July 14, 2025 • 57 mins
After five years of serving up the soul of Sicily in the heart of Paddington, Simone Crivello and Isobel Galloway made headlines a couple weeks ago with a raw, heartfelt message announcing the closure of their beloved restaurant, Zafferano Trattoria Mediterranea.
In this episode, MB sits down with the couple behind the viral video that struck a chord with small business owners across Australia. From Simone’s roots in Porticello to building a community around Mediterranean hospitality, we explore their journey—what Zafferano meant to them, the harsh realities that forced them to close, and what they believe needs to change to keep small business culture alive.
This isn’t just a farewell—it’s a call to action. And it’s not the end of the road for Simone and Isobel. Hear how they’re taking their passion for food, storytelling, and tradition to the next chapter: a cookbook, food tours, and a dream project in Sicily.
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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.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I Marke Boris, Simone Crivello and Isabel Galloway husband and wife.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
But how are you guys going good under the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Absolutely super surprised this attraction.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, well thanks for coming in. Obviously your you guys
have been fairly vocal recently. More recently you're always vocal
because you put plenty up on your various pages, particularly Instagram,
but more more promotional stuff about your your business called
Zephranotoria Mediterranea in Paddington, been every long time, but you're
(00:49):
recently announced and it went viral that you're closing your
great restaurant in August this year, this year after how
many years?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Five?
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Yeah in November, Yeah, so this almost five years that
would have been. But it's just become too challenging. As
you heard in the in the post, it was.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
An amazing post by thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It was amazing, like so well professionally put together. I
appreciate no wonder when so viral, because it wasn't just
the equality of way you put it together, like the
quality of the video and everything, but I think it
was what you said, the resonance of what you said.
It was very very strong, especially when you posted up
(01:38):
the cemeteries.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And headstones and stuffing.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But I know it that sounds a bit dramatic and theatrical,
but it's true. We know we our bankruptcies in Australia
for small business owners are up two hundred and twenty
two percent this year, two hundred and twenty that's mental
we felt.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah you can see lately, Yeah, you see it everywhere.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
All the play and you did sort of comment on
politics and we'll come back to that, no man, So
maybe I like just to start, just go back a
little bit and just tell me about your obviously Italian,
become your Australian average from it leagueuse off your accent,
(02:21):
were your chef nearly?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Tell me about your So my family as a restaurant
since nineteen seventy in Australia or my dad, you know,
studies business like he started being a chef in these
early twenties, so working for Nobility family in paler and Palermo,
(02:44):
and then set in the seventy he opened his own restaurant.
So we're still running the business business after fifty five
years in Palerma. In Palermo, so I was running the
business from two thousand and ten to two thousand and
twenty twelve, he with my brothers and sister because my dad,
you know, stops for a while and say, you know,
(03:05):
I want to you try to run the business. So
we run the business. And after the third year, I
say to my sister and brother listen, I need to
I need to try something else. I coming in Australia
on holiday. I never thought to stay, but I fall
in love with Sydney. So why did you fall in
(03:26):
love with So? I've been traveling around the world as
a chef. I work in India, Japan, South Africa and
South America, North America, and I always looking for a
place where I can you know, express myself in in
you know, in hospitality, in the restaurant business. And I
(03:46):
had these dreams opening my own little restaurant. So I
start as a chef in a in one pizzeria in
a new town was cousins of mine. But I apply
as a student in this country because I was forty
years older when I arrived. So for three years I
applied for a student paying around one hundred thousand dollars
(04:07):
to stay in this country. Then I met my wife,
so I was sponsored by the business. That business was
one of the ones, the first one who started bankruptcy
and felled. So that for me was the start of
what's going on here? There's something wrong? Why, like in
(04:28):
a city like Sydney a business place has going to bankruptcy.
So at the moment, I didn't think a lot. But
then we we joined with my wife and we find
this place, we open the restaurant, We throw ourselves in
without thinking on the beginning in Paton. In Patenton and
(04:52):
the first year we opened two weeks before COVID. Yeah, wow,
we survived COVID. So when you know, when you're in
business and you survive an event like COVID, you say
you're invincible, so you can go through the wall. So
COVID finish and we went so busy. Possibly was like
(05:14):
the white lotos on Netflix who pushed sicily a lot.
But all Pan was working, all the Harrier was working,
Sydney was working, So I think I thought was, oh,
this is good. But then when the government's announced them
it was twenty twenty three September twenty twenty three, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
When we noticed it started to coming to effect. Anyway,
the customers were like, oh, we're feeling it now.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
So Aurust we were full booking the restaurant right every
night October after the announcement, and you know the law
in place, we dropped to forty four to forty seven
percent and less in bookings November, December, January. I said
(06:06):
to Berlin in twenty twenty four four, said I don't
I think it's better we close now. So our counts say,
you know, I suggest to go through because this is
a moment in May, it's gonna be No, it's gonna
be better. Blah blah blah. Nothing happened. And now we
(06:26):
arrive at twenty twenty five, and you know, when you
see your restaurant like goes down, there's there's a problem here.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Yes, it's not like you know what I mean. It's
not a cheap area.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
You know, if you have money, Yeah, abnormally every yeah,
every night you drive through Crown Street and you see
the strip or crowd Street busy. But if you are
in business and you look inside the restaurant, you see
then they look busy, but they're not.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
There's still empty tables, there's still Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Absolutely, it's funny. I said, hotel last night and I
was in Adelaide. It was a well known hotel, won't
say that name. But I went into the restaurant, not
last night, not before, and I went into the restaurant
to get my dinner seven pm.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
And I was ady personally, wow, yeah, only personally, And
it was like six staff and the chef and more ship,
lots of people in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I thought, oh my god, they can't be making money here.
And obviously, you know, like hospitality has been one of
the hospitality and.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Construction of being the two toughest hits.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
If I could just go back now and ask you
the question, is the demise in other words, your decision
to close your restaurant this year twenty twenty five, is
it more off the back of how expensive it is
(07:52):
to run your business, in other words, your costs, or
is it more about your custom can't afford anymore in
other words, it's hard for them to survive.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
What I say is both so, because if I compare
the cost of food to create my menu, right since
twenty twenty twenty to today, we have all thirty thirty
five percent increase in price.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
So can I just go back on that a little
bit for a second, please? That means the inputs to
make the food that you have on your menu, the
same menu that you have. Yeah, so we're talking about protein,
vegetable carbohydrates, Yeah, maybe wine. They're the cost of all
(08:47):
those things about thirty percent right now, that's the cost
of the raw material to buy fish or.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Buy meat or whatever. Pasta, what if you have to
buy Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
What about other things? You know, Like you know, we
keep hearing about power bills.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Absolutely, that does increase that it's increased, everything's increased a lot.
The problem is like people like when they increase for me,
increase ults for people of course, yeah, right, so if
they increase for people, they have like less percentage to spend.
But the three key thing is like we haven't changed
(09:27):
the price of the menu since day one.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Since twenty twenty.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
In fact, we've dropped it slightly dropped twenty Yeah, since
twenty twenty twenty. Yeah, since we opened, we haven't really
like we've.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
We put one dollars one dollar and a half for
every dishes on twenty twenty three, Yes, and then twenty
twenty four, I would bring back.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Yeah, we dropped it down and dropped to the We
also started offering pasta and wine nights, which we never
as a small business it can be hard to do
so to do this kind of deals and stuff. But
we did with Wednesday Thursday, we did sort of community
night Pastor and vin Or Night. They were going okay,
But at the moment we're still doing it on a
(10:10):
Wednesday and Thursday and it hasn't changed.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
We had the PreO when on Sunday Sunday lunch we did.
We did the like Portkeetta role for eighteen dollars fresh porquetta.
It is cheap, Yeah, eighteen dollars because you know, I
won't give opportunity to people to ever a meal and
enjoy the space. Yes, but we did all we came
(10:33):
to create a movement and also you know a funnel
of customers. But then when your neighbors, right since twenty
three disappear, disappear all the professionals used to live in
the area, or they sell the house, or they move
overseas or they move in another states.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
You mean your customers.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, the customer you built from twenty twenty to twenty
twenty three disappears.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Really yeah, a huge percentage of them, like eighty percent, and.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
You know they moved or we know that they moved.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Because they they Yeah, so we know people, yeah, and
so we know them by the first name. We've shared
the wine with them, We've sat down after hours and
had great conversations, and they some of them didn't have
a chance to come in and say goodbye, but would
send me like a DM on Instagram. And some when
they did come back to the area for business or something,
they would pop in and say, oh my god, I'm
(11:27):
so sorry. We haven't been in. We ended up selling,
or we had to rent out the house, or we
you know, we're just really tired at the moment. Because
as well, where we're located, a lot of the customers are.
There was a whole chunk of them who were semi retired,
you know, so they have to be obviously cautious. They
don't want to have to enter the workforce again. And
then also lots of young professionals who at one point
(11:50):
their salary was amazing, they could live really comfortably in Sydney,
and all of a sudden everything changed, because again it's
not just the mortgages that went up. It's the gas bill,
it's the energy, it's the school fees, school fees, it's
the everything right and then obviously as a small business,
we you have to pivot. You have to sort of
try to figure out how you can attract people when
(12:11):
they don't have as much. So we would offer these.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Little neighborhoods the scald so all does? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Can I just go back and break it down a
little bit further?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So, your costs have gone up since twenty twenty by
in terms of inputs by thirty percent. Probably your power
has probably gone by much more. Absolutely, do you use
gas electricity?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Both? So gas has definitely gone up, Electricity definitely gone up.
Your rent? What about rent?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Yeah, rent goes up four percent percent.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Because the rents have gone up. Wages?
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Oh yeah, like eleven percent more?
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, yeah, eleven percent?
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Yeah about eleven twelve percent?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Sa would you find do you think that within the
business in terms of people who are your employees?
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Do you think that's.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Let's call it in dust relations probably not a good word,
but like your relationship in a business sense with your
employees has become much more expensive. Just put aside the
eleven percent. Things like people's attitude towards work. Absolutely, you
know their reliability in terms of turning up. Absolutely, I
want a holiday or my cat has got a cold.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
I need to take some time off for me. Have
you experienced that sort of stuff?
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, I mean post COVID, because what happened in COVID
is like after that, people were desperate to have employees
come in, so they were offering them really high wages,
especially sort of larger groups. And then also that's kind
of when wages started to increase. So before we even
have seen whether they're right fit for our venue and
(13:55):
whether we need to be training them, how qualified they are,
they're asking, Oh, I want meum, thirty five dollars an hour,
you know, or I need to make sure you're paying
me forty dollars an hour, And you're thinking, but we
haven't even done the dance yet, like we don't you know,
Like what's going on here?
Speaker 1 (14:11):
What would you have been paying before? Like minimum?
Speaker 4 (14:14):
So it was like twenty eight dollars and sixteen cents
and then on the weekends it was like thirty six
dollars an hour. So still, to be honest, in my opinion,
for the quality of employee we had, it was on
the higher side, you know, but because no.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
I training people for six months and then by the law,
these people are still go because they can't stay made.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Their travelers.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Yeah, pretty much. The travelers.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
I mean they're not they're not the chef.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
No, no, no, they just have the chef.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, you're not asking for a chef, no, not for
forty bucks.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Now you're just talking about waiters.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yeah, yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And so you're saying the way the interaction between the
employer and the employee has changed dramatically, definitely.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Yeah. And then also people who are in this country
and they're not on a visa, so they still they're
an immigrant or oussie. They that it's even harder to
interact with them because they have you know, they've got
their life here, their expenses, everything's gone up for them too.
