Hospitality consulting & recruitment
Brand, money, location, space, menu, supply, systems, people. Most operators nail three or four and bleed in the rest. We find the leaks, fix what matters first, and build a venue that runs without running you.
Fully credited toward your next step · Virtual-first, Australia-wide
The framework
It's how we look at any venue — café, restaurant, bar or group. Each ingredient gets checked. Nothing gets guessed.
Why guests choose you over the place next door — and why they come back. Your story, your look, your reputation online and in the room. Get it right and you stop competing on price alone.
The numbers that quietly decide everything: margins, pricing, labour and food cost, break-even. We make them visible so you're running the venue on facts, not gut feel and guesswork.
The site, the catchment and the lease you can actually live with. Whether you're choosing a new spot or making sense of the one you're in, location quietly sets the ceiling on everything else.
A floor and kitchen that work as hard as you do. How the room flows, where the bottlenecks hide, and how many covers you can turn before the wheels start to come off.
Smaller, sharper and more profitable. Complexity kills margins and burns out your kitchen — so we cut the dishes that don't earn their place and double down on the ones that do.
Suppliers, stock and waste under control, not the other way around. Better buying, tighter par levels and a lot less money quietly going in the bin at the end of each week.
The rosters, POS, prep lists and processes that keep the place running even when you're not standing in it. If it only works because you remember it, it isn't a system yet.
The right team, hired well and kept longer. Training, clear structure and a culture people don't want to leave — because turnover is one of the most expensive problems in hospitality.
How it works
A structured diagnostic of your venue across all eight ingredients. One clear report, priorities ranked, no fluff.
Eight weeks fixing what moves profit and takes pressure off you and your team.
Ongoing advisory for operators who want a partner in the business — not a report left on the shelf.
Recruitment
Hospitality recruitment usually solves this week's problem and creates next quarter's — a fast hire that doesn't quite fit, gone again in three months. Ours is retention-first. We screen every candidate against the way your venue actually runs — your systems, your pace, your culture — not just what's on the CV, so the people we place are still with you next quarter.
Three ways we help you hire
One key role, filled end to end. From commis and kitchen hand through to head chef, venue manager and senior leadership. Best when you've got a single gap that's costing you.
Opening or scaling fast? We build a whole brigade or floor team to your timeline, screened to work together from day one — not a scramble of one-off hires.
Ongoing recruitment for groups and multi-venue operators. A retained pipeline of pre-screened people, so you're never starting from zero when someone moves on.
Worth your time
The shows and the newsletter we make for operators — all approved by Samy, our sandwich. We're aware a hospitality advisory probably shouldn't have a mascot. We have one anyway.
Podcast
Your under-10-minute Monday hit of hospitality insight, made for owners and operators who don't have time to sit through an hour-long show. Each week: one trend to watch, one tool to test, one real operator move, and one smart question for your team.
Listen →Podcast
The podcast that gets to the heart of what makes a venue work. Each episode breaks down one essential ingredient — from brand and fitout to team culture and menu design — through real conversations with operators, makers and thinkers across the industry.
Watch →Newsletter · Fortnightly
Honest, practical takes on running a venue, pressed into one email every fortnight. Quick to read and no filler — just the thinking and the moves worth your time.
Subscribe →Start here
One diagnostic, all eight ingredients, a clear picture of what to fix first. The $750 is fully credited toward whatever you do next.
Prefer to ask a question first? Send it through the form — or email us at Connect@openpantryco.com.