Make Restaurants Profitable

Episodios

• He's Spent 41 Years in Hospitality. Here's What Simon Sandall Wishes Every Owner Knew. 08.07.2026 54m

  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 Ex...
• Inside One of the World's Best Bars: How Stefano Catino Builds World-Class Hospitality 01.07.2026 56m

  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 B...
• Burnout, Modernising the Family Business & Scared to Raise Prices (Q&A Special) 24.06.2026 22m

  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 ...
• Wage Hike Confirmed, Payday Super Looms & Trust Tax Changes: What's Coming for Hospo | June Hospo Update 15.06.2026 21m

  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 e...
• "I Wouldn't Open a Burger Shop Today": James Hurlston on 11 Years Running Melbourne's Most Iconic Burger Joint 10.06.2026 55m

  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 ...
• He Has 8 Locations & 1000+ Staff: How Rob Comiskey Runs Australia's Most Iconic Pub Empire 03.06.2026 50m

  Rob Comiskey runs one of the biggest hospitality groups in Australia. 8 venues. 1,000+ staff. And another 6-7 venues under construction, including a $250 million expansion at Sandstone Point that will bring the area's first 5-star resort. The Comiskey Group's portfolio reads like a who's who of iconic Queensland venues — Eatons Hill Hotel (where Prince, Ice Cube and Post Malone have all played), Sandstone Point Hotel, the BIG4 holiday resort that's the highest selling in Australia, plus the D...
• He Runs His Café From 1,700km Away: Cam Henderson on Building The Winey Cow 27.05.2026 52m

  Cam Henderson and his wife Jill opened The Winey Cow in Mornington, Victoria in 2014. For nearly a decade it became one of the Mornington Peninsula's most loved cafés — Cafe of the Year, Best Breakfast Restaurant Victoria, the lot. Then COVID happened. Three years of opening, closing, opening, closing. By the end of it, Cam was mentally beat up. So he turned to Jill and said: "I think we need to move." Two weeks of quarantine in Cairns later, they landed on the Gold Coast — into a house the...
• Food Truck Trouble, Empty Sports Bars & Teams That Don't Care (Q&A Special) 20.05.2026 14m

  You asked. Tim answered. Four real owners. Four totally different problems. And the kind of straight-up answers that come from someone who's worked with over 2,000 venues across the world. In this Q&A special, Tim breaks down what's actually broken — and exactly what to do about it. This episode covers: 00:00 – How do you build consistent revenue when your fixed location is unpredictable? 05:00 – How do you manage labour cost during quiet periods without gutting service? 09:00 – What do y...
• Federal Budget, Surcharge Ban Update & Wage Rises Ahead: What's Coming for Hospo | May Hospo Update 18.05.2026 21m

  The federal budget just dropped. The surcharge ban is creeping closer. And the next round of wage rises is about to land. 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 just happened, what's coming, and what you need to be doing about it right now. It's the most direct conversation we've had yet. If you're already break-even, you need to hear this. You'll hear:...
• You Don't Own Your Business. The Community Does: Rabih Yanni on 33 Years in Hospitality 13.05.2026 54m

  Rabih Yanni has spent 33 years in hospitality. Nine venues across nine different postcodes. Currently runs Botanical Hotel in South Yarra — the iconic Melbourne pub he's brought back to life since 2019. Founded South Yarra Deli during COVID and took it national. He's the kind of operator who can walk into a venue, look around, and tell you in five minutes what's broken and how to fix it. But the line that stopped Tim in this conversation was this: "You never own a business. The community d...
• Fried Chicken, Champagne and Wu-Tang: How Julian Cincotta Built Sydney's Most Unique Restaurant 06.05.2026 48m

  Julian Cincotta grew up cooking at his family's café in Western Sydney. He went on to train under Neil Perry at Rockpool, won Young Chef of the Year, staged at some of the best restaurants in the world — and then opened a fried chicken and champagne bar in Surry Hills with a sneaker wall and a Wu-Tang soundtrack. Two weeks after they opened, Wu-Tang Clan walked in. That was ten years ago. In this episode, Julian sits down with Tim to talk through the whole decade — the concept nobody believed...
• From Food Truck to Full Restaurant: The Kings of the Wings Share 13 Years of Hard Lessons 29.04.2026 47m