So I totally understand. But it's as a small business,
when we're only feeling at the moment, maybe on a
(15:26):
Wednesday or Thursday night, three tables or one table, how
can you justify having even one staff member on for
forty dollars an hour when that's going to be your
nightly takings given to yourself. You know what, you're working
for them, you work exactly, so you're working for them,
yeah exactly. Yeah, we open our doors for them, you know,
So that's definitely changed. And then on top of that,
(15:49):
you know, the wage taxes and the superannuation have gone
up as well, So you just end up at the
end of every week, my jaw would be on the
ground thinking, are you sure that's how much our wage
bill is? Like it just feels like we we didn't
take enough for that to feel right, you know. And
then also, yeah, our staff, there's not really consistency. We're
(16:13):
sort of blessed in a way because Simon it is
the chef I up until we had our daughter four
months ago, was front of house for the whole time,
so we were working in the business. So when there
was a dip, we'd say, okay, we're not going to
have no exactly, and we're not going to have started yep,
typical you do. It's okay, yeah, and then you know,
(16:35):
then thankfully at the moment, we're in a position where
we have some casual workers who are more than happy
for us to say, hey, we're busier on Friday, do
you mind popping in but we don't have anything else
for the week, you know, and they're like, yeah, absolutely,
they'll come in because we provide a really beautiful work environment.
Because we're a small business, so they get to know us.
It's kind of like a family vibe, you know. But
(16:56):
definitely the employment we've been through like forty seven in.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Staff just since.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
We opened, Like yeah, like insane amount.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
How many would you have.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Two on the floor and when we were busy, I
have another person get washing.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Yes it was about five people per But then you.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Know, I training the guy who was my you know,
and like offside training to also to become like a
little chef, a little cook. But then when they learn,
they say to you goodbye, you know what I mean.
And then you you spend six months of your time
to train these people, give a little bit of skills,
(17:37):
and then they pop up as a chef in the
you know, top wrestling Sydney. What are you doing? That's
why is one of the reasons with my wife decide
like what we're doing here, we need to.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Stop if I could then just so obviously didn't put
your price up, as you said, because.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
We had pushback from that.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I was going to say, so.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
What happens you did you try during that period twenty
twenty when inflation started to run off a bit and
you'll cost much higher? Did you try to maintain your margin,
because margin is very thin in the rest of position.
But did you try to maintain margin by increasing the
price and then what happened?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yes, we did, remember and then we had multiple interactions
like in the restaurant with customer, Yeah, where people were
irate about it. No really seriously.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
So let's say it's the customer has been there. What
sort of responseib you?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Where they get onto the menu of theme the state
now I was gone from thirty five to forty two.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
You know, they'd say, well, because we would have specials
on the board every week they change and depending on where.
That's the other thing about our restaurant is we're waist free.
We don't have a cool room, so we would buy
our produce daily. Simoni would go to the fish markets,
meet the fishermen, see what was fresh. Take that. We
would go to our little market still grab the pomodore
(18:55):
or grab the different things, so we keep it fresh
like it is in Sicily. That's one of the main
reasons why our return rate was like eighty five ninety percent.
Our customer people coming back.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
But in the end, we when we do increase our
prices slightly, you know, we aren't on the cheaper side,
like for a spaghetti marinada, like a really big bowl,
not just sixty grams of pastor it's like one hundred
and twenty.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Five ground pasta with around three hundred ground of a seafood.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
So a big, huge as.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
You know, seven little calamari, three prons, five clans piece
of crab in it.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, like a beautiful marinara.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
A real Sicilian seafood dish.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yeah, And we charge forty two dollars for that, because yeah,
well that's what we think. But people say, what we
put it up to forty.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Five for that pasta?
Speaker 4 (19:47):
I three bucks And this man literally at the top
of his lungs yelled in the in the restaurant and said,
this is ridiculous, you know, forty five dollars. And I'm
there on the floor with all these other customers and
I'm thinking, and he says, I could make it at home,
and I said, well, why don't you pop home and
make it? Then?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
You know, I'm not asking people to come to my
restaurants because like I need to give a favor to them.
That ends. My house is my temple. You want to
hear my restaurants, Come sit, eat, enjoy, enjoy the experience
because what I'm I'm giving to you is something I
will give to my family, to my best friend, not
(20:26):
just to a person. Because I need your money, I
need your smile. Yes, that's why I do this job.
And you know, sadly say like I'm closing the door,
like it's for me, It's like closing a big book
because after that, I will not do hospitality anymore because
it's I have fifty two. I will turn fifty two
(20:48):
this year and I think when I started was twelve
with my family, cleaning glasses, then chopping salad and then
grill fish and you know, become a chef. Now for
me it's time to say thank you for your support.
I love you customers, but for me, it's time to stay.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Do you think that I'm in Australia at least, that
we look at food like a commodity and we don't
look at it the experience. We are hungry, got to
eat maybe tonight, Korean or Japanese or Italian.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
I make a choice.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I take Italian tonight. But this is the price I
want to pay.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Absolutely no experience.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
When I go to a restaurant as a chef, I
go as a person first, and if I eat Chinese feed,
Japanese orf, I tie. I want to know the culture.
You know the authenticity of the dish. That's why I
do what I'm doing. So when I open my restaurant,
(21:59):
I give a one hundred percent authenticity Sicilian food. So
they are sorts of my grandmother taught me. They are
sauce my dad told me. So is I bringing my
story to a plate? People, I think don't see that.
They see, they're gonna see, they're gonna drink, they're gonna
have the pasta. Let's see. They don't go into what
(22:21):
the chef did today for you to serve the plate.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
If you're back in Italy now and some money, if
you're back in Italy and here in Palermo, is it
different with the Italians? With Sicilians going into your family restaurant?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
There are they more.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
In tune with what you just said about This is
your grandfather's sauce recipe, your father mother whatever, they are
they more in tune with this?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Or is this a global change? Do you think? Do
you think everyone is changing and just looking like commodity market?
Speaker 3 (23:02):
My answerst is like you know, of of course we
have different cultures, okay, and in Sicily, table is family.
So already there is family. We see it, we all together,
we share what is on the table. So it's an
expression of love. Right. What I see in the modern
(23:24):
country like table is just an action that you go see.
You have to eat and function. That's it. For us
is different. That's why my customer in Sicily, they come
because they want to enjoy it, they want to feel it,
so they know the black sweating pasta make in my
(23:45):
family restaurant is an old recipes come from my great grandmother,
so the result of its seafood is the same. So
that's why people come because in the house, possibly they
do it in a different way. So in any corner of seas,
one dish can change six seven times in different ways,
different flavors, different herbs, play's the same dish because come
(24:08):
from different families, culture and history.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Do you think that when you first open in Paddington
in twenty twenty, do you think that sense that you've
just described actually existed? Do people actually come to your
restaurant because they knew that this is someone's family's recipe
And do you think that and what is it? Do
you think made people change culturally about this stuff. I mean,
not necessarily in relation to your place, But how would
(24:34):
you assess this? Because I have to be honest with you,
I think people just now look at food.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
That's busy, busy, busy. I've got to eat.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I feel like Italian. I'll go there quickly, go to
you to get the meal and get the hell out
because I've got to get home and get on my Instagram.
But I've got to watch netliks or I mean because
for post COVID, Because I just think definitely post COVID.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
A lot of things have changed in the way we think.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yes, lots, particularly in countries like Australia, the United States,
various other places I'm not sure about more culturally deep
culturally places like Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I'm not sure, but I don't think that is the
case because my.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Family's Greek, and I know in Greece, when I go
to Greece, it is still you go to this place
in the Monasterraki in Athens, this particular place, because if
you want a certain type of sublakia.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
You.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Know you have the answerone, you know what I mean,
there's a big difference you know, there's a big gapy
so when we open a restaurant like is to give
their knowledge to people, yes, to understand our culture.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
And we did have a lot of customers in that
first couple of year period, even the first year post COVID,
right when people were desperate to get out, and then
suddenly there was that decline again where people sort of
went insular again. But that first year post COVID, I
also think when people had some money stacked away from.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Haven't had the experience exactly at.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Home exactly, and they're like, oh, I want to go
out for every meal. All of a sudden, we had
the most incredible feedback and customers saying, oh, it feels
like I've been to Sicily tonight, thank you so much.
And then they couldn't travel by that well exactly, they
couldn't still. And then we have actually since sent at
least twenty five or thirty of our customers to Sicily
(26:24):
to his family's restaurant, and so they've met his family,
taken photos, sent it back and said, oh my god,
it was the same. This is incredible, you know. And
definitely people were fascinated by the fact that Sicilian food
is really different to northern Italian food, and that what
we were doing, well, what Simone was doing was super
authentic to his roots. It wasn't like we were even
(26:45):
down to buying the tins of tomatoes making sure it's
coming from a specific region in Italy so it's got
that depth of flavor. It's not like the Aussie tomatoes.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Do you think that authenticity though, is now missing from food?
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Definitely? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
It could have been the reason why so many restaurants
are closing down.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Do you think they're all insanely not? I don't think so.
You know, they're the reason why a lot of restaurants close.
You know, it's evident that we were bringing them the
table today, like you know, eye tacks, impossibility to find,
like employees and wages, they are not cackle in the
(27:25):
right in the right way, like yes, the cost of believing,
cost of food and like and.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Then also delivery services.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
People buying your stuff on Uber.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Because we try, we try. But when you do like
a seafood pasta, right and you send to a place
which is like tenk lovers away, what kind of pasta
you're gonna eat?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
You complaint?
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
No, and they do. We had that and so we
thought we can't like our food.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Can't becomes your fault.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
And then we did do an uber menu with things
that would transfer well you know that they could reheat
or whatever. But again like it. In the end, it
wasn't working enough for us to think, okay, that we
keep doing this, and it just didn't align with what
we were doing in the first place, because part of
our message and part of why we were opening a
restaurant was for the people to enter the doors, you know,
(28:21):
and to experience.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
It's the experience coming inside and so wonda do you
actually come outside, like I mean, does a chef come out?
Speaker 1 (28:29):
You come out to see everybody.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
All the time they go to the customer, sal was
your dinner? Like you know, they say, oh, Spectaclear, thank you,
Like I have a great experience because I love creating
the same connection I was creating Italy in my restaurant,
because you become a part of your customer's family, like
you know, they know you, who you are, where you
come from. And I know every single custom in my restaurant.
(28:52):
So now impartant on everyone walk in the street to
look at the inside the restaurant, they wave me because
we become friends. We have a customer to come with
us on holiday in Sicily, and I bring them to
other restaurants in Sicily, which are my.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You conducted tour?
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Yeah, we did, yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Because you know, remember I left Italy Sicily when I
was forty, right, and in Sicily they know me and
my family restaurants every single.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Corner of the high really well.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, I don't want to excite all Italy, but in
Sicily everyone you ask Frankoviscato. In Sicily, they know who is,
they know the restaurant, they know their kids and all
their sons. So and when I walk in the city,
it's like everyone knows me. Everyone wets me. When I
bring my wife in Italy, hours possible, from Milan to Sicily.
