BusinessManagementEducationHow To

Make Restaurants Profitable

Foodie Coaches

1 in 4 restaurants ran at a loss last year.And if you’re honest?You’ve probably felt just one bad month away from being part of that stat.I’ve recorded a few episodes for this podcast now and after speaking with some of the best restaurant owners in Australia … nearly every single one of them has been through the same stuff that you’re facing right now.Whether it's finding staff, 80 hour weeks, rising supplier costs, struggling to balance family, no money left to pay yourself, fires, floods … you name it - the guests I’ve spoken to have seen it all.Some of them are now industry leaders and experts, with successful restaurants, franchises, turning over millions in revenue, and even stocking their products in supermarketsThis podcast is about what really made the difference.The stuff no one talks about.The mindset shifts, the messy moments, and the moves that actually worked.So if you’re: Sick of grinding with nothing to show for it Ready to finally pay yourself properly Wanting a business that runs without you there 24/7Then this is for you.Every week, we’ll break down how to make restaurants profitable againNot just with theory, but real strategies that are working right now.If you need help right now head over to foodiecoaches.com and book a call with our team otherwise hit follow or subscribe wherever you’re tuning in and I’ll see you every WednesdayCheck out the behind the scenes over at @foodie_coaches and @tim.kummerfeld

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Monday · 1 hr 4 min
Why Beautiful Restaurants Go Broke (And Ugly Ones Thrive): With Gerrick Numan from Restaurant Design Academy
How to design a restaurant that actually makes money is a question most owners never ask until it's too late. For restaurant owners, café owners, and anyone in a hospitality business, the design of your space either sets you up for profit or quietly drags you under. Gerrick Numan has been involved in 500+ venue designs through his studio Millé, owned four of his own venues, and now runs Restaurant Design Academy, teaching hospo owners to take control of the process themselves. He's seen it both ways. The stunning fit-out sitting empty while a dingy bar next door is packed and pumping. The two-million-dollar build doing twenty grand a week in sales. A beautiful space that takes fifteen years to pay off and needs renovating in six. Gerrick's point is simple and uncomfortable. Winning a design award means nothing. What matters is whether the space is comfortable to be in, whether it grabs attention from the street, and whether it's laid out to make money instead of forcing an extra two staff on every shift. This one will have you auditing your own venue by the end. Because most of the fixes cost a few hundred dollars, not a few hundred thousand. Key takeaways: Get clear on who you are and who you're for before you touch a single material. Great street presence can pull in 5 to 15 more people a day without a full renovation. Product and experience come first. A phenomenal fit-out won't save bad food. Design is a financial decision, not a decorating one. Ready to build a restaurant that makes money and runs without you? Book a Profit Finding Session: https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Check our Restaurant Design Academy: https://www.restaurantdesignacademy.com/ Follow Gerrick: @restaurantdesignacademy Follow Foodie Coaches: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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September 23 · 14 min
How to budget your build so the business actually makes money - with Gerrick Numan
If your restaurant build costs $1 million, Gerrick Numan believes the venue should be capable of doing around $2 million a year in turnover. Otherwise, the fitout can take too long to pay itself back. Book a Gameplan Session → https://foodiecoaches.co/yt-bac In this episode, Gerrick breaks down how to budget a restaurant build without spending money customers will never notice. You’ll learn how to think about fitout spend versus expected revenue, where hidden build costs usually appear, and why taking over an existing hospitality site can dramatically reduce setup costs. You’ll also learn how to get most of the visual result for a fraction of the cost through smarter materials, simpler finishes and better design decisions. And Gerrick explains how working with the right contractor early can help keep the build on budget and avoid expensive variations halfway through the project. If you’re opening a new venue or planning a refit, this is how to make sure the build works financially before you start spending. Book a Gameplan Session → https://foodiecoaches.co/yt-bac 00:00 Intro 00:23 ROI and Build Costs 01:11 Hidden Expenses and Site Selection 04:18 Smart Design and Cost-Saving Tips 08:45 Working with Contractors and Tendering 12:04 Startup Chaos and Mental Toll #restaurantdesign #restaurantfitout #restaurantowner #hospitalitybusiness #restaurantprofitability #GerrickNuman #TimKummerfeld
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September 21 · 12 min
Layout, seating, lighting: How your venue design impacts efficiency and sales (with Gerrick Numan)
Your venue layout doesn’t just affect how the space looks. It affects how fast your team can work, how many customers you can serve, and how much revenue the room can generate. Book a Discovery Call → https://www.foodiecoaches.com/bac In this conversation with Gerrick Numan, he breaks down how venue design impacts the numbers behind the business. You’ll learn how better kitchen and bar layouts can reduce unnecessary labour and speed up service. You’ll learn how seating mix and flexibility can help you fit more customers in without wasting valuable seats. And you’ll learn how lighting, music, acoustics and temperature shape the experience customers have without them consciously realising it. If your venue is busy but still feels inefficient, the problem might be built into the space itself. Book a Discovery Call → https://www.foodiecoaches.com/bac 00:00 Intro 00:23 Designing Kitchens With 3D Software 02:29 Optimizing Seating And Layout 04:31 Operational Flow And Internal Space 07:08 Flexible Seating And Group Sizes 11:18 Atmosphere, Lighting, Music And Acoustics Check out Restaurant Design Academy: https://www.restaurantdesignacademy.com/ Follow Foodie Coaches https://www.instagram.com/foodie_coaches/ Follow Tim Kummerfeld: https://www.instagram.com/tim.kummerfeld/ New episodes every Wednesday. #restaurant #hospitality #restaurantdesign #restaurantowner #venuedesign
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September 16 · 8 min
Everything Wrong With Your Restaurant Design: With Gerrick Numan
