Episode Details

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.