(29:51):
Every place we go, they people jump on me. I
simone worry because Italy looks sixty nine million people, but
we know each other.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
In the world for sure. Yeah, because it brings me
to life profession there. You know, I didn't know any
of this because I'm not from the hospital industry. I
just wanted to support my husband, and I love people
and I'm a customer service person, but I just wasn't
really that familiar with hospitality. It wasn't until I started
(30:21):
in our restaurant and then we went over to Sicily
to start sourcing some product and to also build another
leg of our business over there. And we went over
and also before we even opened the restaurant, I realized
that over there it is treated so differently, like it's
a full on lifelong profession. Yes, they're also suffering in
(30:41):
their own way post COVID still in Europe, and also
the younger generations don't appreciate it as much as it
once was appreciated. But there's still people who that's what
they want to do with their life, and they know
where to go for the best seafood, the best this,
the best that, and it's a real it's a lifestyle.
You know where and be.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Proud of where you come from, the produce that you
bring to the table.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Absolutely do Do you think that's.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Our great yearning today around the world to travel has
created a problem because, in other words, people sort of say, well,
you know, I'm going to go to these rest of
but I'll go to Italy. You know, I'll go to
sleep I'll go I'll go to Rome. I want Italian food,
I'll go there, and I'll go to Bologn, you know,
I'll have Yeah, and when I'm in Sydney, I'm here,
(31:30):
I'm just working. I'm working longer hours because everyone works
longer hours, especially business owners, working longer hours earning less money.
I'll just keep working, working, working, and then when I
get and I'll quickly have my food like as a function,
and then so I can get home and I'll quickly
watch a bit of Netflix and play with the kids
(31:51):
or whatever the case may be, and spend some time
with my partner, get to sleep because I've got to
get back to work tomorrow. And then your social life, yes,
my social life will become when I travel.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
When you go to Italy, where you go to Greece, yeah,
Greek Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And maybe so there's so not only are people not
able to afford to it as often as they did out,
not only do they now really conscious how much they
spend because the cost of living here, because everyone keeps saying,
we see our treasurer, the federal Treasurer Jim Morrison saying, wow,
it's really great. You know, we're the government have got
(32:24):
the inflation down to two point four percent. Yeah, but
the cost of living still as high as it was before, like.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
It's still really high.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Like you haven't gone backwards, you haven't reduced how much
a cost to buy a leatherce or a steak or whatever,
or the reduced the cost of transport, reduce the cost
of mobile phones, or reduced the cost of insurance or
still but they're all, they're all, they're just not going
up as fast as they were going up. So there's
what would you say to someone like the Prime minister today?
(32:52):
What would you say to Anthony Aberti And by the way,
Anthony Albert Easy today is holding us some sort of
launch or something, or rather talking to business owners around
Australia saying how private enterprise, you guys and me, we
need to contribute more to the economy. Y's today wow
(33:13):
in this is a like a preface to his summit
that he's holding in August about they're going to look
at everything in.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
The economy like income tax raid.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I don't think they're looking to put it down, say
they're looking to put it up, the GST, the.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Cost of power.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I mean he's now saying that we you guys and
everyone in yours, everyone in my innustry, we need to
do more for the economy.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
The private sector. What would you say to.
Speaker 6 (33:46):
Them, Oh, well, like like I come from you know,
I left Sicily tween and the moment Italy was facing
like situation like this.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
And you know a really really small example in the
one area of Sicily called Riberta, we made one of
the best orange in the planet. Is our talktun through it?
Because the governor govern in Italy give license to Northern
(34:25):
Africa and Spain to bring in the market oranges from
the country to our market. We in the ear we
crush more than six thousand million killers of oranges in Sicily.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
So you crushed.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Juice, you trashed because we couldn't sell.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
It because imported important stuff.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So that means like you are a politician, governors where
you have to understand like the producer in your land, right,
the producer product, they give you a price. Then there's
a gap from the producer to the sellers for the market.
(35:17):
So how is possible a product cost one example, one
dollar on the production go to four to five dollars
on the market reach out reach, so their gap has
to be controller and check it and.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
What did they telling them to do? What did they do?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
They did nothing? So they went how this direction, get
to a place where everything's going to resation. Business are
empty because from twenty thirteen to just the four twenty
twenty three restaurants have been suffering the same thing. Business
(35:55):
have been served the same thing in Australia.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Start now, don't anything about it since we're still now
doing it.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
No, now they're doing better, they're growing.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Changed.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
What change I think is Italy at the moment is
a point of tourism. The politics create direction to help
all the states to be a funnel for tourism. So
cities in summer time they blooming. In winter, go back
(36:32):
to Canada, same thing, but the four or five months
of summer driving so people can keep leaving.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
But they also did some things with taxes business over there,
Like I'm not one hundred percent on what exactly they did,
but they're they're quite flexible and lenient. They're a little
bit less sort of intense as they can be here.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Exemple tax department. You know they charge in into as
to like five six percent and we are talking to
Australight eleven.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Yeah, that's an interesting point.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
If you own money to the tax department and most
people listen just don't know that don't realize the tax
department charges like in excessive ten percent.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
I couldn't believe you're a bank in the country that
will charge that on.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
One point two monthly and they can, you know, by
the low tax student office can charge to forty eight
percent per year. You know in another country you can
say that it's something else. I don't want to say
the words because it's not right.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
But if youture, like if I have a lending business, right,
if I charge someone that amount of interest, I would
be front page of the newspaper and I will probably
get arrested.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
That's a thief.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
You know, they'll probably arrest you, right or they'd be
chasing you down the.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Street because you force business to close them.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Which and that's an interesting thing to it because one
of the biggest causes right now of the bankruptcies has
been the tax office collecting money or for people who
can't afford to pay and they just give up.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Yeah, what I suggests like love that the percentage. Make
sure people have the possibility to pay. Yes, pay means
like flexibility is not like I give you twenty years
to pay the the.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
You know, the debt, the debt.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
I give you like two years to year. Enough with
the low percentage, people will do the best to pay
it and then don't give any other chance to clear up.
Then if the business doesn't work, doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
It's two years.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
But don't force them to close, because then means you
take jobs, space, you take.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Take families, take dreams.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
You take dream and then you also take culture. Like
Sydney used to feel.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
The community know where to go.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
No, there's nowhere to go. Even all of our employees
who are from other countries, they said, oh, I came
to Australia thinking it was to be this amazing place,
especially Sydney, you know, and they arrive here, they finish
work at ten and they say, well, no, where can
we go? What can we do? And also to go
and get one glass of wine and a little bit
of cheese. You're looking at sixty dollars, you know, or
(39:15):
more even you know, it's just crazy, you know.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
So read something like every hundred business opening in Australia,
eighty eight close. Yeah, like since the January this here,
five hundred and fifty six delivery company, transportation company close down?
Like what are we doing here? Like you know, I
love this country, Like I still like perimanent Rest. I
(39:38):
love Australia. It's a beautiful place. But people can't lean
this way. No, oh, you can drive in this country.
It's far far away from every other place in the world.
Like how you want to keep the people stay in
this country?
Speaker 4 (39:52):
People believing in record numbers. I don't know if you've
seen the stats on that. I don't know them, like
off the top of my head, but from our real
in fact, I received like four hundred five hundred DMS
from that reel and I couldn't keep up. I spent
a few nights just like reading over them. And it
was people ossis and a lot of immigrants who said,
I left the country six months ago. I'm about to
(40:14):
leave and go and move back to where you know
I grew up because there's nothing there for me anymore,
you know. I came to Australia with this dream. I
was there. People come here for fifteen twenty years, contribute
so much to our economy, so much to our communities,
and then they're forced to sort of have to reevaluate.
And I never thought as an Australian I'd be like
so excited to be thinking about going and living.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
So going to get back to sortes.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
Yeah we are, but because you know, as much as
someone says, I'm closing the book on hospitality in terms
of a bricks and watar restaurant. Yes, but we really
have a vision of offering. We want to start, not
a touring company, but like a where we.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
I want to have, you know, my year of a
like a little all of time. Yes, where I have
a little accommodation. So the customers come and visit us.
They've got to spend time with us as a family.
So today I prepared this pasta you want to enjoy, Yes,
sit and enjoy with us. I will cook for my
friends and.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
My friend it's funny, should say. Just reminded me of
something I did many years ago. Many years ago, I
stayed in a house in Bologna, and an old man
owned a house and I stayed upstairs and in the
morning you go downstairs. It was one of the best
experience I've ever had. Used to have the the ham
(41:33):
and he would cut them off, and then his wife
would make the breakfast and the fresh bread and coffee
was beautiful, And that's fantastic. But it's probably one of
the best experience I've had because he was, his family
was there. He talked to me about stuff, and his
(41:54):
English was pretty good. He made suggestions where to go
for dinner, go and have a look at this, et cetera.
Then that sort of makes sense to me. For you guys,
especially especially when the cost living here is so high,
your customers are changing, yes, not only like I don't
mean they're leaving, and or you've got a new complexion.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Of people who live in the area where you are.
Pantic has changed and a lot of people planting have
got huge mortgages. Kids.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
To get in there in the first place, you have
to spend a lot of money and borrow a lot
of money. And you borrow money when he just rates
the three percent.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Yep, exactly now its double yes.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
And these poor poor buggers like they can't. It's really
hard to survive. It is so if you, I guess
maybe I could ask you some money, because do you
feel disappointed a little bit?
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Because you love this country and you love doing what
you do.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
For Australia is a beautiful country, but it needs to understand,
like you can call me like an immigrants because at
the end of the day, we are all immigrants, but
we need to work as a family in this country.
Like I had this idea of Australians are like help
(43:06):
each other's right to build. But now I see so
much division in people. Like see people like fighting for
the same thing but with different opinions. Why you fight
for the same things, like sit on the table, talk
about it and try to find a solution instead of
(43:28):
talking to like, we need action. If you know every
action this country will go in a really bad place.
I don't like it to see Australia that way because
it's a beautiful country. Another thing in Australia which touched
me a lot, like if I want to fly from
(43:49):
Sydney to Brisbane or to Queensland, cost me the same
price to go in another country like Indonesia, philipping unbelievable.
You know how you want create tourism inside your country
if the cost of the tourism is super high, Yeah,
Like if I do a week in Australia, we want
to go south of Stralia for a week at hotel
(44:11):
you know din and out cost me just three weeks
in Italy would the fly included?
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (44:18):
I know it's just wrong. So when the government's you know,
sort of saying things are pretty good. You know, we're
blah blah blah. Well you must get really frustrated. You must,
So what are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (44:30):
I mean, because do you think it's a smoke screen?
Do you think it's.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
I don't know, a whole lot of bullshit And the
people are doing this on purpose to pretend that things
are better than they really are, or do or we
us three here missing something because I'm experiencing the same
thing as you're experiencing. I feel as though we've dropped
the ball. I think our hospitality in this country. Look,
there are a great hospitality place, but there's not enough.
(44:58):
The hours are not long enough, fictions are too ridiculous. Correct,
You've got to go hunt around to find somewhere to go. Yes,
to travel in this country interstate is I'm lucky.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
I do it for business.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
But if you're doing it for pleasure, you think you
seel Maybe I should drive.
Speaker 4 (45:16):
And that's also I think why we don't like people
in this country. We have customers that come up from Melbourne,
come from South Australia, et cetera, but not frequently because
they read rather go, oh, I'm going to go to
Bali actually for ten days you know, because I'm out
of it, you know, yeah, so it. I do think
there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Of bullshit soross their way for sure, like absolutely, But
who's responsible for it? I mean, I don't mean who's
responsible for us losing our way?
