There are a few reasons why Ainslie Smith loves having a career in hospitality, but most of all it’s her passion for people. We caught up with Ainslie to find out what makes working at The Albert Park Hotel special, and about her trip to Townsville to celebrate her win in Morris Hospitality’s Summer Stars program.
I’ve just recently celebrated my two-year anniversary working at The Albert Park Hotel (APH). I started off as a runner but moved into the role of section waiter pretty soon after. I also jump behind the bar from time to time – I will say I do pour a mean pot of CBCo.
I’ve worked in and out of hospitality since I was 14. My first job was at Subway, but since then I worked in London at an old workman’s pub. I’m originally from Perth and before moving to Melbourne I managed a café, worked in a food truck serving acai bowls, was a barista, and then moved into training people to be baristas. I’m an actor and screenwriter by training, so hospitality is great inspiration for characters!
The thing I love about working in hospitality is being able to interact with all different kinds of people. I love having a chat with everyone, hearing people’s stories, and just general chats about their days. It’s so fun. I’ve made really great friends with some of our guests which is such a reward. It gives me a great opportunity to work on my improv and comedy chops, and an excellent excuse to chat about food and wine all day.
It’s a pretty special team at APH. Knowing I get to work with some of my favourite people every day, is just the best thing. I also can’t go past our regulars: the banter, life chats, and just general warmth these people show are what make APH so special. It’s not every venue where you can go from in-depth footy chats with the old boys, to life chats with the book ladies, and finish off the day with a good celeb gossip sesh with the gals. I also love a really busy service on the pass. I feel like I’m in my own personal episode of The Bear.
Spring racing season is always fun at APH. I have zero idea about who is going to win anything, but it’s always fun to see the people post races come in all dressed up. Grand Prix weekend is also something I really look forward to – the venue really comes alive.
I was pretty overwhelmed to win the Summer Stars competition to be honest. I’m still not convinced I did anything other-worldly to deserve it. The prize trip to Townsville was incredible: a hidden gem. Ardo itself is so stunning, and I could happily continue spending my days by the pool with a book in one hand and a strawberry daquiri in the other. The food on offer was next level! Dancing the night away at the (Townsville nightclub and institution) Mad Cow with one of my closest friends Maddy was chef’s kiss good.
I’m so grateful for the recognition of my work, and that of the team around me. I’m not an island, so the award also just demonstrates how hard the entire team at APH works. It does make me feel proud to know that me just being myself and treating people the way I’d want to be treated is award worthy.
Goals wise, I just want to continue getting better, and just keep doing what I’m doing. I will happily take any new opportunity that comes my way, as long as I can keep the guests laughing and smiling, that’s the goal!
If there’s one place in the world that’s perfectly placed for researching the Great Barrier Reef, it’s Orpheus Island.
We meet some of the PhD students from James Cook University’s Orpheus Island Research Station (OIRS) to find out more about their research projects and how they’re helping to protect the future of our iconic reef and its inhabitants with support from Morris Family Foundation.
Growing up as an adventurous and outdoorsy child, I was always fascinated with wildlife and ecology. When I learned to scuba dive as an early teen, I became passionate about the ocean and developed an interest in sharks.
I started out as a volunteer for a shark research team, and as I gained experience and learned more, I realised I had too many unanswered questions about the movement patterns of the sharks we were working on. My volunteer supervisor, who is now my research supervisor, guided me in designing my study to answer some of these questions.
Apex shark populations are declining globally, so understanding their habitat use and movement can help us manage their populations, as well as guide efforts to minimize negative human and shark interactions.
My research aims to answer some big questions about habitat use for juvenile shark pups. Specifically, I’m trying to define where shark pups live during the early years of their lives, and if these habitats are different to the ones used by adults.
Some shark species use ‘nursery habitats’, or areas where small juvenile sharks can access food and shelter and have a safe haven to grow and mature. My research focusses on trying to find these shark ‘nurseries’ for two species: the tiger shark and the great hammerhead shark.
