point of view at least,
a good example of why people travel to South Australia.
Outside we're outside of Adelaide, but to Soustralia they want
to come to these cool, little, intimate and nourishing sort
(51:27):
of joints, and now they've had a chance to hear
your story. I think that apart from everyone just thinks
of Adelaide or South Astralia's wine, But wine's no good
on this as food. I mean, you're gonna sit there
and drink whinal down as you've got something to eat
with it. You know. I come Greek background. We do
not drink unless we eat. You must eat at the
same time. And I think foods like makes wine, and
(51:50):
wine makes food and makes conversation and makes friendships and
all that sort of stuff. So I really appreciate it.
So Trin and Mike Richard's really great to meet you guys,
and I'll enjoy myself here at the Little Rickshaw. M
h m hm, m hm
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