Speaker 1 (45:41):
But who has to fix it? Like I mean when
the governments same.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Private enterproceeds to do it. But my feeling is it's
the government. It starts with a government.
Speaker 4 (45:49):
It starts with the government. But what's something I feedback
I got from that reel that we posted, which I
was not expecting would do this, to be honest, is
that all of us are feeling the same thing, and
that all of us think it comes from a government level.
But that a lot of people again, hundreds of d
ms thanking me for bringing light to it and showcasing
(46:11):
it in such a kind of I guess, brutal fashion,
just saying it for what it is, and a lot
of small businesses saying now I want to start talking
about it more. I've been sort of holding my tongue
because I'm afraid. I don't want to get too much.
Everyone's scared. I feel like we are a bit afraid
in Australia, Like look in Europe people are marching streets
and saying.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
March every week.
Speaker 4 (46:32):
Yeah, and sometimes looks sometimes just after lunch, just after lunch.
Sometimes they don't. Well most of the time it doesn't
do anything, but it shows the government, okay, you know,
whereas we like nobody.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
What it is.
Speaker 4 (46:49):
We're just too compliant. Honestly, we are complying. I think
so like we're a nanny country and nanny state where
we comply and we just go and we'll also look
the tax department, the government, the police force, all of it.
It functions because people are whipped into line. Even Simone
said that when he first arrived and he's like, my god,
(47:10):
it really works here in Italy. Not everyone's like no,
I'm going to just drive and do whatever I want,
you know, Yeah, but there's we are. We're all too
afraid that if we just step a little bit out
of line that something's going to happen, something bad will happen,
which you see it can for some people. But if
you're not breaking the law by just speaking up and
(47:30):
saying things have got to change, so.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
Maybe you've created a movement.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Maybe Australian business owners should stand together and start.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
To speak up and be part of the movement.
Speaker 4 (47:41):
I absolutely believe. Yeah, And I said to Simon it,
I mainly did this because we already decided we're going
to close in January.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Right.
Speaker 4 (47:49):
It's not like we did this to get some publicity
so we could maybe stay open. It's like, this is
it for us, right? But yeah, and the closure feels
like a breath. You know, you can take a breath
when you make a decision. But I said, look, if
this does anything, you know, because the next morning after
I'd posted it, it was like going crazy and I thought, oh,
I didn't realize it was going to do this. And
(48:11):
now I've realized that it's more important to try to
create that conversation in the small and medium business and
that's what I hope this is going to do. And
I'd be more than happy to do whatever it takes
to keep that going because I don't want to leave
Australia and not come back and see it thriving. You
know this. I actually had a bit of a teary
(48:31):
to Somemonita the other day because I said, I've I
used to be in the entertainment industry as well. I
was a singer and so I would sing in every
venue around Sydney seven nights a week at one point,
you know, and there was things to do, places to go.
Then you know, with the lockout laws, that's when it
kind of started. But it's just slowly gotten worse and
(48:52):
worse and worse. And it almost feels like now people
are really starting to realize. But it's been a ten
year slow decline and I think COVID helped them.
Speaker 3 (49:01):
And.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
Yeah, it helped them.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
And because that's my feeling too, I feel like I
live in a constraint environment that I can't do this.
I can't drive here, I can't park there, I can't
eat there, I can't stay there a certain time.
Speaker 1 (49:14):
You know, I feel like that My world is full
of rules.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
It is, absolutely, And I'm a boy who grew up
in the did grow up and I was in my
twenties in the eighties. Yeah, by my god, there's no rules.
You did what you want and it was unbelievab. I'm
so lucky to have lived in the eighties because today,
in the twenty twenties, it's the rules and the regulations.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
We must be one of the most regulated countries in
the world for sure. Absolutely, And you go to Europe
Italy agrees Spain free you do what you want.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
I mean, so you.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Feel their freedom of society, you know what I mean?
Like you know, so the same and social life for you.
If you finish a nineteen thirty to work, then to work,
you want to see your friends, have like a gloss
online and talk till midnight.
Speaker 1 (50:04):
Have a break.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
Yeah you can't nowhere to go.
Speaker 3 (50:08):
There's not a place to go.
Speaker 2 (50:10):
Yeah, well that's it. I mean, unfortunately, this is this conversation.
It needs to be had. It's a bit of a downer, yeah,
and I'm sorry that it's affected you guys the way
it has. But I'm actually glad, on the other hand,
that you've raised it and that you've actually had the
gumption and the courage to actually come out publicly and
say it. And what's interesting, as you say, it's gone viral.
(50:34):
It certainly got drawn to my attention by a number
of people, which is why we invited you on and
because I think we do need to speak up. Absolutely,
small business owners in Australia need to speak up. We
are the backbone of this country. I'm seek a government
saying it when they do nothing about it, literally nothing,
But we probably have to take control of it ourselves.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
That's that's it.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
So if that's what he's referring to, well, sure we
can take control of ourselves. But I don't think we
need to be contrimmed more. I feel like we pay
the majority of our taxes in this country, the majority
of everything in this country, you know, but without us, like,
there's going to be nothing to attract people here, let
alone ourselves who are born and bred here.
Speaker 3 (51:14):
You know.
Speaker 2 (51:15):
I don't want someone like someone to go and go
by Diddley and saying oh yeah, well you know, not him,
But I'm just saying like him, saying, you know, should
I go to Australia for holidays?
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Well yeah, but there's not much to do.
Speaker 2 (51:28):
Yes, that would be the worst thing ever, Yes, because
not only will we not have many tourists, but it's
the worst thing ever for reputation.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
I don't want my country to be known like this.
Speaker 4 (51:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
I'm not the son of a migrant to come to
this country who's contributed a lot to this country, and
my father and his brothers and their family contribute lot
his country, both in lots of respects, hard work, et cetera.
For people just to say, well I don't want to
go experience to strained culture because there's nothing to do.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
There's a beautiful harbor and there's an opera house.
Speaker 3 (51:59):
The thing that siddenly become like a postcard city.
Speaker 1 (52:02):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, postcard city.
Speaker 3 (52:04):
Yeah, they can take a picture and go, yes, but
you don't want that for obvious city. You want like
people say, oh, I went to Syney, is the best
place in the world.
Speaker 4 (52:12):
Yes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (52:15):
Yeah, But the tourists who arrived there, they have the
feeling it is the best place in the world. But
when they stay and start leaving and start you know, working,
they said, oh, I don't know if it's the best
seat in the world.
Speaker 2 (52:27):
Yeah, because the experience is not as good as it
might be in some small place in any other places. Will.
I think we're becoming very Americanized. I feel like that's
very American, you know, And that's the way it isn't
The politics has sort of become the politics in this
country anyways, a bit that style as well, not American
Republican style.
Speaker 1 (52:46):
But it's very about control and.
Speaker 2 (52:48):
Yes, as you said, nanny state and regulations and we
will protect you, yeah, from accidents, we will make sure
you don't sleep over and and a car won't go
past the splacier so you can't have a seat on
the on the footpath after whatever.
Speaker 4 (53:03):
But even the roads are shocking, like you drive around
at the moment I'm thinking where are we there's potholes.
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Also, like the money I pay for my registration and
every other Australian pays the registration, where's that money?
Speaker 4 (53:15):
Where's that correct?
Speaker 3 (53:17):
That's something my office experience with policy in Australia. I
was eight thirty pm. Police arrive at my restaurant. So
we receive a call for noise. So the police look
at me, look outside. We're a couple in the dark
(53:38):
with the little lights, drink it goss of wine, talking
and there was the.
Speaker 4 (53:43):
Complaint and the police were like, oh god, sorry.
Speaker 3 (53:46):
In my mind saying oh this is what I'm facing.
Speaker 1 (53:50):
Yeah, yeah, and then the police don't want to do
it either.
Speaker 3 (53:54):
No, they tell me I'm so sorry, we are sorry, but.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
You know, you know who's the one who The police
are reacting to some regulations that have been put in
place by the politicians who sit in Parliament who.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Haven't got a clue absolutely never run a business.
Speaker 2 (54:12):
They're like, no, never, I got the New South Wales
State treasure Daniel Mookie coming in today and Daniel, what
one thing would you like me to say to Daniel
Murky because he's just released his budget. He's not a
bad guy, Daniel, by the way. But then they are
trying to promote Australia or Sydney, at least New South
Wales and Sydney as a destination. And this is called destination.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
Practical advice.
Speaker 3 (54:35):
Okay, if you, if you create policies right for his business,
get professionals professional of that business to help you to
run the right policies or the right.
Speaker 1 (54:48):
Non public service. No not, some of your creators never
run a business.
Speaker 4 (54:52):
Come to our level and go to our level.
Speaker 3 (54:55):
And we find the better solution for everyone.
Speaker 2 (54:58):
Absolutely, And so when they hold these summits, they should
invite people from industry, correct represented and lots of.
Speaker 4 (55:08):
Them, lots of them like a group.
Speaker 2 (55:10):
Yeah, totally absolutely, instead of they're all sort of talking around,
having a little talk fest amongst themselves, yes, and nothing
being resolved.
Speaker 4 (55:20):
Nothing being resolved.
Speaker 3 (55:21):
You know, we as a business, as a people have
seen there of Australia. We want action, we want results.
We don't want words words, has gone to the hair. Yeah,
action stay there and become history. Absolutely, that's what we want.
Speaker 4 (55:37):
And we wouldn't be closing our doors like our vision
was to open multiple venues. You know, but you can't.
When you're not you can't move forward. It feels like
you're sort of in this stagnant state. So come to
us so we can all sit around and have a
conversation to ensure that we don't get to a place
where everything dies.
Speaker 2 (55:57):
Maybe we'll have a new rule called someone is well,
they should talk to you some money and Isabelle, thanks
very much for coming in.
Speaker 1 (56:08):
And by the way, most more importantly, thanks for courage.
Speaker 2 (56:11):
Oh, thank you, because you know these things are pretty daunting.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
Yes, and it doesn't just mean you.
Speaker 2 (56:18):
Put out a post and it goes viral and you
get responses, You get people looking at it, you get
people judging you, you get nervous, you worry, and you're
going to have and and to be honest with you,
guys are going to be lost.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
We're going to lose two great hospitality people. So appreciate
it what you've done and enjoy enjoy your next chapter.
Speaker 4 (56:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:38):
Thank The book was closed but not finished exactly finish
another chapter coming.
Speaker 4 (56:45):
Guys, thank you.
Speaker 6 (57:00):
Do do do do do
Welcome to the mentor.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
I Marke Boris, Simone Crivello and Isabel Galloway husband and wife.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
But how are you guys going good under the circumstances.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Absolutely super surprised this attraction.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, well thanks for coming in. Obviously your you guys
have been fairly vocal recently. More recently you're always vocal
because you put plenty up on your various pages, particularly Instagram,
but more more promotional stuff about your your business called
Zephranotoria Mediterranea in Paddington, been every long time, but you're
(00:49):
recently announced and it went viral that you're closing your
great restaurant in August this year, this year after how
many years?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Five?
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Yeah in November, Yeah, so this almost five years that
would have been. But it's just become too challenging. As
you heard in the in the post, it was.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
An amazing post by thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
It was amazing, like so well professionally put together. I
appreciate no wonder when so viral, because it wasn't just
the equality of way you put it together, like the
quality of the video and everything, but I think it
was what you said, the resonance of what you said.