Gerrick Numan has designed more than 500 hospitality venues, and his biggest lesson is simple: a beautiful fit out means nothing if the business can’t pay for it. Book a Discovery Call → https://www.foodiecoaches.com/bac In this episode, Gerrick breaks down how to design a venue that looks good, feels right, and still makes commercial sense. You’ll learn why product comes before design, how to improve street presence, and how your layout affects the guest experience from the moment someone walks in. If you’re opening, renovating, or rethinking your venue, this is how to avoid spending big on a space that doesn’t perform. Book a Discovery Call → https://www.foodiecoaches.com/bac 00:00 Why beautiful venues can still fail 00:42 Gerrick’s journey into hospitality design 01:23 Lessons from 500+ venue designs 02:26 Turning your brand into a physical space 03:25 Street presence vs destination venues 04:09 Why product comes before design 05:29 Lighting, branding and visibility 06:24 Designing the first guest interaction 07:53 Fixing confusing customer flow 08:47 Your next step Check out Restaurant Design Academy: https://www.restaurantdesignacademy.com/ Follow Foodie Coaches https://www.instagram.com/foodie_coaches/ Follow Tim Kummerfeld: https://www.instagram.com/tim.kummerfeld/ New episodes every Wednesday. #restaurant #hospitality #restaurantdesign #restaurantowner #cafeowner
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September 8 · 1 hr
The Bookkeeping Habit That Fixes A Struggling Restaurant: With Kylie Patch
How to run a profitable restaurant starts with knowing your real numbers. For restaurant owners, café owners, and anyone in a hospitality business, weekly bookkeeping is the difference between guessing and knowing. Kylie Patch runs the bookkeeping division at FC Accounting Co, and she's built the reporting rhythm that gives hospo owners accurate numbers every single week. Most owners are making decisions from numbers that are flat-out wrong. Bank accounts that aren't reconciled. Expenses landing in the wrong week. A P&L pulled on the wrong basis that tells a story that isn't true. Kylie has seen it hundreds of times across the 75 businesses her team services. And she's watched what happens when an owner finally sees their real position for the first time. One client cried happy tears when the report went up on screen, because she could finally see where she actually stood. This one is about confidence. The kind that comes from trusting your numbers enough to act on them. You'll hear: → Why your numbers are almost certainly wrong (and the reconciliation habit that fixes it) → Cash vs accrual explained in plain English, and why it changes everything you see → The weekly reporting rhythm that makes accurate numbers possible → Kylie's honest take on POS systems and what actually integrates well → The real return on outsourcing your bookkeeping, in time and in decisions Key takeaways: If you don't like numbers, don't do your own books. Stick to your genius. Numbers with your feelings beats feelings alone, every time. A reconciled bank account is the difference between real numbers and fiction. Accurate weekly reporting buys back roughly a day a week for owners already doing the work. Ready to get clear on your numbers and build a restaurant that runs without you? Book a Profit Finding Session: https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Foodie Coaches: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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September 1 · 1 hr 7 min
How They Built A Coffee Brand From A Garage To 120 Cafés: With Richard Corney and Nick Clark from Flight Coffee
How to scale a coffee business is one of the hardest questions in hospitality, and few have done it like Flight Coffee. For café owners, roasters, and anyone in a hospitality business, this is a real look at what it takes to grow a brand from a home garage to national distribution. Richard Corney and Nick Clark co-founded Flight Coffee in a garage in Napier back in 2009, and today they supply around 120 cafés across New Zealand plus a growing retail and ready-to-drink range. The story is anything but smooth. A roaster crammed into the middle of a café because there was nowhere else to put it. Six months building out an old car park on the smell of an oily rag. Outgrowing the space before they'd even finished it. Taking on investment in 2018 so the business could grow without their houses on the line. Along the way they learned what actually drives growth. Nick winning the 2013 NZ Barista Championship. Roastery tours that turned into brand goodwill with international guests. Deliberate decisions to diversify products and channels as a new generation of coffee drinkers arrived. If you make coffee, sell coffee, or dream of building a brand that scales beyond your four walls, this one is for you. You'll hear: → How Flight went from a garage roaster to supplying 120 cafés → Why putting a roaster inside your café looks great but doesn't scale → How competition wins and roastery tours built the brand → Why they took on investment, and what it freed up → Diversifying products and channels for the next generation of coffee drinker Key takeaways: Growth is hard and growth is expensive. Plan the facilities to grow with production. A great story and brand goodwill can do more than any ad spend. Taking on the right investment can grow the business without risking your home. The coffee drinker is changing. Meet them with new products and channels. Ready to build a hospitality business that makes money and runs without you? Book a Profit Finding Session: https://foodiecoaches.co/fc-bac-yt Follow Flight Coffee: @flightcoffee Follow Foodie Coaches: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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August 26 · 1 hr 1 min
How Cooking Classes and Micro-Influencers Built This Top 50 Texas BBQ Restaurant
How to use cooking classes, micro-influencers and founder-led content to build a restaurant people fly across the world to visit. The exact marketing strategy Cooper Abercrombie used to turn Bar-A-BBQ from a tent pop-up into a 2025 Texas Monthly Top 50 restaurant — with a line out the door six days a week and customers flying in from Australia and beyond. Cooper Abercrombie was a sales manager in Texas. Seven years ago he bought a smoker, made "awful, awful, awful" brisket, and refused to be bad at it. Today Bar-A-BBQ in Montgomery, Texas is one of the most talked-about barbecue restaurants in America — 2025 Texas Monthly Top 50, ranked #6 on the 2026 Texas Barbecue Top 50, doing $60,000+ weeks out of a 1,400 sq ft ex-vegan sandwich shop, with a line out the door six days a week and about to move to a building five times the size. None of it was luck. In this episode, Cooper sits down with Tim to break down the exact marketing playbook. Why he treated social media as a craft to master (not an afterthought). The 90-day posting rule that separates the operators who get traction from the ones who stay invisible. Why micro-influencers outperform big ones — and generated two viral videos that took him from $25K to $60K weeks in seven days. How his BBQ classes became both a revenue stream AND his best marketing channel — every attendee becomes an ambassador for life. And why teaching people exactly how to make his product (the thing every operator is scared to do) built the fanatic customer base that keeps them coming back. If you're a restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner who says "I'm too busy for marketing" — this is the episode that changes how you think about it. You'll hear: 00:00 – From "awful brisket" to Texas Monthly Top 50 in seven years 02:00 – Working 48 hours a week for free to learn from the best pitmaster in Texas 06:00 – Why ego is the #1 reason most owners never level up 10:30 – Social media as a craft: why Cooper spent as much time learning it as smoking brisket 14:00 – The YouTube channel: 63K subscribers driving 10-20% of daily foot traffic 17:00 – Why teaching customers exactly how to make his product built his fanatic base 21:00 – The 90-day rule: post every day at 9am for 90 days and watch what happens 25:30 – The two viral videos that took Bar-A-BBQ from $25K to $60K weeks in seven days 30:00 – Micro-influencers vs mega ones: why the small ones actually convert 36:00 – Turning cooking classes into a marketing engine (and a real revenue stream) 42:00 – The "fanatic" customer: how to build one person who brings you 50 more 46:00 – What Cooper would tell every restaurant owner terrified of the camera Key takeaways: Marketing is not the afterthought. It's the multiplier that makes your great product actually visible. Post every day for 90 days at the same time. Just do it. Watch what happens. Micro-influencers convert better than mega-influencers — every time, for restaurants. Teaching people how to make your product doesn't cost you customers. It creates ambassadors. Cooking classes are the ultimate marketing engine. Attendees become your biggest promoters — and pay you for the privilege. One viral video from a small creator can change your business in seven days. Getting someone to your restaurant once is easy. Getting them back five times is the whole game. The best marketing tool you have is founder-led content. Turn the camera on and start. If you want to build a hospitality business people cross the world to visit, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Cooper and Bar-A-BBQ: @barabbq @cooperabercrombie YouTube: Bar-A-BBQ Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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August 18 · 52 min
He Makes the Australia's Best Pizza: Lucio De Falco on 17 Years of Building Lucio Pizzeria
How Lucio De Falco built Sydney's most iconic Neapolitan pizzeria from scratch — and the lessons every restaurant owner, café owner or pizza maker needs to hear about consistency, quality and running a hospitality business that lasts. From a 14-year-old kid washing dishes in Naples to one of the best pizza chefs in the world. Lucio De Falco started washing dishes at his aunt and uncle's pizzeria in Naples when he was 14. By the time he was 21, he was in Sydney — recruited to help launch the first Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Australia at a time when nobody here knew what that meant. Four years later, he opened his own. Lucio Pizzeria Darlinghurst, 2008. Within the first year it had been voted Sydney's best pizza by The Sydney Morning Herald, Time Out and The Good Food Guide — back when reviewers showed up unannounced and you didn't know they'd been there until the article ran. Today Lucio Pizzeria has three venues — Darlinghurst, Zetland and Bar Lucio in Kensington — and Lucio is Vice President of AVPN Australasia (the official body for true Neapolitan pizza), an international judge, and the man behind one of only a handful of AVPN-accredited pizzerias in the country. In 2018 he competed at the Campionato Mondiale Della Pizza in Parma against 750 pizzaioli from 44 nations and came home with Best Pizza in Australia and 5th in the world. In this episode, Lucio sits down with Tim to talk through 17 years of running his own pizzeria — the obsessive focus on dough fermentation, the difference between being a great chef and a great operator, why most owners burn out chasing the wrong things, and the one thing he says separates the standout operators from everyone else. It's a conversation about craft, consistency and what it actually takes to make food that's worth coming back for. You'll hear: 00:00 – Washing dishes in Naples at 14 — how it all began 01:40 – Coming to Sydney at 21 to launch the first Neapolitan pizza in Australia 02:20 – Opening Lucio Pizzeria Darlinghurst at 25 — and winning Sydney's best pizza in year one 05:00 – Why fermentation, ingredients and craft are the difference between great pizza and average pizza 06:00 – The difference between being a great chef and being a great operator 07:20 – The numbers most chefs avoid until it's too late 10:00 – Why profit margins are getting tighter (and what the best operators are doing about it) 11:30 – Why you have to watch your business from up high, not from inside the kitchen 14:00 – Burnout: how to spot it before it costs you everything 45:00 – Why staff happiness is the most important thing you can build 46:30 – "It's hard to gain a customer. It's easy to lose one." 48:30 – Why your customer experience matters more than your marketing 49:00 – His advice to anyone thinking about opening a pizzeria right now Key takeaways: Pizza is art, but pizza is also business. Master both, or you'll burn out. The fermentation, the dough, the ingredients — there are no shortcuts. Consistency is the brand. A great chef and a great operator are two different people. The best owners are both — and they know it takes years. Watch your business from up high. The minute you're stuck inside it, you stop being able to lead it. It takes years to gain a regular customer. It takes a fraction of a second to lose them. If you're thinking about opening a pizzeria right now, do your homework first. Don't let your ego make the decision for you. One in three hospitality businesses is either breaking even or losing money. Know your numbers before you sign anything. If you want to build a hospitality business with the kind of consistency and craft that lasts 17+ years, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Lucio and Lucio Pizzeria: @luciopizzeria @lucio.defalco Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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August 17 · 21 min
Michelin Comes to Australia, Surcharge Ban Deadline & Rate Rise Warning: What's Coming for Hospo | August Hospo Update
Michelin is coming to Australia, the surcharge ban deadline is 30 September, and another rate rise is likely before Christmas. Here's what every Australian restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner needs to know this month — and what to do about it before the next round of change hits. The industry has been handed some broken eggs. But as Wes puts it — we're much better at making omelets than letting our eggs go bad. In this month's industry update, Tim sits down with Wes Lambert — CEO of ARCA and the man in Parliament advocating for the entire hospitality industry — to break down the four things that will define fiscal '27 for every operator in the country. The good news first: Payday super has landed and, for most operators, it's been smoother than expected. Michelin Guide is officially coming to South Australia in October — with the rest of Australia to follow — and food tourism is expected to boom in 2027 as a result. The bad news: the surcharge ban lands 1 October and you have to be ready by midnight 30 September, junior rates are officially banned in