Melbourne restaurateurs redefine their venues

Melbourne restaurateurs are looking to flip the script and stave off closures caused by current economic pressures.

After one too many closures this year due to tight margins and cost of living pressures, these entrepreneurs are looking at different, less expensive ways to attract customers.

Vegan restaurant Smith & Daughters owner and chef Shannon Martinez told Good Food that the restaurant was once constantly fully booked.

“Then we were getting 30 people on a Friday night, and they were spending half [what they used to]. They would get one drink, not a bottle. And I get it. Everything’s so expensive ... I haven’t paid myself a wage since JobKeeper.”

Martinez introduced pasta night, a much cheaper option than the $95-a-head set menu and transformed the Collingwood venue into Smith + Daughters Social Club – a more casual environment featuring dishes such as  plant-based corn dogs and sauerkraut dim sims.
 
 “The energy has been like a different world ... And we realised it wasn’t the restaurant’s fault at all. It was just the price point.”

Chef Peter Roddy made a similar play, turning his French bistro Noir, into the laidback Pastarami.

The once-event restaurant is now more suited to the walk-in crowd on Richmond’s Swan Street.

 “We had great regulars, but [they would come] every three months,” Roddy told Good Food. 

The less formal menu now has dishes starting at $20 and the restaurant is turning over tables more regularly.

Chef Aaron Turner opened a northern-Thai barbecue joint Songbird after closing two-hatted Geelong fine diner Igni.

“When a restaurant slows down from a run to a walk, [staff] see the writing on the wall, and they start to leave,” Turner told Good Food. “That’s skilled labour we can’t replace.”

The closure gave Turner time to think.

“I was tied to the kitchen 50 hours a week. A small restaurant, a small team, working with small producers ... it takes every single minute of your existence.”

Songbird opened in January with a more flexible, a la carte menu and colourful surrounds and while business has been slow during winter, Turner is confident things will turn around.

“What I keep telling everyone is that we’re still here, so we must be doing something right.”

Realising that her South Melbourne restaurant James wasn’t a long-term play, restaurateur Kirbie Tate is closing James and opening all-day, affordable European bistro Kirbie in September.

Jonathan Jackson, 19^th August 2024