It was very very strong, especially when you posted up
(01:38):
the cemeteries.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
And headstones and stuffing.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
But I know it that sounds a bit dramatic and theatrical,
but it's true. We know we our bankruptcies in Australia
for small business owners are up two hundred and twenty
two percent this year, two hundred and twenty that's mental
we felt.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah you can see lately, Yeah, you see it everywhere.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
All the play and you did sort of comment on
politics and we'll come back to that, no man, So
maybe I like just to start, just go back a
little bit and just tell me about your obviously Italian,
become your Australian average from it leagueuse off your accent,
(02:21):
were your chef nearly?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Tell me about your So my family as a restaurant
since nineteen seventy in Australia or my dad, you know,
studies business like he started being a chef in these
early twenties, so working for Nobility family in paler and Palermo,
(02:44):
and then set in the seventy he opened his own restaurant.
So we're still running the business business after fifty five
years in Palerma. In Palermo, so I was running the
business from two thousand and ten to two thousand and
twenty twelve, he with my brothers and sister because my dad,
you know, stops for a while and say, you know,
(03:05):
I want to you try to run the business. So
we run the business. And after the third year, I
say to my sister and brother listen, I need to
I need to try something else. I coming in Australia
on holiday. I never thought to stay, but I fall
in love with Sydney. So why did you fall in
(03:26):
love with So? I've been traveling around the world as
a chef. I work in India, Japan, South Africa and
South America, North America, and I always looking for a
place where I can you know, express myself in in
you know, in hospitality, in the restaurant business. And I
(03:46):
had these dreams opening my own little restaurant. So I
start as a chef in a in one pizzeria in
a new town was cousins of mine. But I apply
as a student in this country because I was forty
years older when I arrived. So for three years I
applied for a student paying around one hundred thousand dollars
(04:07):
to stay in this country. Then I met my wife,
so I was sponsored by the business. That business was
one of the ones, the first one who started bankruptcy
and felled. So that for me was the start of
what's going on here? There's something wrong? Why, like in
(04:28):
a city like Sydney a business place has going to bankruptcy.
So at the moment, I didn't think a lot. But
then we we joined with my wife and we find
this place, we open the restaurant, We throw ourselves in
without thinking on the beginning in Paton. In Patenton and
(04:52):
the first year we opened two weeks before COVID. Yeah, wow,
we survived COVID. So when you know, when you're in
business and you survive an event like COVID, you say
you're invincible, so you can go through the wall. So
COVID finish and we went so busy. Possibly was like
(05:14):
the white lotos on Netflix who pushed sicily a lot.
But all Pan was working, all the Harrier was working,
Sydney was working, So I think I thought was, oh,
this is good. But then when the government's announced them
it was twenty twenty three September twenty twenty three, Yeah, that's.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
When we noticed it started to coming to effect. Anyway,
the customers were like, oh, we're feeling it now.
Speaker 3 (05:45):
So Aurust we were full booking the restaurant right every
night October after the announcement, and you know the law
in place, we dropped to forty four to forty seven
percent and less in bookings November, December, January. I said
(06:06):
to Berlin in twenty twenty four four, said I don't
I think it's better we close now. So our counts say,
you know, I suggest to go through because this is
a moment in May, it's gonna be No, it's gonna
be better. Blah blah blah. Nothing happened. And now we
(06:26):
arrive at twenty twenty five, and you know, when you
see your restaurant like goes down, there's there's a problem here.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
Yes, it's not like you know what I mean. It's
not a cheap area.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
You know, if you have money, Yeah, abnormally every yeah,
every night you drive through Crown Street and you see
the strip or crowd Street busy. But if you are
in business and you look inside the restaurant, you see
then they look busy, but they're not.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
There's still empty tables, there's still Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Absolutely, it's funny. I said, hotel last night and I
was in Adelaide. It was a well known hotel, won't
say that name. But I went into the restaurant, not
last night, not before, and I went into the restaurant
to get my dinner seven pm.
Speaker 5 (07:10):
And I was ady personally, wow, yeah, only personally, And
it was like six staff and the chef and more ship,
lots of people in the kitchen.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
I thought, oh my god, they can't be making money here.
And obviously, you know, like hospitality has been one of
the hospitality and.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Construction of being the two toughest hits.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
If I could just go back now and ask you
the question, is the demise in other words, your decision
to close your restaurant this year twenty twenty five, is
it more off the back of how expensive it is
(07:52):
to run your business, in other words, your costs, or
is it more about your custom can't afford anymore in
other words, it's hard for them to survive.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
What I say is both so, because if I compare
the cost of food to create my menu, right since
twenty twenty twenty to today, we have all thirty thirty
five percent increase in price.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
So can I just go back on that a little
bit for a second, please? That means the inputs to
make the food that you have on your menu, the
same menu that you have. Yeah, so we're talking about protein,
vegetable carbohydrates, Yeah, maybe wine. They're the cost of all
(08:47):
those things about thirty percent right now, that's the cost
of the raw material to buy fish or.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Buy meat or whatever. Pasta, what if you have to
buy Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
What about other things? You know, Like you know, we
keep hearing about power bills.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
Absolutely, that does increase that it's increased, everything's increased a lot.
The problem is like people like when they increase for me,
increase ults for people of course, yeah, right, so if
they increase for people, they have like less percentage to spend.
But the three key thing is like we haven't changed
(09:27):
the price of the menu since day one.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Since twenty twenty.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
In fact, we've dropped it slightly dropped twenty Yeah, since
twenty twenty twenty. Yeah, since we opened, we haven't really
like we've.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
We put one dollars one dollar and a half for
every dishes on twenty twenty three, Yes, and then twenty
twenty four, I would bring back.
Speaker 4 (09:48):
Yeah, we dropped it down and dropped to the We
also started offering pasta and wine nights, which we never
as a small business it can be hard to do
so to do this kind of deals and stuff. But
we did with Wednesday Thursday, we did sort of community
night Pastor and vin Or Night. They were going okay,
But at the moment we're still doing it on a
(10:10):
Wednesday and Thursday and it hasn't changed.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
We had the PreO when on Sunday Sunday lunch we did.
We did the like Portkeetta role for eighteen dollars fresh porquetta.
It is cheap, Yeah, eighteen dollars because you know, I
won't give opportunity to people to ever a meal and
enjoy the space. Yes, but we did all we came
(10:33):
to create a movement and also you know a funnel
of customers. But then when your neighbors, right since twenty
three disappear, disappear all the professionals used to live in
the area, or they sell the house, or they move
overseas or they move in another states.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
You mean your customers.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
Yeah, the customer you built from twenty twenty to twenty
twenty three disappears.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Really yeah, a huge percentage of them, like eighty percent, and.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
You know they moved or we know that they moved.
Speaker 4 (11:06):
Because they they Yeah, so we know people, yeah, and
so we know them by the first name. We've shared
the wine with them, We've sat down after hours and
had great conversations, and they some of them didn't have
a chance to come in and say goodbye, but would
send me like a DM on Instagram. And some when
they did come back to the area for business or something,
they would pop in and say, oh my god, I'm
(11:27):
so sorry. We haven't been in. We ended up selling,
or we had to rent out the house, or we
you know, we're just really tired at the moment. Because
as well, where we're located, a lot of the customers are.
There was a whole chunk of them who were semi retired,
you know, so they have to be obviously cautious. They
don't want to have to enter the workforce again. And
then also lots of young professionals who at one point
(11:50):
their salary was amazing, they could live really comfortably in Sydney,
and all of a sudden everything changed, because again it's
not just the mortgages that went up. It's the gas bill,
it's the energy, it's the school fees, school fees, it's
the everything right and then obviously as a small business,
we you have to pivot. You have to sort of
try to figure out how you can attract people when
(12:11):
they don't have as much. So we would offer these.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Little neighborhoods the scald so all does? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:20):
Can I just go back and break it down a
little bit further?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
So, your costs have gone up since twenty twenty by
in terms of inputs by thirty percent. Probably your power
has probably gone by much more. Absolutely, do you use
gas electricity?
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Both? So gas has definitely gone up, Electricity definitely gone up.
Your rent? What about rent?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
Yeah, rent goes up four percent percent.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Because the rents have gone up. Wages?
Speaker 4 (12:49):
Oh yeah, like eleven percent more?
Speaker 1 (12:53):
Yeah, yeah, eleven percent?
Speaker 4 (12:54):
Yeah about eleven twelve percent?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
Sa would you find do you think that within the
business in terms of people who are your employees?
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Do you think that's.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Let's call it in dust relations probably not a good word,
but like your relationship in a business sense with your
employees has become much more expensive. Just put aside the
eleven percent. Things like people's attitude towards work. Absolutely, you
know their reliability in terms of turning up. Absolutely, I
want a holiday or my cat has got a cold.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
I need to take some time off for me. Have
you experienced that sort of stuff?
Speaker 4 (13:34):
Yeah, I mean post COVID, because what happened in COVID
is like after that, people were desperate to have employees
come in, so they were offering them really high wages,
especially sort of larger groups. And then also that's kind
of when wages started to increase. So before we even
have seen whether they're right fit for our venue and
(13:55):
whether we need to be training them, how qualified they are,
they're asking, Oh, I want meum, thirty five dollars an hour,
you know, or I need to make sure you're paying
me forty dollars an hour, And you're thinking, but we
haven't even done the dance yet, like we don't you know,
Like what's going on here?
Speaker 1 (14:11):
What would you have been paying before? Like minimum?
Speaker 4 (14:14):
So it was like twenty eight dollars and sixteen cents
and then on the weekends it was like thirty six
dollars an hour. So still, to be honest, in my opinion,
for the quality of employee we had, it was on
the higher side, you know, but because no.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
I training people for six months and then by the law,
these people are still go because they can't stay made.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Their travelers.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Yeah, pretty much. The travelers.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
I mean they're not they're not the chef.
Speaker 3 (14:45):
No, no, no, they just have the chef.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
Yeah, you're not asking for a chef, no, not for
forty bucks.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Now you're just talking about waiters.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Yeah, yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And so you're saying the way the interaction between the
employer and the employee has changed dramatically, definitely.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
Yeah. And then also people who are in this country
and they're not on a visa, so they still they're
an immigrant or oussie. They that it's even harder to
interact with them because they have you know, they've got
their life here, their expenses, everything's gone up for them too.
So I totally understand. But it's as a small business,
when we're only feeling at the moment, maybe on a
(15:26):
Wednesday or Thursday night, three tables or one table, how
can you justify having even one staff member on for
forty dollars an hour when that's going to be your
nightly takings given to yourself. You know what, you're working
for them, you work exactly, so you're working for them,
yeah exactly. Yeah, we open our doors for them, you know,
So that's definitely changed. And then on top of that,
(15:49):
you know, the wage taxes and the superannuation have gone
up as well, So you just end up at the
end of every week, my jaw would be on the
ground thinking, are you sure that's how much our wage
bill is? Like it just feels like we we didn't
take enough for that to feel right, you know. And
then also, yeah, our staff, there's not really consistency. We're
(16:13):
sort of blessed in a way because Simon it is
the chef I up until we had our daughter four
months ago, was front of house for the whole time,
so we were working in the business. So when there
was a dip, we'd say, okay, we're not going to
have no exactly, and we're not going to have started yep,
typical you do. It's okay, yeah, and then you know,
(16:35):
then thankfully at the moment, we're in a position where
we have some casual workers who are more than happy
for us to say, hey, we're busier on Friday, do
you mind popping in but we don't have anything else
for the week, you know, and they're like, yeah, absolutely,
they'll come in because we provide a really beautiful work environment.