franchise businesses, another rate rise is likely in November, migration is tightening, and trust tax changes are almost certainly passing Parliament. The takeaway: this is a rebuilding year. The operators who thrive will be the ones planning for what's coming, not reacting to it. You'll hear: 00:00 – ARCA Gala Dinner + Fine Foods on 31 August in Melbourne 02:00 – Payday super update: how it's actually gone (better than expected) 03:00 – Surcharge ban 1 October: what you need to do before 30 September midnight 04:00 – BankTech ATMs and CTPOS: the countertop cash solution for the ban 05:30 – Why "we'll drop our merchant fee" from PSPs isn't the whole story 06:30 – Rate rise expected in November — before Christmas 07:00 – Junior rates officially banned in franchise: what it means for pricing 07:30 – The split in the industry: experience operators vs everyone else 09:00 – Michelin Guide coming to South Australia in October 09:30 – AI adoption: why the government is investing (and why you should too) 11:00 – Two Australias: renters vs boomers — how to price for both markets 13:00 – The "half a percenters" — telling the story of your produce 14:00 – Migration tightening in fiscal '27 (and the premium dining labor agreement) 17:30 – This is a rebuilding year. Here's how to eat the elephant. Key takeaways: Michelin coming to Australia is genuine good news — food tourism is expected to boom in 2027. Get your venue ready. You have until 30 September midnight to sort your PSP and menu pricing before the surcharge ban lands. If a PSP tells you they'll "drop the merchant fee," ask what you'll be paying instead. It's rarely nothing. Another rate rise is likely in November. If you're signing equipment leases or variable-rate debt now, price it in. Menu prices need to be up 10% across calendar '26 into '27. If you haven't done it yet, do it before October. Experience is the split. The operators pumping out great social media and hospitality experiences are having record months. The ones who aren't are stuck. You're not going to change the government. Plan for what's coming and turn every threat into an opportunity. The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. FREE RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE 🎟️ ARCA Gala Dinner + Fine Foods — 31 August, Lakeside Pavilion, Melbourne. Book tickets: https://arca.org.au/events/ 📅 Foodie Coaches Profit Day at Fine Foods — spend a whole day with Tim and the team working on your business: https://foodiecoaches.co/FineFoodxFoodieCoaches 🏛️ Join ARCA — $52/year. The people in Parliament fighting for your industry need your support: arca.org.au 🤖 AI Implementation Call with Foodie Coaches — if you want help implementing AI in your business, book a call with the team: https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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August 11 · 47 min
80% of Restaurant Owners Have This Finance Problem: Here's What They Can Do About It
How to handle restaurant debt, ATO debt, and small business tax problems the legal way — and why every hospitality operator, restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner in Australia needs to hear this conversation. The Small Business Restructure (SBR) framework, explained. In this episode, Tim sits down with Jono Patch — head of Restaurant Revive (Foodie Coaches' debt restructuring arm) — to talk about the elephant in every hospitality boardroom. Why owners end up in tax debt. Why the shame keeps them stuck. And the exact legal framework — a Small Business Restructure (SBR) — that can wipe most of the debt and let the business trade on. Jono's been through it personally. Understands exactly how it feels. And explains it in language every operator can follow. If you've got a five, six or seven-figure tax debt and you haven't been able to bring yourself to talk about it — this is the conversation to start with. You'll hear: 00:00 – The three symptoms that lead to ATO debt in a restaurant 02:00 – Why bookkeeping neglect is symptom #1 04:00 – Why failed expansion is symptom #2 05:30 – Why the head-in-the-sand mindset is the killer 07:00 – The shame around ATO debt in Australia (and why nobody talks about it) 10:00 – What "pre-insolvency" actually means (in plain English) 14:00 – The Small Business Restructure (SBR) framework, explained 16:00 – Real numbers: what a $500K debt looks like inside an SBR 18:30 – The 3-week voting period and how the ATO actually approves it 22:00 – Trading during and after an SBR — what changes and what doesn't 24:00 – When an SBR is NOT the right option (and what to do instead) 26:00 – Great revenue, bloated cost structure: the pattern Jono sees every week 28:00 – The mental health cost of carrying debt in silence Key takeaways: 80-90% of small businesses have ATO debt at some point. You are not alone. You are not a failure. The head-in-the-sand mindset is the single most expensive one in hospitality. Time is your greatest asset when you have debt. The longer you leave it, the fewer options you have. The Small Business Restructure (SBR) is a legal, legit framework that has been designed for exactly this situation. Your accountant might be doing a great job on your tax lodgements — but that doesn't mean they're the right person to fix a debt crisis. Great revenue isn't the answer to a bad cost structure. Fix the cost structure and the tax debt stops growing. Ask for help. It's not weakness. It's a step operators take when they're serious about saving their business — and their mental health. 🔧 Restaurant Revive — debt restructure and pre-insolvency specialists (Jono personally takes the call, not a sales rep): https://foodiecoaches.co/restaurant-revive-yt 📞 Book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team — if you want expert eyes on the numbers and structure behind the debt: https://foodiecoaches.co/fc-bac-yt Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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August 4 · 1 hr 3 min
How a Third-Generation Restaurant Owner Almost Killed His First Restaurant and Turned It All Around
How a third-generation Italian restaurant owner nearly killed his first restaurant — and the mistake every new restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner makes when they try to copy a concept that worked elsewhere. The lesson Matteo Galletto learned the hard way after 75 years of family hospitality. Matteo Galletto grew up around restaurants on two continents. His grandparents started a family restaurant in Liguria, Italy in the 1950s — the business that pulled the family out of post-war poverty. His father Lucio brought a sliver of that experience to Sydney in 1977 and opened Lucio's in Paddington in 1983 — one of the most iconic Italian restaurants in Sydney for 40 years. Matteo went the other way. Went to university. Studied commerce. Did everything his dad spent a fortune making sure he could do. Then he came back to restaurants anyway. His first solo attempt in Sydney failed. Not because the food was bad. Because he'd been insulated from the backend his entire life — his parents kept all the hard stuff to themselves — so when he opened his own doors he discovered that "looking after