I’m using a method called acoustic tracking, where we implant a tracking tag into the sharks. It allows us to track their movements to find out which areas they are using. By comparing the movements of adults and juvenile sharks and finding out which locations they use most often, we can define some of the early years of these animals’ lives.
Understanding habitat use by large shark species is really important because they have become a threatened status from overfishing and fisheries bycatch, and because of the threats they can pose to humans.
Unfortunately, the public view of large sharks is not always good, so finding solutions to mitigate potentially dangerous human and shark interactions may help change the public opinion and allow for increased conservation efforts. Looking for shark nurseries specifically can allow us to close the knowledge gaps on shark lifecycles, and better understand how different life stages may use areas differently.
Using Orpheus Island Research Station as a base for my fieldwork has opened a wide door of research opportunities. Operating out of the station is efficient and easy, with the facilities and boats ready to go upon our arrival.
The station has great access to many different coral reefs, islands, bays, mangrove forests and more, which gives us the opportunity to conduct our fieldwork anywhere that the weather allows. It’s also fully equipped with a laboratory and field gear, so when you finish the day, you can process samples such as blood and genetics immediately and store them safely in a scientific freezer.
The semi-remote location of the station means we don’t have to deal with as much public curiosity- which naturally happens when you’re handling large sharks.
For my PhD, I investigate how juvenile stingrays use intertidal sand flats to forage for food. I use drones to observe them feeding in real-time to understand how and what they forage; and I also get in the water to catch rays and collect vomit and tissue samples to analyse their stomach content
This helps me detail the dietary habits of each species, which is important so we can understand their key habitats to help us conserve the species.
I don’t come from a marine background at all. I come from the cornfields of Illinois in the USA. I went through my bachelor’s and master’s degrees without specialising in anything marine.
At the PhD level, I decided to take a leap and try something new. I knew I wanted to live abroad, and once I narrowed down Australia as my next haven, I realised you can’t go to Australia and not be allured by its oceans. At the same time, I realised how intrigued I was by stingrays, so my love for them brought me to Townsville.
We actually know surprisingly little about stingrays across the Indo-Pacific. When I was looking for inspiration for my research topic, I started watching drone videos of rays so I could see how they interacted with their environments and their foraging behaviours caught my interest right away.
Why do this species feed in this habitat, but not that one? Why does this species excavate such deep holes when its foraging, but this one doesn’t? What are they trying to eat anyway? I had to get to the bottom of all these questions!
Working from OIRS was an incredible experience. Most of my work involved flying drones in Pioneer Bay so I could collect video data on the three resident stingray species. I think my most memorable moment was crashing a drone into the cliffside at Little Pioneer Bay and magically recovering it with generous help from the OIRS staff.
Orpheus Island was the perfect place to do cutting edge research on stingray foraging behaviours because of the abundance of rays and excellent water clarity. It’s also across the water from Lucinda Beach, where another colleague of mine did observational surveys on stingrays. Being able to collect data from nearby but in a different environment will allows me to make meaningful comparisons and makes our independent projects more impactful.
This research is important because very little observational work has been done on stingrays, and there is still much to learn about the rays in Pioneer Bay specifically.
Studies by previous researchers have shown that it’s likely the two common species – the cowtail stingray and mangrove whipray –consume different prey and that they use the mangrove habitats differently.
But no one has ever used longer-term observations to watch them forage within the reef flat to understand how these species reduce competition with one another.
There is also a third species – the pink whipray – and we don’t know how they interact with the other species. Studying these interactions is valuable for understanding the ecological roles of rays and where they fit in food webs.
You can see a summary of Jalen’s research in this video.
Morris Family Foundation has provided more than half a million dollars to reef conservation projects in the last financial year through its Reef Keepers Program.
Under the program, the foundation donates a certain amount of money for every guest stay at any of the Morris Escapes luxury lodges, The Ville Resort-Casino, Ardo, and Morris Nautical.
The last financial year saw a total of $577,000 going towards grassroots projects that support the health of the ocean and the Great Barrier Reef.
The supported projects undertake important work around protecting marine ecosystems, reducing ocean pollution, and improving water quality to reduce sediment run-off.