Because we're a small business, so they get to know us.
It's kind of like a family vibe, you know. But
(16:56):
definitely the employment we've been through like forty seven in.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Staff just since.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
We opened, Like yeah, like insane amount.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
How many would you have.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Two on the floor and when we were busy, I
have another person get washing.
Speaker 4 (17:13):
Yes it was about five people per But then you.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
Know, I training the guy who was my you know,
and like offside training to also to become like a
little chef, a little cook. But then when they learn,
they say to you goodbye, you know what I mean.
And then you you spend six months of your time
to train these people, give a little bit of skills,
(17:37):
and then they pop up as a chef in the
you know, top wrestling Sydney. What are you doing? That's
why is one of the reasons with my wife decide
like what we're doing here, we need to.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Stop if I could then just so obviously didn't put
your price up, as you said, because.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
We had pushback from that.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I was going to say, so.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
What happens you did you try during that period twenty
twenty when inflation started to run off a bit and
you'll cost much higher? Did you try to maintain your margin,
because margin is very thin in the rest of position.
But did you try to maintain margin by increasing the
price and then what happened?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Yes, we did, remember and then we had multiple interactions
like in the restaurant with customer, Yeah, where people were
irate about it. No really seriously.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
So let's say it's the customer has been there. What
sort of responseib you?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Where they get onto the menu of theme the state
now I was gone from thirty five to forty two.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
You know, they'd say, well, because we would have specials
on the board every week they change and depending on where.
That's the other thing about our restaurant is we're waist free.
We don't have a cool room, so we would buy
our produce daily. Simoni would go to the fish markets,
meet the fishermen, see what was fresh. Take that. We
would go to our little market still grab the pomodore
(18:55):
or grab the different things, so we keep it fresh
like it is in Sicily. That's one of the main
reasons why our return rate was like eighty five ninety percent.
Our customer people coming back.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (19:05):
But in the end, we when we do increase our
prices slightly, you know, we aren't on the cheaper side,
like for a spaghetti marinada, like a really big bowl,
not just sixty grams of pastor it's like one hundred
and twenty.
Speaker 3 (19:18):
Five ground pasta with around three hundred ground of a seafood.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
So a big, huge as.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
You know, seven little calamari, three prons, five clans piece
of crab in it.
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, like a beautiful marinara.
Speaker 3 (19:34):
A real Sicilian seafood dish.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
Yeah, And we charge forty two dollars for that, because yeah,
well that's what we think. But people say, what we
put it up to forty.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Five for that pasta?
Speaker 4 (19:47):
I three bucks And this man literally at the top
of his lungs yelled in the in the restaurant and said,
this is ridiculous, you know, forty five dollars. And I'm
there on the floor with all these other customers and
I'm thinking, and he says, I could make it at home,
and I said, well, why don't you pop home and
make it? Then?
Speaker 3 (20:04):
You know, I'm not asking people to come to my
restaurants because like I need to give a favor to them.
That ends. My house is my temple. You want to
hear my restaurants, Come sit, eat, enjoy, enjoy the experience
because what I'm I'm giving to you is something I
will give to my family, to my best friend, not
(20:26):
just to a person. Because I need your money, I
need your smile. Yes, that's why I do this job.
And you know, sadly say like I'm closing the door,
like it's for me, It's like closing a big book
because after that, I will not do hospitality anymore because
it's I have fifty two. I will turn fifty two
(20:48):
this year and I think when I started was twelve
with my family, cleaning glasses, then chopping salad and then
grill fish and you know, become a chef. Now for
me it's time to say thank you for your support.
I love you customers, but for me, it's time to stay.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Do you think that I'm in Australia at least, that
we look at food like a commodity and we don't
look at it the experience. We are hungry, got to
eat maybe tonight, Korean or Japanese or Italian.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
I make a choice.
Speaker 2 (21:30):
I take Italian tonight. But this is the price I
want to pay.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
Absolutely no experience.
Speaker 3 (21:38):
When I go to a restaurant as a chef, I
go as a person first, and if I eat Chinese feed,
Japanese orf, I tie. I want to know the culture.
You know the authenticity of the dish. That's why I
do what I'm doing. So when I open my restaurant,
(21:59):
I give a one hundred percent authenticity Sicilian food. So
they are sorts of my grandmother taught me. They are
sauce my dad told me. So is I bringing my
story to a plate? People, I think don't see that.
They see, they're gonna see, they're gonna drink, they're gonna
have the pasta. Let's see. They don't go into what
(22:21):
the chef did today for you to serve the plate.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
If you're back in Italy now and some money, if
you're back in Italy and here in Palermo, is it
different with the Italians? With Sicilians going into your family restaurant?
Speaker 1 (22:40):
There are they more.
Speaker 2 (22:45):
In tune with what you just said about This is
your grandfather's sauce recipe, your father mother whatever, they are
they more in tune with this?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Or is this a global change? Do you think? Do
you think everyone is changing and just looking like commodity market?
Speaker 3 (23:02):
My answerst is like you know, of of course we
have different cultures, okay, and in Sicily, table is family.
So already there is family. We see it, we all together,
we share what is on the table. So it's an
expression of love. Right. What I see in the modern
(23:24):
country like table is just an action that you go see.
You have to eat and function. That's it. For us
is different. That's why my customer in Sicily, they come
because they want to enjoy it, they want to feel it,
so they know the black sweating pasta make in my
(23:45):
family restaurant is an old recipes come from my great grandmother,
so the result of its seafood is the same. So
that's why people come because in the house, possibly they
do it in a different way. So in any corner of seas,
one dish can change six seven times in different ways,
different flavors, different herbs, play's the same dish because come
(24:08):
from different families, culture and history.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Do you think that when you first open in Paddington
in twenty twenty, do you think that sense that you've
just described actually existed? Do people actually come to your
restaurant because they knew that this is someone's family's recipe
And do you think that and what is it? Do
you think made people change culturally about this stuff. I mean,
not necessarily in relation to your place, But how would
(24:34):
you assess this? Because I have to be honest with you,
I think people just now look at food.
Speaker 1 (24:41):
That's busy, busy, busy. I've got to eat.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I feel like Italian. I'll go there quickly, go to
you to get the meal and get the hell out
because I've got to get home and get on my Instagram.
But I've got to watch netliks or I mean because
for post COVID, Because I just think definitely post COVID.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
A lot of things have changed in the way we think.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yes, lots, particularly in countries like Australia, the United States,
various other places I'm not sure about more culturally deep
culturally places like Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
I'm not sure, but I don't think that is the
case because my.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Family's Greek, and I know in Greece, when I go
to Greece, it is still you go to this place
in the Monasterraki in Athens, this particular place, because if
you want a certain type of sublakia.
Speaker 4 (25:27):
You.
Speaker 3 (25:29):
Know you have the answerone, you know what I mean,
there's a big difference you know, there's a big gapy
so when we open a restaurant like is to give
their knowledge to people, yes, to understand our culture.
Speaker 4 (25:43):
And we did have a lot of customers in that
first couple of year period, even the first year post COVID,
right when people were desperate to get out, and then
suddenly there was that decline again where people sort of
went insular again. But that first year post COVID, I
also think when people had some money stacked away from.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
Haven't had the experience exactly at.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
Home exactly, and they're like, oh, I want to go
out for every meal. All of a sudden, we had
the most incredible feedback and customers saying, oh, it feels
like I've been to Sicily tonight, thank you so much.
And then they couldn't travel by that well exactly, they
couldn't still. And then we have actually since sent at
least twenty five or thirty of our customers to Sicily
(26:24):
to his family's restaurant, and so they've met his family,
taken photos, sent it back and said, oh my god,
it was the same. This is incredible, you know. And
definitely people were fascinated by the fact that Sicilian food
is really different to northern Italian food, and that what
we were doing, well, what Simone was doing was super
authentic to his roots. It wasn't like we were even
(26:45):
down to buying the tins of tomatoes making sure it's
coming from a specific region in Italy so it's got
that depth of flavor. It's not like the Aussie tomatoes.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Do you think that authenticity though, is now missing from food?
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Definitely? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
It could have been the reason why so many restaurants
are closing down.
Speaker 3 (27:04):
Do you think they're all insanely not? I don't think so.
You know, they're the reason why a lot of restaurants close.
You know, it's evident that we were bringing them the
table today, like you know, eye tacks, impossibility to find,
like employees and wages, they are not cackle in the
(27:25):
right in the right way, like yes, the cost of believing,
cost of food and like and.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Then also delivery services.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
People buying your stuff on Uber.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Because we try, we try. But when you do like
a seafood pasta, right and you send to a place
which is like tenk lovers away, what kind of pasta
you're gonna eat?
Speaker 1 (27:52):
You complaint?
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (27:53):
No, and they do. We had that and so we
thought we can't like our food.
Speaker 1 (27:56):
Can't becomes your fault.
Speaker 4 (27:59):
And then we did do an uber menu with things
that would transfer well you know that they could reheat
or whatever. But again like it. In the end, it
wasn't working enough for us to think, okay, that we
keep doing this, and it just didn't align with what
we were doing in the first place, because part of
our message and part of why we were opening a
restaurant was for the people to enter the doors, you know,
(28:21):
and to experience.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
It's the experience coming inside and so wonda do you
actually come outside, like I mean, does a chef come out?
Speaker 1 (28:29):
You come out to see everybody.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
All the time they go to the customer, sal was
your dinner? Like you know, they say, oh, Spectaclear, thank you,
Like I have a great experience because I love creating
the same connection I was creating Italy in my restaurant,
because you become a part of your customer's family, like
you know, they know you, who you are, where you
come from. And I know every single custom in my restaurant.
(28:52):
So now impartant on everyone walk in the street to
look at the inside the restaurant, they wave me because
we become friends. We have a customer to come with
us on holiday in Sicily, and I bring them to
other restaurants in Sicily, which are my.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
You conducted tour?
Speaker 4 (29:08):
Yeah, we did, yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Because you know, remember I left Italy Sicily when I
was forty, right, and in Sicily they know me and
my family restaurants every single.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
Corner of the high really well.
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Yeah, I don't want to excite all Italy, but in
Sicily everyone you ask Frankoviscato. In Sicily, they know who is,
they know the restaurant, they know their kids and all
their sons. So and when I walk in the city,
it's like everyone knows me. Everyone wets me. When I
bring my wife in Italy, hours possible, from Milan to Sicily.
(29:51):
Every place we go, they people jump on me. I
simone worry because Italy looks sixty nine million people, but
we know each other.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
In the world for sure. Yeah, because it brings me
to life profession there. You know, I didn't know any
of this because I'm not from the hospital industry. I
just wanted to support my husband, and I love people
and I'm a customer service person, but I just wasn't
really that familiar with hospitality. It wasn't until I started
(30:21):
in our restaurant and then we went over to Sicily
to start sourcing some product and to also build another
leg of our business over there. And we went over
and also before we even opened the restaurant, I realized
that over there it is treated so differently, like it's
a full on lifelong profession. Yes, they're also suffering in
(30:41):
their own way post COVID still in Europe, and also
the younger generations don't appreciate it as much as it
once was appreciated. But there's still people who that's what
they want to do with their life, and they know
where to go for the best seafood, the best this,
the best that, and it's a real it's a lifestyle.