  Dylan and Katrina started King of the Wings from a little food trailer in 2013. They were among the first food trucks doing wings in Australia. No blueprint. No safety net. Just a gap in the market and a bet on themselves. Thirteen years later they're running a restaurant, a food truck, popups and an interstate operation. But the road there was anything but straight. A collab that went sideways on opening day. A food court concept that COVID killed two weeks in. A Commonwealth Games that turn...
• The Man Behind Brisbane's Best Bars on What It Actually Takes to Build Them with Martin Lange 22.04.2026 1h 2m

  Martin Lange has opened eight bars in Brisbane since 2006. He currently runs four. Takes three and a half months off a year. And has trained bartenders now working in some of the best bars in Paris and London. He didn't do it by cutting corners or chasing trends. He did it by committing to a 10-year minimum on every lease, never taking over another venue's location, spending hundreds of thousands on R&D, and building a team culture so strong that the staff who leave for bigger money keep ...
• How John Rivera Built His Dream Restaurant Without Sacrificing Time With His Kids 15.04.2026 48m

  John Rivera spent his twenties in fine dining kitchens. Working every Saturday. Missing birthdays. Missing weddings. Then he opened his own restaurant — and found himself video-calling his kids from the pass just to see them awake. Something had to change. In this episode, John — chef and owner of Ascal Restaurant, Inman bar, and Filipino gelato concept Carton — talks about the decision that shifted everything. The boundaries he set, the systems he built, and how he went from working every da...
• Pricing Problems, Lazy Staff & Delivery Apps Killing Profit (Q&A Special) 08.04.2026 23m

  You asked. Tim answered. In this Q&A special, four real owners share the exact problems keeping them up at night — and Tim gets into the specifics of each one. No fluff. No theory. Just honest, practical answers to the questions most hospo owners are too afraid to say out loud. This episode covers: 00:00 – Is handmade baking even financially viable anymore or should I just switch to frozen? 07:00 – Standards are slipping. How do I fix it without becoming the boss everyone hates?...
• Surcharges Banned, Junior Rates Scrapped & Wages Rising Again: What's Coming for Hospo | April Hospo Update 07.04.2026 24m

  On the 31st of March, two major blows landed on the hospitality industry. And most owners didn't see them coming. In this month's industry update, Tim sits down with Wes Lambert — CEO of ARCA and the man in Parliament having these conversations on behalf of every café and restaurant owner in Australia — to break down exactly what's changed, what's coming, and what you need to do about it right now . This isn't doom and gloom for the sake of it. It's the information you need to make the righ...
• Fired, Broke & Starting Again: How Tony Kelly Rebuilt from Scratch 02.04.2026 1h 6m

  Tony Kelly had multiple restaurants across three states. Then one day, he walked into work and was handed a letter. He was out. In this episode, Tony breaks down the real story behind the comeback — the mistakes, the systems, the partnership lessons, the financial discipline, and the mindset shift that changed everything. If you’ve ever felt stretched, betrayed, burnt out, or one bad month away from disaster… This one will hit home. You’ll hear: 00:00 – The day Tony got forced out of his ...
• From Single Mum to 140 Staff: How Jenna Sanders Built Kenilworth Bakery 02.04.2026 56m

  Jenna Sanders was 21 years old, a single mum with two kids… And decided to buy a bakery. No systems. No tech. No real plan. Just grit, fresh product, and a vision to turn a small country bakery into a destination people would drive hours for. Fast forward 10 years: 4 locations. 140 staff. Thousands of donuts sold every single day. And one viral moment that changed everything. In this episode, Jenna breaks down the real story behind Kenilworth Bakery. From $500 days and handwritten notebooks…...
• Restaurants Closing, Supply Chain Disruptions & Rising Costs: What's Coming for Hospo | March Update 02.04.2026 17m

  Welcome back to our monthly Hospitality Industry Update, where Tim sits down with Wes Lambert from ARCA to break down what’s happening behind the scenes in Canberra — and what it means for restaurant, cafe and bar owners across Australia. In this March update, we unpack the latest economic and industry developments impacting hospitality right now — including the growing number of venue closures, global supply chain disruptions, rising operating costs, and the upcoming Payday Super changes hi...
• He Closed His Restaurant After 10 Years: How to Know It’s Time with Peter Gunn 02.04.2026 1h 4m

  After 10 years running one of Melbourne’s most respected restaurants, Peter Gunn made a decision most owners struggle to make: He closed it. Not because the restaurant failed. Not because the food wasn’t good enough. Not because the guests stopped coming. But because deep down... he knew it was time. In this episode, Peter shares the full story behind Ides — from starting as a monthly popup, to building a decade-long restaurant brand, to the moment he realised the business he built was no ...