the customers is the easy part" and "making sure you can open the doors at 12 o'clock is the hard part." He went back to work with his dad. Then years later he moved to Noosa to open Lucio's Marina in Tewantin — and almost made the exact same mistake again. Same concept that worked in Sydney's east. Different town. Different demographic. Wrong fit. In this episode, Matteo sits down with Tim to talk about the lesson it took two restaurants and 75 years of family hospitality to teach him: a great concept in the wrong place is still a bad business. It's the conversation every operator opening, expanding or relocating needs to hear. You'll hear: 00:00 – Three generations across two countries — the family that started it all in 1950s Italy 03:30 – Lucio's Paddington: 40 years as one of Sydney's most iconic Italian restaurants 05:20 – Why his dad spent a fortune trying to keep him out of restaurants 05:50 – The first solo restaurant — and why it failed 06:30 – "Looking after the customers is the easy part. Opening the doors is the hard part." 08:00 – Why hospitality isn't as fun as it used to be (and what's changed) 10:00 – Coming back to work with his dad and modernising the business 14:00 – Moving to Noosa and the second mistake he almost made 18:00 – Right concept, wrong town: the lesson every operator learns the hard way 22:00 – What 75 years of family restaurants actually teaches you about longevity Key takeaways: The hardest part of hospitality isn't the food or the service. It's the backend you've never been taught. A concept that works in one suburb won't automatically work in another. The market is the variable, not the recipe. Three generations of family wisdom doesn't make you immune to making the same mistakes everyone else makes. Being insulated from the hard stuff as a child means learning all of it as an adult — fast. Modern hospitality requires working harder to deliver the same sense of hospitality the old generation had as standard. Every great family restaurant has had to evolve. The ones that stay the same close. If you're opening or relocating a venue and want to make sure the concept matches the market, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Matteo and Lucio's Marina: @luciosmarina Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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July 28 · 48 min
Brisbane's Biggest Hospitality Group Founder Talks the Real Cost of Scaling to 12 Restaurants: Meet Michel Tassis
How to scale a hospitality business from one restaurant to twelve, how to build systems that let you run 750 staff across every cuisine imaginable, and the mindset shifts every restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner has to make to break through the multi-venue ceiling. Michael Tassis of the Tassis Group on 16 years of building Brisbane's biggest independent hospitality group. Michael Tassis started with one seafood restaurant in Brisbane in 2010. 16 years later, the Tassis Group runs 12 restaurants, employs 750 staff, and covers Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, Asian, seafood, steakhouse and modern Australian — with more venues opening at The Star Brisbane and the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge. He grew up in his family's iconic Sydney seafood restaurant George's Paragon. Broke away in 2010. Opened his own George's Paragon at Eagle Street Pier and spent two hard years grinding to break through. Once he did, he was running the busiest restaurant in Brisbane doing 5,000+ customers a week with over 100 staff. Then he did what most owners can't — went from one venue to two, from two to three, then kept going. In this episode, Michael sits down with Tim to break down the exact playbook. How he learned the back-office side after a career on the floor and in the kitchen. Why he refuses to carbon-copy the same concept. How his brother Peter runs the internal broker for every new site. The systems and internal contracts that let him hand every hiring decision back to venue GMs. And why the multi-venue ceiling isn't a marketing problem — it's a systems and trust problem. This is one of the most operationally generous conversations we've had on the show. You'll hear: 00:00 – From one restaurant to 12 in 16 years — the whole journey 02:00 – Growing up in George's Paragon and breaking away from the family 04:00 – Two years grinding to break through Eagle Street Pier 06:00 – Massimo: the second venue that took off from day one 08:00 – The biggest jump: going from one to two, and what changed 10:00 – Rico's: sharing staff between venues and the efficiency multiplier 12:00 – Going from three to four: trusting the team more, coaching the culture 16:00 – The 30 franchise stores that funded his group's growth 18:00 – Why he refuses to do the same cuisine twice 22:00 – How his brother Peter runs the internal broker for every new site 28:00 – Internal contracts: staff on 6 months of a new concept "before it opens" 33:00 – The hardest hire in the group and how they solved it 38:00 – Handing every hire back to venue GMs — and why it changed everything 42:00 – The culture ethos: how to build a place people fight to work at 46:00 – Michael's advice for anyone stuck at 2-3 venues Key takeaways: Going from one to two isn't about opening another venue. It's about learning the back office you never had to know. The three-venue ceiling isn't a marketing problem. It's a systems and trust problem. The best operators refuse to carbon-copy their own success. Every venue needs its own concept. Share staff across venues. It doubles their utility and halves the labour headache. Every hiring decision should live with the venue that has to work with the person. GMs blame themselves after that, not you. Great people follow great people. Culture attracts culture. Your first management hire sets the tone for the next 10 years. Systems + numbers = scale. Without either, you'll stall at three venues forever. If you're stuck at your first, second or third venue and you want to know how to break through, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Michael and the Tassis Group: @tassisgroup Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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July 21 · 55 min
He Sold Most of His Restaurants and Says It Was the Best Decision He Ever Made