You know where and be.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Proud of where you come from, the produce that you
bring to the table.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Absolutely do Do you think that's.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Our great yearning today around the world to travel has
created a problem because, in other words, people sort of say, well,
you know, I'm going to go to these rest of
but I'll go to Italy. You know, I'll go to
sleep I'll go I'll go to Rome. I want Italian food,
I'll go there, and I'll go to Bologn, you know,
I'll have Yeah, and when I'm in Sydney, I'm here,
(31:30):
I'm just working. I'm working longer hours because everyone works
longer hours, especially business owners, working longer hours earning less money.
I'll just keep working, working, working, and then when I
get and I'll quickly have my food like as a function,
and then so I can get home and I'll quickly
watch a bit of Netflix and play with the kids
(31:51):
or whatever the case may be, and spend some time
with my partner, get to sleep because I've got to
get back to work tomorrow. And then your social life, yes,
my social life will become when I travel.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
When you go to Italy, where you go to Greece, yeah,
Greek Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And maybe so there's so not only are people not
able to afford to it as often as they did out,
not only do they now really conscious how much they
spend because the cost of living here, because everyone keeps saying,
we see our treasurer, the federal Treasurer Jim Morrison saying, wow,
it's really great. You know, we're the government have got
(32:24):
the inflation down to two point four percent. Yeah, but
the cost of living still as high as it was before, like.
Speaker 1 (32:30):
It's still really high.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Like you haven't gone backwards, you haven't reduced how much
a cost to buy a leatherce or a steak or whatever,
or the reduced the cost of transport, reduce the cost
of mobile phones, or reduced the cost of insurance or
still but they're all, they're all, they're just not going
up as fast as they were going up. So there's
what would you say to someone like the Prime minister today?
(32:52):
What would you say to Anthony Aberti And by the way,
Anthony Albert Easy today is holding us some sort of
launch or something, or rather talking to business owners around
Australia saying how private enterprise, you guys and me, we
need to contribute more to the economy. Y's today wow
(33:13):
in this is a like a preface to his summit
that he's holding in August about they're going to look
at everything in.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
The economy like income tax raid.
Speaker 2 (33:26):
I don't think they're looking to put it down, say
they're looking to put it up, the GST, the.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
Cost of power.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I mean he's now saying that we you guys and
everyone in yours, everyone in my innustry, we need to
do more for the economy.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
The private sector. What would you say to.
Speaker 6 (33:46):
Them, Oh, well, like like I come from you know,
I left Sicily tween and the moment Italy was facing
like situation like this.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
And you know a really really small example in the
one area of Sicily called Riberta, we made one of
the best orange in the planet. Is our talktun through it?
Because the governor govern in Italy give license to Northern
(34:25):
Africa and Spain to bring in the market oranges from
the country to our market. We in the ear we
crush more than six thousand million killers of oranges in Sicily.
Speaker 1 (34:43):
So you crushed.
Speaker 3 (34:46):
Juice, you trashed because we couldn't sell.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
It because imported important stuff.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So that means like you are a politician, governors where
you have to understand like the producer in your land, right,
the producer product, they give you a price. Then there's
a gap from the producer to the sellers for the market.
(35:17):
So how is possible a product cost one example, one
dollar on the production go to four to five dollars
on the market reach out reach, so their gap has
to be controller and check it and.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
What did they telling them to do? What did they do?
Speaker 3 (35:34):
They did nothing? So they went how this direction, get
to a place where everything's going to resation. Business are
empty because from twenty thirteen to just the four twenty
twenty three restaurants have been suffering the same thing. Business
(35:55):
have been served the same thing in Australia.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Start now, don't anything about it since we're still now
doing it.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
No, now they're doing better, they're growing.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Changed.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
What change I think is Italy at the moment is
a point of tourism. The politics create direction to help
all the states to be a funnel for tourism. So
cities in summer time they blooming. In winter, go back
(36:32):
to Canada, same thing, but the four or five months
of summer driving so people can keep leaving.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
But they also did some things with taxes business over there,
Like I'm not one hundred percent on what exactly they did,
but they're they're quite flexible and lenient. They're a little
bit less sort of intense as they can be here.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Exemple tax department. You know they charge in into as
to like five six percent and we are talking to
Australight eleven.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
Yeah, that's an interesting point.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
If you own money to the tax department and most
people listen just don't know that don't realize the tax
department charges like in excessive ten percent.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
I couldn't believe you're a bank in the country that
will charge that on.
Speaker 3 (37:19):
One point two monthly and they can, you know, by
the low tax student office can charge to forty eight
percent per year. You know in another country you can
say that it's something else. I don't want to say
the words because it's not right.
Speaker 2 (37:37):
But if youture, like if I have a lending business, right,
if I charge someone that amount of interest, I would
be front page of the newspaper and I will probably
get arrested.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
That's a thief.
Speaker 1 (37:46):
You know, they'll probably arrest you, right or they'd be
chasing you down the.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
Street because you force business to close them.
Speaker 2 (37:54):
Which and that's an interesting thing to it because one
of the biggest causes right now of the bankruptcies has
been the tax office collecting money or for people who
can't afford to pay and they just give up.
Speaker 3 (38:06):
Yeah, what I suggests like love that the percentage. Make
sure people have the possibility to pay. Yes, pay means
like flexibility is not like I give you twenty years
to pay the the.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
You know, the debt, the debt.
Speaker 3 (38:23):
I give you like two years to year. Enough with
the low percentage, people will do the best to pay
it and then don't give any other chance to clear up.
Then if the business doesn't work, doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
It's two years.
Speaker 3 (38:36):
But don't force them to close, because then means you
take jobs, space, you take.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Take families, take dreams.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
You take dream and then you also take culture. Like
Sydney used to feel.
Speaker 1 (38:52):
The community know where to go.
Speaker 4 (38:54):
No, there's nowhere to go. Even all of our employees
who are from other countries, they said, oh, I came
to Australia thinking it was to be this amazing place,
especially Sydney, you know, and they arrive here, they finish
work at ten and they say, well, no, where can
we go? What can we do? And also to go
and get one glass of wine and a little bit
of cheese. You're looking at sixty dollars, you know, or
(39:15):
more even you know, it's just crazy, you know.
Speaker 3 (39:17):
So read something like every hundred business opening in Australia,
eighty eight close. Yeah, like since the January this here,
five hundred and fifty six delivery company, transportation company close down?
Like what are we doing here? Like you know, I
love this country, Like I still like perimanent Rest. I
(39:38):
love Australia. It's a beautiful place. But people can't lean
this way. No, oh, you can drive in this country.
It's far far away from every other place in the world.
Like how you want to keep the people stay in
this country?
Speaker 4 (39:52):
People believing in record numbers. I don't know if you've
seen the stats on that. I don't know them, like
off the top of my head, but from our real
in fact, I received like four hundred five hundred DMS
from that reel and I couldn't keep up. I spent
a few nights just like reading over them. And it
was people ossis and a lot of immigrants who said,
I left the country six months ago. I'm about to
(40:14):
leave and go and move back to where you know
I grew up because there's nothing there for me anymore,
you know. I came to Australia with this dream. I
was there. People come here for fifteen twenty years, contribute
so much to our economy, so much to our communities,
and then they're forced to sort of have to reevaluate.
And I never thought as an Australian I'd be like
so excited to be thinking about going and living.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
So going to get back to sortes.
Speaker 4 (40:37):
Yeah we are, but because you know, as much as
someone says, I'm closing the book on hospitality in terms
of a bricks and watar restaurant. Yes, but we really
have a vision of offering. We want to start, not
a touring company, but like a where we.
Speaker 3 (40:51):
I want to have, you know, my year of a
like a little all of time. Yes, where I have
a little accommodation. So the customers come and visit us.
They've got to spend time with us as a family.
So today I prepared this pasta you want to enjoy, Yes,
sit and enjoy with us. I will cook for my
friends and.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
My friend it's funny, should say. Just reminded me of
something I did many years ago. Many years ago, I
stayed in a house in Bologna, and an old man
owned a house and I stayed upstairs and in the
morning you go downstairs. It was one of the best
experience I've ever had. Used to have the the ham
(41:33):
and he would cut them off, and then his wife
would make the breakfast and the fresh bread and coffee
was beautiful, And that's fantastic. But it's probably one of
the best experience I've had because he was, his family
was there. He talked to me about stuff, and his
(41:54):
English was pretty good. He made suggestions where to go
for dinner, go and have a look at this, et cetera.
Then that sort of makes sense to me. For you guys,
especially especially when the cost living here is so high,
your customers are changing, yes, not only like I don't
mean they're leaving, and or you've got a new complexion.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
Of people who live in the area where you are.
Pantic has changed and a lot of people planting have
got huge mortgages. Kids.
Speaker 2 (42:20):
To get in there in the first place, you have
to spend a lot of money and borrow a lot
of money. And you borrow money when he just rates
the three percent.
Speaker 1 (42:25):
Yep, exactly now its double yes.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
And these poor poor buggers like they can't. It's really
hard to survive. It is so if you, I guess
maybe I could ask you some money, because do you
feel disappointed a little bit?
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Because you love this country and you love doing what
you do.
Speaker 3 (42:45):
For Australia is a beautiful country, but it needs to understand,
like you can call me like an immigrants because at
the end of the day, we are all immigrants, but
we need to work as a family in this country.
Like I had this idea of Australians are like help
(43:06):
each other's right to build. But now I see so
much division in people. Like see people like fighting for
the same thing but with different opinions. Why you fight
for the same things, like sit on the table, talk
about it and try to find a solution instead of
(43:28):
talking to like, we need action. If you know every
action this country will go in a really bad place.
I don't like it to see Australia that way because
it's a beautiful country. Another thing in Australia which touched
me a lot, like if I want to fly from
(43:49):
Sydney to Brisbane or to Queensland, cost me the same
price to go in another country like Indonesia, philipping unbelievable.
You know how you want create tourism inside your country
if the cost of the tourism is super high, Yeah,
Like if I do a week in Australia, we want
to go south of Stralia for a week at hotel
(44:11):
you know din and out cost me just three weeks
in Italy would the fly included?
Speaker 1 (44:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (44:18):
I know it's just wrong. So when the government's you know,
sort of saying things are pretty good. You know, we're
blah blah blah. Well you must get really frustrated. You must,
So what are you talking about?
Speaker 1 (44:30):
I mean, because do you think it's a smoke screen?
Do you think it's.
Speaker 2 (44:36):
I don't know, a whole lot of bullshit And the
people are doing this on purpose to pretend that things
are better than they really are, or do or we
us three here missing something because I'm experiencing the same
thing as you're experiencing. I feel as though we've dropped
the ball. I think our hospitality in this country. Look,
there are a great hospitality place, but there's not enough.
(44:58):
The hours are not long enough, fictions are too ridiculous. Correct,
You've got to go hunt around to find somewhere to go. Yes,
to travel in this country interstate is I'm lucky.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
I do it for business.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
But if you're doing it for pleasure, you think you
seel Maybe I should drive.
