Story by Cara Devine. Cara is our Melbourne-based drinks writer. She is the manager of Bomba in Melbourne and the face and talent behind the cocktailing youtube channel Behind the Bar. You can email her at behindthebarchannel@gmail.com
More than once in the past few years Freddie Mercury’s voice has swirled quietly around my head. Is this real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality. While it would be easy to blame a brief tenure at rock and roll bar Heartbreaker for this phenomenon, I surely can’t be the only person in the hospitality industry who has felt helpless. So as we (hopefully) stagger off this nightmare ride into the brighter days of 2022 and beyond, let’s take stock.
“There was, and is, a fear that the pandemic would pick off the weakest of the pack – small, independently owned passion projects – leaving our cities wastelands of large corporate chains. While there have undoubtedly been some casualties, there are also plenty of success stories.” – Cara Devine
The Covid-19 pandemic did not break hospitality, that much is clear. We are battered and bruised, but every time restrictions eased our cafés, bars and restaurants filled back up again (to a responsible density level, of course). There is something about the hospitality experience that just cannot be replicated at home – it could be as simple as not having to do your own dishes, but I believe it runs deeper than that. Not all venues are thriving, but those that are have one thing in common: a soul. There was, and is, a fear that the pandemic would pick off the weakest of the pack – small, independently owned passion projects – leaving our cities wastelands of large corporate chains. While there have undoubtedly been some casualties, there are also plenty of success stories.
Hope St Radio Wine Bar opened in 2021 and has gone from strength to strength. It is part of the vibrant arts community hosted by Collingwood Yards in Melbourne. As the name suggests, the previously nomadic Hope St Radio station broadcasts from here, and the venue serves up a laid back menu using seasonal ingredients accompanied by minimal intervention wines and a side of artistic inspiration. Co owner Pete Baxter explains, ‘from the beginning the [radio] station has tried to provide a fun, safe and accessible space where anyone can feel a part of it, and I think we have managed to take that spirit into our space. I would like to think that has played a part in the support we had over the last year.’ This sense of belonging to, almost ownership of, a venue is important to people, who like to support their local.
A genuine and warm connection and sense of community goes a long way, but it’s not always enough. There are plenty of ‘for lease’ signs around these days – I counted four on a short stroll down previously bustling Lygon Street the other day. Far be it from me to comment on individual circumstances but there is a general feeling of exhaustion amongst operators; the uncertainty of the last few years could easily have sucked the resilience of small business owners to the usual challenges of the restaurant trade and made closing the doors the easier choice.
Even businesses with no intention of going anywhere have had to rethink things. Brunswick Street institution The Black Pearl’s 3am licence is legendary – it’s not nicknamed The Black Hole for nothing! However, the ongoing staffing crisis and changed trading conditions (owner Tash Conte notes that with curfews in force, day drinking became more prevalent) made the seven day, late night business model untenable. ‘We moved to reduce our hours of trade with a roster built around our team first and foremost. We weren’t going to sacrifice our team’s wellbeing for trading extra days, and secondly the late night calling had shifted.’ While Conte acknowledges the positives of the pandemic years – being forced to look more deeply at your business and expanding on opportunities previously hidden – she is also realistic about the toll, saying ‘I believe there is still a long road ahead to recovery, especially for established business. They will never get back what they lost financially and team wise. The loss is too great.’ So the big question: will the Pearl ever return to 3am trading every night? Most certainly, says Conte, but it’s a matter of one day at a time. She will continue to put her staff first.
“I believe there is still a long road ahead to recovery, especially for established business. They will never get back what they lost financially and team wise. The loss is too great.” – Tash Conte, Black Pearl
Which leads us to one of the foundational cracks exposed by the pandemic: working conditions in hospitality are not easy. This won’t be news to most reading this article, but for a lot of us the lockdowns afforded perhaps the first chance in years to evaluate. Long hours, physically and emotionally demanding work, patchy pay… It’s not difficult to see why there was an exodus of seasoned hospitality professionals, and those that have stayed are more aware of their worth and what they will tolerate. Wages have been pushed upwards with remuneration being linked to experience more so than previously, when even skilled labour was seen as easily replaceable. I am optimistic that this mentality will stick, and if I have to pay a couple of extra dollars on my bill for the privilege of being served by passionate professionals then it’s a trade off I, and hopefully the vast majority of guests, are willing to make.
