What do you do and how did you get into the industry?
I’m a Restaurateur, Chef & Designer. I started at age 13 washing dishes.
Share with us an interesting story from behind the scenes.
The ever evolving Hospitality scene is forever changing so you need to stay on point with your teams and clients. Every day I manage five kitchens, 80 chefs, new projects, architects, designers and marketing people. I spend a heap of time looking after myself in a healthy way to transcend the best energy to my teams so they can pass it on. Our venues run on positive energy from our teams so that’s how we start every day. With a positive healthy mindset.
What’s the best/ worst part of your job?
Best part is watching our teams grow and clients rewarded as well by their growth with exceptional experiences. The worst is that I love food and need to have restraint when I eat in our venues every night.
What’s your favourite meal/ drink in Seminyak Italian Food, Robert Marchetti The Plantation Grill and Double-Six Rooftop?
Hard as it depends on my mood and the night. Probably a three week dry aged T-bone cut to order in the Plantation Grill. Followed by a house made gelato from Seminyak Italian food and a barrel aged Negroni on the Double-Six Rooftop.
What’s one of the craziest things you’ve seen behind the scenes?
Once, when I was working in a large organisation, there was someone who was sneaking into the resort and pretending that they were staff in the kitchen. He worked for free for a month to get experience and no one noticed until… they applied for a role. He got hired and became a great chef!
The perfect day would be…
… seeing smiles on our teams’ faces, clients happy and a big bowl of Tiramisu.
A day in the life of a restaurateur is…
… challenging, long, physically tough and one of the most amazing experiences to connect with people.
What do you do for fun?
Travel with my partner and do anything I have not done before remove myself from my comfort zone.
What’s something you’d like guests to know about Seminyak Italian Food, Robert Marchetti The Plantation Grill and Double-Six Rooftop?
That I have designed every square inch of these venues from the food, architecture, music, wine to the graphics, with an awesome team that inspires us to do better.
What’s your favourite food and wine pairing?
I never pair food and wine and follow no trends. If I love a bottle of great 68 Bordeaux and feel like fish I do it. It’s a personal choice.
What’s your view on the food and luxury travel scene in Bali?
World class service, food and wine. Architecturally one of the best designer islands on the planet and the Indonesian people are awesome.
What’s in store for you in the upcoming months?
December we party at Double-six and celebrate with live music, food and friends and then rock on to our famous New Years Day party.
Then we start work on our new red sauce American eatery opening soon in Seminyak. Think country music, Italian American-food and bocce loads of fun.
Great interview, Monica! Thank you so much for sharing.
I echo LInda comment.
Coffee is on
Great interview, very interesting 🙂