Since the program began in 2019, the foundation has invested over $2.9 million in key initiatives including reducing plastic pollution and marine debris; improving water quality; advancing reef-based research; and Queensland-based projects that help mitigate human activity that contribute to climate change.
We’re proud to collaborate with leading organisations such as Rainforest Rescue, the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS), James Cook University, and others to help deliver these vital outcomes.
When you spend your days helping others reach their full potential, you don’t often have the chance to reflect on your own success.
But The Ville Resort-Casino’s Learning and Development Coordinator, Bec Hoffensetz finally got her well-earned moment in the spotlight when she was named Queensland Vocational Education Trainer of the Year at the recent 2024 Queensland Training Awards.
“I really wasn’t expecting it. I was super amazed and shocked,” she said.
“It’s humbling. There are so many inspirational trainers that I got to network with at that event, and I just thought ‘No, these people are amazing.’ I guess sometimes you just don’t realise what impact you have yourself.”
Humility aside, Bec’s impact on The Ville team has been profound.
In a little over three years, she’s revolutionised training and development at the entertainment precinct, introducing a number of training programs that have not only made positive change for the business, but more importantly for its people.
“We introduced school-based traineeships, where we employ school-aged students to complete their Certificate III in Hospitality,”
“They get released one day a week from school and come into the workplace as a paid employee and learn the skills from our amazing team, and they get their certificate as well.
“We’ve had so much success from that. We’ve employed 100% of the students that have graduated. Honestly, there’s been some amazing employees from that program. If you ask any of the departments – they were fighting over some of the students when they graduated!”
“I also delivered the Certificate IV in Hospitality as a pathway for some of our people to become leaders, and then last year I developed the Leadership Excellence Program for some of our current and emerging leaders like shift supervisors.
“We had 29 participants in an 11-month program that was all about developing those soft skills, like values, people management, conflict management, and all of that lovely stuff.”
While some of us can take a little bit of time to find our passion, Bec says her love for training fell into place pretty early in her working life.
“I’ve loved training ever since I worked at McDonald’s when I was in high school,” she said.
“You go through a lot of training at McDonald’s, and you become crew trainer, and they really empower you to coach and develop others. I guess that started my love for it.”
Since then, she’s worked in a variety of roles and industries including Commonwealth Bank and for NEATO Employment Services helping people find work. But her dream role at The Ville came about almost by accident.
“When I moved back to Townsville from Brisbane, I got a job as a croupier in the casino to pay for my wedding,” she said.
“Because I’m a trainer and assessor, I’m qualified to deliver training in hospitality, business, and retail, and then having that experience in casino operations meant I knew how to deal all the table games and learned electronic gaming. So, it gave me a really solid foundation to step into this role when the opportunity came about.”
Bec says while the personal accolades like her award win are exciting, by far the biggest reward from her work is the impact she has on others.
“I really love watching other people grow. I have what I call ‘mother ducks’ syndrome’,” she said.
“I don’t have children – I have dogs. But I really feel like all the trainees are kind of my children.”
“When you train, and develop, and coach them in skills and then see them succeed and thrive in a workplace like this, that’s so rewarding.”
“The great thing about being here is that there’s been a real culture shift where people really want more development. They’re asking for more, so that makes the role really easy. You’re not forcing anyone into training.
“You can’t do anything without the people around you. I didn’t do any of this myself. So many of the opportunities that have been given to me have been because others allowed me to develop my career that way.
“I’m really lucky working in a place like this – the people really make it. It feels like family.”
They’re the creative forces behind some of Morris Group’s celebrated kitchens, creating extraordinary food every day. Meet some of our newest chefs and find out more about their food philosophies and what really drives them.
Scattered across Australia in the kitchens of our collection of luxury lodges, hotels, and pubs, our chefs are a driving force behind Morris Group’s passion for elevating the Australian good life.
With such a diverse portfolio of restaurants each serving a unique style of cuisine, finding the right people to bring the vision to life is key.
But for Group Executive Chef, Peter Reffell, that’s come together just the way he’d planned.
“The depth of talent and experience we have in our team is amazing, and it’s a critical to the overall success of the group,” he said.