How to scale down a hospitality business without losing what you built, why doing less can make you more profitable, and the lessons every restaurant owner, bar owner and café owner needs to hear about growth. For anyone running a venue (or thinking about opening one) who thinks bigger is always better. Scott Imlach moved from Queenstown, New Zealand to London in 1994 — and ended up running 48 venues across the UK as Operations Manager of the Outback Inn Group. He's been on the Gold Coast for 20 years. At one point he was running 11-12 venues at once. Today he runs three — Bine in Nobby Beach, Hideaway in Broadbeach, and Precinct Brewing in Miami. And he says it was the best decision he ever made. In this episode, Scott sits down with Tim to break down everything he's learned over two decades of building, opening, selling and scaling hospitality businesses on the Gold Coast. He's famously never bought an existing business — he takes over closed venues and rebuilds them. He does the numbers before he even visits the site. He campaigned to legislate the Small Bar Licence on the Gold Coast. And he had his second kid at 50, which forced him to confront the cost of carrying everything alone. This is the conversation for anyone who's chasing growth without asking what it's actually costing them. You'll hear: 00:00 – From 11 venues down to 3 — and why life got better 01:30 – Why kids at 50 forced the slowdown 01:40 – Why Scott rebuilds closed venues instead of buying running ones 04:50 – How to walk a site (and the second visit that saved him from a bad lease) 06:20 – Why location is community, not foot traffic 07:40 – How community-building beats marketing every time 09:00 – The contrarian rule: do the numbers before you visit the site 11:30 – The break-even point conversation every owner needs to have 12:00 – Why the 30/30/30 rule is dead 13:30 – How your fit-out determines your labour cost 14:30 – When architects and designers ruin a venue Key takeaways: The number of venues you run isn't the measure of success. The life you build alongside them is. Never buy a running restaurant. Take over a closed one. You'll save hundreds of thousands. Do the numbers before you visit the site. If they don't stack up, the location doesn't matter. Your break-even point is the single most important number in your business. If you don't know it, you're not ready. The 30/30/30 rule (food/labour/overheads) is dead. Every venue runs different numbers because every venue is different. Your fit-out determines your labour cost more than any roster ever will. Community beats marketing. Get involved. Sponsor the local team. Be the face. Show up. If you're carrying too much and wondering whether you should scale back to scale up — book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Scott's venues: @binebeerbar @hideawaykitchenandbar @precinctbrewing Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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July 20 · 25 min
Cash Comes Back, Tourism Rebounds & the Acquisition Market Heats Up: What's Coming for Hospo | July Hospo Update
Cash is back, tourism is rebounding and the hospitality acquisition market is heating up. Here's what's coming for hospo this month — for restaurant owners, café owners and bar owners across Australia trying to stay ahead of the changes. Three big things landed on hospitality this month — and for once, most of them are good news. In this month's industry update, Tim sits down with Wes Lambert — CEO of ARCA and the man in Parliament advocating for every café and restaurant in Australia — to break down what's happening now, what's coming next, and what you need to be doing about it before the next round of change hits. Payday super is live and running smoothly. Tourism is rebounding, with record weeks reported by operators from Toowoomba to Cairns to Sydney. The surcharge ban is landing 1 October, and the RBA is encouraging cash discounts — which means ATMs may be making a comeback. CGT and negative gearing laws have passed Parliament. Trust tax changes are looming. And the acquisition market is red hot — great news whether you're looking to buy or sell. Plus AI. If you're not using it in your business yet, you're leaving money on the table. You'll hear: 00:00 – Payday super update: no major issues so far 02:00 – Tourism is rebounding — record weeks across the country 03:00 – Cash is back: the RBA's push for cash discounts before the surcharge ban 05:00 – Why the Telstra outage proved you need alternatives to card payments 07:00 – The 10% price increase you'll need across 2026 09:30 – CGT and negative gearing laws have passed — what it means for your business 11:30 – Trust tax changes: why you need advice now, not later 14:00 – Consumer spending, interest rates and the road to 2027 15:30 – The acquisition market is red hot — buy or sell opportunities everywhere 17:00 – When it's time to restructure or exit — and why that's not failure 19:00 – The AI revolution — what every hospitality business should be adopting now LINKS FROM THE EPISODE Join ARCA: arca.org.au GSE Business Brokers: https://www.gsehospitalitybrokers.com.au/ Restaurant Revive: https://www.restaurantrevive.com/home Book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team: https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld
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July 14 · 41 min
He Was Ready to Sell. Now He's at 267% Profit Growth: Brad Fitzgibbons on Saving His Own Pub
Brad Fitzgibbons is the fourth generation of Fitzgibbons in the family pub trade. His parents handed him and his sister Anita the keys to Fitzy's Toowoomba — a 25-year-old iconic Queensland venue with restaurants, bars, gaming and retail across one massive site. By late 2021 he was running the whole thing into the ground. Trading was a mess. He was pouring drinks behind the bar to save $30 an hour. He'd hidden the numbers from his own team for so long that when his hotel manager finally found out, he said, "Boss, I didn't realise. We could have helped." His relationship with his head chef had broken down to the point where they were passing each other in the hallway without speaking. And his plan was to sell the business, exit, and walk away. He called Foodie Coaches looking for someone to save him. Three years later, Fitzy's is 267% more profitable. He projects 400% by end of financial year. He's barely on the roster anymore. And his entire core team — including the chef he wasn't speaking to — is still standing beside him. In this episode, Brad sits down with Tim to talk through the turnaround in his own words. The mindset, the team, the spreadsheets, the gym at 4:30am, and the brutal honesty about how he himself was the biggest problem. This one is for anyone reading the numbers at midnight and wondering if they should just sell. You'll hear: 00:00 – Generational pub: taking over from Mum and Dad 03:00 – Where Brad was when he first called Foodie Coaches 05:00 – 267% profit growth — and the call that was meant to be an exit plan 08:00 – Why his entire core team stayed through the turnaround 11:00 – The chef relationship that had completely broken down 13:00 – How working on himself changed everything in the business 21:00 – Diversification, bottleshops and the next chapters at Fitzy's Key takeaways: No one is coming to save you. The first move has to be yours. Hiding the numbers from your team is hiding the problem from the people best placed to fix it You can't lead a business out of duress if you're not leading yourself out of duress first The team you have right now may be more capable of the turnaround than you think Spreadsheets aren't boring once Monday is the day you find out you made money If you're reading the numbers at midnight and wondering whether to sell, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Brad and Fitzy's: @fitzystoowoomba Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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July 7 · 54 min
He's Spent 41 Years in Hospitality. Here's What Simon Sandall Wishes Every Owner Knew.