Speaker 4 (45:16):
And that's also I think why we don't like people
in this country. We have customers that come up from Melbourne,
come from South Australia, et cetera, but not frequently because
they read rather go, oh, I'm going to go to
Bali actually for ten days you know, because I'm out
of it, you know, yeah, so it. I do think
there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (45:33):
Of bullshit soross their way for sure, like absolutely, But
who's responsible for it? I mean, I don't mean who's
responsible for us losing our way?
Speaker 1 (45:41):
But who has to fix it? Like I mean when
the governments same.
Speaker 2 (45:45):
Private enterproceeds to do it. But my feeling is it's
the government. It starts with a government.
Speaker 4 (45:49):
It starts with the government. But what's something I feedback
I got from that reel that we posted, which I
was not expecting would do this, to be honest, is
that all of us are feeling the same thing, and
that all of us think it comes from a government level.
But that a lot of people again, hundreds of d
ms thanking me for bringing light to it and showcasing
(46:11):
it in such a kind of I guess, brutal fashion,
just saying it for what it is, and a lot
of small businesses saying now I want to start talking
about it more. I've been sort of holding my tongue
because I'm afraid. I don't want to get too much.
Everyone's scared. I feel like we are a bit afraid
in Australia, Like look in Europe people are marching streets
and saying.
Speaker 1 (46:32):
March every week.
Speaker 4 (46:32):
Yeah, and sometimes looks sometimes just after lunch, just after lunch.
Sometimes they don't. Well most of the time it doesn't
do anything, but it shows the government, okay, you know,
whereas we like nobody.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
What it is.
Speaker 4 (46:49):
We're just too compliant. Honestly, we are complying. I think
so like we're a nanny country and nanny state where
we comply and we just go and we'll also look
the tax department, the government, the police force, all of it.
It functions because people are whipped into line. Even Simone
said that when he first arrived and he's like, my god,
(47:10):
it really works here in Italy. Not everyone's like no,
I'm going to just drive and do whatever I want,
you know, Yeah, but there's we are. We're all too
afraid that if we just step a little bit out
of line that something's going to happen, something bad will happen,
which you see it can for some people. But if
you're not breaking the law by just speaking up and
(47:30):
saying things have got to change, so.
Speaker 1 (47:33):
Maybe you've created a movement.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
Maybe Australian business owners should stand together and start.
Speaker 1 (47:38):
To speak up and be part of the movement.
Speaker 4 (47:41):
I absolutely believe. Yeah, And I said to Simon it,
I mainly did this because we already decided we're going
to close in January.
Speaker 1 (47:49):
Right.
Speaker 4 (47:49):
It's not like we did this to get some publicity
so we could maybe stay open. It's like, this is
it for us, right? But yeah, and the closure feels
like a breath. You know, you can take a breath
when you make a decision. But I said, look, if
this does anything, you know, because the next morning after
I'd posted it, it was like going crazy and I thought, oh,
I didn't realize it was going to do this. And
(48:11):
now I've realized that it's more important to try to
create that conversation in the small and medium business and
that's what I hope this is going to do. And
I'd be more than happy to do whatever it takes
to keep that going because I don't want to leave
Australia and not come back and see it thriving. You
know this. I actually had a bit of a teary
(48:31):
to Somemonita the other day because I said, I've I
used to be in the entertainment industry as well. I
was a singer and so I would sing in every
venue around Sydney seven nights a week at one point,
you know, and there was things to do, places to go.
Then you know, with the lockout laws, that's when it
kind of started. But it's just slowly gotten worse and
(48:52):
worse and worse. And it almost feels like now people
are really starting to realize. But it's been a ten
year slow decline and I think COVID helped them.
Speaker 3 (49:01):
And.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
Yeah, it helped them.
Speaker 2 (49:04):
And because that's my feeling too, I feel like I
live in a constraint environment that I can't do this.
I can't drive here, I can't park there, I can't
eat there, I can't stay there a certain time.
Speaker 1 (49:14):
You know, I feel like that My world is full
of rules.
Speaker 2 (49:16):
It is, absolutely, And I'm a boy who grew up
in the did grow up and I was in my
twenties in the eighties. Yeah, by my god, there's no rules.
You did what you want and it was unbelievab. I'm
so lucky to have lived in the eighties because today,
in the twenty twenties, it's the rules and the regulations.
Speaker 1 (49:35):
We must be one of the most regulated countries in
the world for sure. Absolutely, And you go to Europe
Italy agrees Spain free you do what you want.
Speaker 2 (49:45):
I mean, so you.
Speaker 3 (49:46):
Feel their freedom of society, you know what I mean?
Like you know, so the same and social life for you.
If you finish a nineteen thirty to work, then to work,
you want to see your friends, have like a gloss
online and talk till midnight.
Speaker 1 (50:04):
Have a break.
Speaker 4 (50:05):
Yeah you can't nowhere to go.
Speaker 3 (50:08):
There's not a place to go.
Speaker 2 (50:10):
Yeah, well that's it. I mean, unfortunately, this is this conversation.
It needs to be had. It's a bit of a downer, yeah,
and I'm sorry that it's affected you guys the way
it has. But I'm actually glad, on the other hand,
that you've raised it and that you've actually had the
gumption and the courage to actually come out publicly and
say it. And what's interesting, as you say, it's gone viral.
(50:34):
It certainly got drawn to my attention by a number
of people, which is why we invited you on and
because I think we do need to speak up. Absolutely,
small business owners in Australia need to speak up. We
are the backbone of this country. I'm seek a government
saying it when they do nothing about it, literally nothing,
But we probably have to take control of it ourselves.
Speaker 1 (50:53):
That's that's it.
Speaker 4 (50:54):
So if that's what he's referring to, well, sure we
can take control of ourselves. But I don't think we
need to be contrimmed more. I feel like we pay
the majority of our taxes in this country, the majority
of everything in this country, you know, but without us, like,
there's going to be nothing to attract people here, let
alone ourselves who are born and bred here.
Speaker 3 (51:14):
You know.
Speaker 2 (51:15):
I don't want someone like someone to go and go
by Diddley and saying oh yeah, well you know, not him,
But I'm just saying like him, saying, you know, should
I go to Australia for holidays?
Speaker 1 (51:25):
Well yeah, but there's not much to do.
Speaker 2 (51:28):
Yes, that would be the worst thing ever, Yes, because
not only will we not have many tourists, but it's
the worst thing ever for reputation.
Speaker 1 (51:36):
I don't want my country to be known like this.
Speaker 4 (51:37):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (51:38):
I'm not the son of a migrant to come to
this country who's contributed a lot to this country, and
my father and his brothers and their family contribute lot
his country, both in lots of respects, hard work, et cetera.
For people just to say, well I don't want to
go experience to strained culture because there's nothing to do.
Speaker 1 (51:55):
There's a beautiful harbor and there's an opera house.
Speaker 3 (51:59):
The thing that siddenly become like a postcard city.
Speaker 1 (52:02):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, postcard city.
Speaker 3 (52:04):
Yeah, they can take a picture and go, yes, but
you don't want that for obvious city. You want like
people say, oh, I went to Syney, is the best
place in the world.
Speaker 4 (52:12):
Yes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (52:15):
Yeah, But the tourists who arrived there, they have the
feeling it is the best place in the world. But
when they stay and start leaving and start you know, working,
they said, oh, I don't know if it's the best
seat in the world.
Speaker 2 (52:27):
Yeah, because the experience is not as good as it
might be in some small place in any other places. Will.
I think we're becoming very Americanized. I feel like that's
very American, you know, And that's the way it isn't
The politics has sort of become the politics in this
country anyways, a bit that style as well, not American
Republican style.
Speaker 1 (52:46):
But it's very about control and.
Speaker 2 (52:48):
Yes, as you said, nanny state and regulations and we
will protect you, yeah, from accidents, we will make sure
you don't sleep over and and a car won't go
past the splacier so you can't have a seat on
the on the footpath after whatever.
Speaker 4 (53:03):
But even the roads are shocking, like you drive around
at the moment I'm thinking where are we there's potholes.
Speaker 2 (53:10):
Also, like the money I pay for my registration and
every other Australian pays the registration, where's that money?
Speaker 4 (53:15):
Where's that correct?
Speaker 3 (53:17):
That's something my office experience with policy in Australia. I
was eight thirty pm. Police arrive at my restaurant. So
we receive a call for noise. So the police look
at me, look outside. We're a couple in the dark
(53:38):
with the little lights, drink it goss of wine, talking
and there was the.
Speaker 4 (53:43):
Complaint and the police were like, oh god, sorry.
Speaker 3 (53:46):
In my mind saying oh this is what I'm facing.
Speaker 1 (53:50):
Yeah, yeah, and then the police don't want to do
it either.
Speaker 3 (53:54):
No, they tell me I'm so sorry, we are sorry, but.
Speaker 2 (54:01):
You know, you know who's the one who The police
are reacting to some regulations that have been put in
place by the politicians who sit in Parliament who.
Speaker 1 (54:09):
Haven't got a clue absolutely never run a business.
Speaker 2 (54:12):
They're like, no, never, I got the New South Wales
State treasure Daniel Mookie coming in today and Daniel, what
one thing would you like me to say to Daniel
Murky because he's just released his budget. He's not a
bad guy, Daniel, by the way. But then they are
trying to promote Australia or Sydney, at least New South
Wales and Sydney as a destination. And this is called destination.
Speaker 1 (54:34):
Practical advice.
Speaker 3 (54:35):
Okay, if you, if you create policies right for his business,
get professionals professional of that business to help you to
run the right policies or the right.
Speaker 1 (54:48):
Non public service. No not, some of your creators never
run a business.
Speaker 4 (54:52):
Come to our level and go to our level.
Speaker 3 (54:55):
And we find the better solution for everyone.
Speaker 2 (54:58):
Absolutely, And so when they hold these summits, they should
invite people from industry, correct represented and lots of.
Speaker 4 (55:08):
Them, lots of them like a group.
Speaker 2 (55:10):
Yeah, totally absolutely, instead of they're all sort of talking around,
having a little talk fest amongst themselves, yes, and nothing
being resolved.
Speaker 4 (55:20):
Nothing being resolved.
Speaker 3 (55:21):
You know, we as a business, as a people have
seen there of Australia. We want action, we want results.
We don't want words words, has gone to the hair. Yeah,
action stay there and become history. Absolutely, that's what we want.
Speaker 4 (55:37):
And we wouldn't be closing our doors like our vision
was to open multiple venues. You know, but you can't.
When you're not you can't move forward. It feels like
you're sort of in this stagnant state. So come to
us so we can all sit around and have a
conversation to ensure that we don't get to a place
where everything dies.
Speaker 2 (55:57):
Maybe we'll have a new rule called someone is well,
they should talk to you some money and Isabelle, thanks
very much for coming in.
Speaker 1 (56:08):
And by the way, most more importantly, thanks for courage.
Speaker 2 (56:11):
Oh, thank you, because you know these things are pretty daunting.
Speaker 1 (56:15):
Yes, and it doesn't just mean you.
Speaker 2 (56:18):
Put out a post and it goes viral and you
get responses, You get people looking at it, you get
people judging you, you get nervous, you worry, and you're
going to have and and to be honest with you,
guys are going to be lost.
Speaker 1 (56:31):
We're going to lose two great hospitality people. So appreciate
it what you've done and enjoy enjoy your next chapter.
Speaker 4 (56:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (56:38):
Thank The book was closed but not finished exactly finish
another chapter coming.
Speaker 4 (56:45):
Guys, thank you.
Speaker 6 (57:00):
Do do do do do
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