Mentorship from such old hands will be invaluable moving forward. A new generation of ‘green’ staff is sprouting – newbies who would have previously been polishing glasses for two years before picking up a shaker tin are suddenly being flung into the cocktail station on a Friday night when someone calls in sick or has to isolate. Initiatives like the Campari Academy, which pivoted entirely online during lockdowns, will continue incorporating a virtual element to their training programme – while IRL learning and the networking element is always fun, the online aspect has allowed those outside of the metropolitan centres or with less flexible schedules (students, for example) access to high level bartending knowledge on their own terms.
Management are also looking for high quality but easy options to smooth service – like Homegrown, from hospo solutions powerhouse Worksmith, their new foray into bottled cocktails. As Oska Whitehart of Worksmith says, “we know from our own experience of running venues how painful it is to batch cocktails onsite, and we wanted to create a scalable solution, without the crazy staffing costs.”
Batching takes a lot of time and research, especially when it comes to incorporating carbonation. “We have created the cocktail range with the legends behind Fancy Free (Ryan Noreiks, Matt Stirling, Rob Libecans) and Nick Tesar (Marionette, Bar Liberty) so that any venue can serve world class pre batched cocktails, at volume, without the hassle.” Why not take advantage of these guys’ expertise, while looking after your bottom line?
A spotlight has also been shone on mental health within the industry in the last few years. David Spargo, founder of Mind and Strength Support (MASS) believes that prior to Covid-19, the hospitality industry has had its own mental health pandemic for years but “Covid-19 has made workplace wellbeing an unavoidable conversation”. High rates of stress and depression coupled with negative coping strategies create a perfect storm. This is exacerbated by the lack of specific and localised educational resources and training available for small to medium sized business operators. He aims to provide the tools for managers and venue owners to properly support their staff through his Beyond the Bar mental health first aid training courses (amongst other resources), noting “right now is the exact moment operators should be completing this training, as staff are feeling the pressure of current demands [understaffing and financial pressure] and are at risk of psychological injury within the workplace.” The fundamental aim is fostering longevity within a notoriously transient industry which is a win-win for staff, owners and guests alike.
“I believe a lot of the leadership teams in the industry set aside their rivalries and came together, during some really challenging times for students and the international [hospo] community… now, we’ve all been through too much collectively to look the other way if we see extortion, negligence and predatory behaviour.” – Dean Jarvis, online admin of Melbourne Bartender Exchange
A wholesale industry adoption of such thinking is necessary for real change. Dean Jarvis, administrator of online hospitality community behemoth the Melbourne Bartender Exchange (MBE) says of the pandemic response “I believe a lot of the leadership teams in the industry set aside their rivalries and came together, during some really challenging times for students and the international [hospo] community… now, we’ve all been through too much collectively to look the other way if we see extortion, negligence and predatory behaviour.”
Having actively lobbied federal and state politicians about the challenges facing our industry to no response, he is taking matters into his own hands to affect what change he can, from ensuring that all jobs advertised on the MBE meet minimum wage requirements, to negotiating upskilling opportunities via Registered Training Organisations and collaborating on a mental health support initiative. Long story short, says Dean, “the leaders that have emerged during this ‘wartime effort’ all want to leave the industry in a better position than we found it.”
Often the darkest days precede the times of greatest growth – we just need to use this time to ensure our foundations are deeply rooted in community and wellbeing, and the cracks which have been exposed are properly addressed and not papered over. During lockdown (when we were offering delivery boxes) I received a photo from a couple. They had set up their living room with an image of Bomba projected onto the wall because they missed the dine-in experience so much. I cried. The Australian public have been stalwart in support of their locals through the last few years – we owe it to them, and ourselves, to remember what is so great about what we do and equip ourselves with the tools necessary to forge an even greater future for this industry we love.