How to last 41 years in hospitality, build a career across the world's most iconic restaurants, and learn the lessons every restaurant owner wishes they'd been told earlier. Simon Sandall on consistency, ownership, hospitality and the standards that built one of Australia's most respected culinary careers. Simon Sandall came to Australia from Rugby, UK, 31 years ago for a six-month working holiday. He never went home. For 41 years he's been in hospitality. 17 of those as Matt Moran's Group Executive Chef — running Aria Sydney, Aria Brisbane, Chiswick, Chiswick at the Gallery, Opera Bar, North Bondi Fish, River Bar and Aria Catering. 21 New Year's Eves at the Sydney Opera House. Hat-rated kitchens, three-figure covers a night, every level of the industry. Then he walked away to build his own. His restaurant Boronia Kitchen in Hunters Hill. A catering company. A consultancy. And a quieter, deeper relationship with the craft. In this episode, Simon sits down with Tim and gives away the kind of hard-won wisdom you usually only get from someone who's done four decades at the top. Consistency. Ownership. Standards. Vulnerability as leadership. And why — after losing 20% of his pancreas, 9 years sober, and one year off the cigarettes — he believes the only thing that matters in hospitality is how you make people feel. This is one of the most generous masterclasses on hospitality longevity we've ever recorded. You'll hear: 00:00 – Rugby to Sydney via Sweden, Boston and Paris 06:00 – 17 years as Matt Moran's right-hand man 14:00 – Why losing a chef's hat became one of the best things that ever happened 22:00 – Consistency: the biggest killer in hospitality (and the one thing he wishes more owners protected) 30:00 – The night he signed the Boronia Kitchen lease from intensive care 38:00 – Tell people you love them — and why that's a leadership skill, not a soft one 46:00 – How to walk into someone else's business and actually help them 54:00 – The standards that separate the operators who last from the ones who burn out 1:02:00 – What 41 years in hospitality taught him about himself Key takeaways: Take ownership of everything that happens in your business — the good, the bad, and the ugly. The owners who last are the ones who don't pass the blame. Consistency is the biggest killer in hospitality. The dish that's incredible on Friday and average on Tuesday loses you the customer. Hospitality is a feeling. People don't go back for the coffee. They go back for how you made them feel. Tell the people around you that you love them. It costs nothing and changes everything. Standards aren't a culture statement. They're a personal discipline that everyone else takes their cue from. You don't need to be the loudest in the kitchen to be the most respected. Quiet authority, built on craft, lasts the longest. If you're building a hospitality career — or running a venue and wondering how to make it last — book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Simon and Boronia Kitchen: @simonsandall @boroniakitchen Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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June 30 · 56 min
Inside One of the World's Best Bars: How Stefano Catino Builds World-Class Hospitality
How to build world-class hospitality, train a restaurant or bar team that wins awards, and run a hospitality business that gets onto The World's 50 Best Bars list. If you're a restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner who wants to understand what separates the best in the world from everyone else — this is the episode. Maybe Sammy isn't just one of the best bars in Sydney. It's one of the best bars on the planet. Seven years running on The World's 50 Best Bars list. Five-time winner of Best Bar in Australasia. The inaugural winner of the Michter's Art of Hospitality Award — a category that exists solely to recognise the world's single greatest service experience. In this episode, co-founder Stefano Catino sits down with Tim to talk about how he and business partner Vince Lombardo actually built Maybe Sammy — plus Maybe Frank (their pizzeria), El Primo Sanchez (tequila bar in Surry Hills), the Maybe Sammy Cocktail bottled cocktail company (now on Qantas flights), and consultancy work with Dina Group and Accor Hotels. Stefano grew up in a small touristy town in Cinque Terre, north Italy. He treats his team like a football squad. He refuses to sit down in his own bar. And he says hospitality isn't a word — it's the centre of everything he does. This is one of the most generous masterclasses on hospitality culture and team-building we've ever recorded. You'll hear: 00:00 – Three venues, a cocktail company, and a Maybe Group empire 03:00 – How Stefano and Vince split roles to run multiple venues without burning out 06:00 – Why he treats his team like a football team — players, coaches, fans, the lot 09:00 – The two-way trial: "I want to see if I like you. I also want to see if you like me." 15:00 – Why he'll never sit down in his own venue 22:00 – The hospitality philosophy that won the Michter's Art of Hospitality Award 30:00 – Working with hotel groups: why most hotels under five stars get F&B completely wrong 40:00 – The cocktail bottle business: making world-class cocktails accessible at home and in pubs 48:00 – Building Maybe Sammy in the middle of a quiet Sydney street — and why location wasn't the issue Key takeaways: Hospitality isn't a word. It's everything you think about from the moment you wake up to the moment you finish your shift. Lead by example so hard your team can't stand to disappoint you. A two-way trial protects your culture better than any HR process. If they don't like you and your team, they're gone — fast. Your venue is a football team. Owners, coaches, players, fans. Every role matters. Every role needs care. Integrity is easy to say. It's hard to do. The bars that win awards are the ones that do it every day. The fancy stuff (cocktails, design, theatre) gets the press. The hospitality is what gets people back. If you want to build a hospitality business with culture this strong, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow Stefano and the Maybe Group: @maybesammy @maybefrank @elprimosanchez_ Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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June 23 · 22 min
Burnout, Modernising the Family Business & Scared to Raise Prices (Q&A Special)
How to handle restaurant owner burnout, modernise a family restaurant business without losing what made it special, and raise your prices when you're scared people won't pay them. Four real restaurant owners. Four totally different problems. Honest answers, fast. You asked. Tim answered. In this Q&A special, four owners from around the world wrote in with the kind of problems that don't show up on the P&L — but quietly eat away at the business and the operator behind it. If you've ever told yourself the numbers are "fine" while privately falling out of love with the business — this one's for you. This episode covers: 00:00 – Is this a sell-it moment or a take-a-holiday moment? 06:30 – Am I being precious about tradition, or is she onto something? 13:30 – At what point is this a training problem vs the wrong staff? 18:00 – I freeze every time I think about raising prices. How do I change what people think my bread is worth? Key takeaways: "Fine" is the most dangerous word in hospitality. It's the trap that keeps owners stuck in jobs they used to love. You can't grow a tired version of yourself. Reset the operator before you reset the business. Modernising a family restaurant is not abandoning tradition. Standing still is what kills tradition. Most COGS problems aren't staff problems or cost problems — they're culture problems People buy your story before they buy your product. Educate the market before you change the price tag. Don't discount yourself. Lift the perception of what you're worth. If you've got a question you want Tim to answer on the show, write in and we'll pick the best ones. If you're "fine" but ready to be better than fine, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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June 14 · 21 min
Wage Hike Confirmed, Payday Super Looms & Trust Tax Changes: What's Coming for Hospo | June Hospo Update
What's coming for hospo in June: the 4.75% award wage hike confirmed, payday super landing on 1 July, and the looming trust tax changes that could double-tax small business owners. If you're a restaurant owner, café owner or bar owner in Australia, here's exactly what's coming and what to do about it. Three things landed on hospitality this month, and all three need action. In this month's industry update, Tim sits down with Wes Lambert — CEO of ARCA and the man in Parliament advocating for every café and restaurant in Australia — to break down the confirmed 4.75% award wage rise (third-largest since the GFC), the payday super deadline on 1 July, and the trust tax changes that could quietly cost small business owners a fortune in fiscal 27. Plus the small business CGT carve-out (good news, for once), where the surcharge ban stands as it approaches end of year, and what's happening with the phase-out of junior rates. If you haven't lifted your prices yet this year, this is your last warning. You'll hear: 00:00 – The 4.75% award wage hike: confirmed, predicted months ago 03:00 – What this means for your roster, your rates, and your menu prices 05:00 – Payday super lands 1 July: what changes and how to prepare 08:00 – Trust tax changes: the looming threat most owners don't know about 12:00 – The small business CGT carve-out — and why it might actually be good news 14:00 – Where the surcharge ban stands as we head into October 16:00 – End of junior rates: timeline update 18:00 – EOFY compliance: single-use plastics, seafood labelling, payday super 20:00 – What every operator needs to do this month Key takeaways: Award wages confirmed up 4.75% from 1 July. If you haven't raised your menu prices by at least that much, you're absorbing the hit yourself. Payday super starts 1 July — every pay run now triggers a super payment. Cash flow planning starts now. Trust tax changes proposed for fiscal 27 could result in double taxation for small business owners running through trust structures. Talk to your accountant now. Not acting is a decision — and right now it's the most expensive one you can make. ARCA is your voice in Parliament. The more members they have, the louder it gets. Checkout the Payday Super Webinar Replay: https://learn.foodiecoaches.com.au/payday-super-replay Join our Foundation Programs: https://foundations.foodiecoaches.com.au/programs If you're not on top of your pricing, your labour costs and your margins right now, book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Join ARCA at arca.org.au The people advocating for your industry need your support. Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New updates every month
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June 9 · 55 min
"I Wouldn't Open a Burger Shop Today": James Hurlston on 11 Years Running Melbourne's Most Iconic Burger Joint
James "Jimmy" Hurlston was studying intellectual property law when he decided he'd had enough. So he quit, ate over 800 burgers in a year, wrote The Burger Book, and three years later opened Easey's — the now-iconic Collingwood burger joint with a train carriage on the roof, graffiti walls, and a rotating cast of Melbourne's hospitality and street art scene. Eleven years on, Easey's is still standing. But James says he wouldn't open a burger shop today. In this episode, he sits down with Tim to talk about how Easey's actually survived, the failed Sydney expansion that nearly broke him, the ego he had to lose to grow, and why the train carriage on the roof has been both his biggest strength and his most expensive lease. He's also brutally honest about what he got wrong, why the next venue wouldn't be in Victoria or Sydney, and the one achievement he's most proud of after 11 years. This is the kind of conversation you only get from someone who's been in the trenches long enough to tell the truth. You'll hear: 00:00 – From law school to 800 burgers a year 08:30 – How Easey's actually survived the early years 14:30 – The Sydney expansion that failed (and the ego that caused it) 30:00 – Why he wouldn't open a burger shop today 50:00 – Building a community in burgers and what 11 years has really taught him Key takeaways: Passion is the only thing that gets you through 11 years in hospo — every operator who opened a burger shop chasing the trend is gone A unique venue can hide a lot of mistakes early on — but it also locks you into a rent you can't escape from Expansion needs full control of the venue. Sub-letting your brand into someone else's pub is a fast way to lose it. Once you upset the locals in a tight community, you can't come back. Doesn't matter what your product is. Your greatest achievement as an owner isn't your venues. It's the team members who go on to open their own. If you're serious about building a hospo business that lasts — without burning yourself out chasing a trend — book a free Profit Finding Session with the Foodie Coaches team at https://discover.foodiecoaches.com/bac Follow James and Easey's: @jimmysburgers @easeysburgers Follow along: @foodie_coaches @tim.kummerfeld New episodes every Wednesday.
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