“We have such an array of chefs with diverse experiences who each bring unique skills and perspectives. That’s meant that we are creating more versatile and innovative menus than ever.
“Our chefs are highly creative, talented, and are constantly pushing the boundaries of traditional cuisine to offer something new and exciting to our customers. It’s a really exciting time for food at Morris Group.”
Meet Morris Group’s newest head chefs
Mt Mulligan Lodge, QLD
For Gianni Hendrickx, taking on the role of Head Chef at Mt Mulligan Lodge is the culmination of a lifetime spent in the kitchen.
Growing up in Belgium, Gianni recalls fondly the hours he spent cooking with his grandmother from a young age.
“I just really loved spending time with her in the kitchen,” he said.
“With all the grandkids around it was a lot, so it was fun to have some time alone with her cooking and learning all the family dishes. That’s where my love for cooking came from.”
At 13, he began training at Spermalie Hotel and Tourism School in Belgium, one of Europe’s most prestigious culinary schools.
It was here that Gianni got his first taste of the fast-paced world of running a restaurant. He says it was an eye-opening and often humbling experience for him and his peers.
“The thing you really learn is discipline. They were a really strict school but that’s what I needed because I wasn’t the easiest kid,” he said.
“There was a lot of pressure, but that pressure prepares you for real life. It really helped me out working in the restaurants that I worked in. You learn how to deal with authority and the pressure and just to push through.
“You learn that as a chef you never really know everything. You just have to keep learning and learning, so the possibilities are endless.”
Training at Spermalie laid the foundations for an esteemed career that would see him work in some of Europe’s top Michelin-star restaurants including Vrijmoed, Zilte, and ’t fornuis under the mentorship of renowned Belgian chef Johan Segers.
Since moving to Australia and finding his way to Mt Mulligan Lodge in March 2024, Gianni says he’s been given one of the greatest gifts a chef can get: the chance to play.
“You can do whatever you want here – you can experiment – so that’s what makes it fun,” he said.
“I have a classical French background, so sometimes I will go really classical. But then there’s days that I feel like ‘Oh let’s do something crazy today!’
“We change up the menu every day, so it’s nice to come in and just go to the fridge and see what we’re going to make today.”
For Gianni, part of that excitement comes from Mt Mulligan’s unique location in outback Queensland and the interesting array of fresh produce at his fingertips.
“I’ve really enjoyed learning and experimenting with the fish here in particular,” he said.
“The quality of the seafood is amazing, and all the different species of fish like coral trout and nannygai.
“It’s been great to work with things like kangaroo and emu because I’ve never worked with them in Europe, and I really wanted to use them in the menu.
“But also of course, it’s really special working in a place like this. It’s not just about cooking, but the surroundings that really makes it.”
Terasu at Ardo, QLD
There’s only one place in the world that you want to be if you’re an aspiring sushi chef, and that’s the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market in the heart of Tokyo.
That’s where Head Chef of Terasu restaurant at Ardo, Yukio Ozeki, earned his stripes; and it set him on course to head up renowned kitchens all over the world.
“When I graduated school, I was working at a sushi restaurant in Tokyo. There’s the big fish market in Tokyo called the Tsukiji Fish Market and around that market there’s over 100 sushi restaurants,” he said.
“It’s quite hard. Every day I would go into the markets to get the fish with my boss. You had to compete with the other restaurants around there to get the best fish.”
“Once we have chosen our fish and the rest of our seafood, we’d take it back to the restaurant and start preparing it.”
Apart from the obvious high level of technique required to prepare sushi correctly, much of what takes the cuisine to the next level is the quality of the produce.
Yukio says it can take some time to learn how to spot the best fish from a crowded marketplace.
“First you need to learn which fish is the best. You have to look at the colour – if it’s dark, it’s old. If it’s pink, it’s fresh. You also check the eyes. If the eyes are dark, it’s not fresh.”
After broadening his skillset into other styles of Japanese cuisine, Yukio left Japan in search of new culinary challenges.
His travels took him far and wide, working everywhere from small restaurants in South America, to a friend’s 200-head Japanese restaurant in L.A. on Santa Monica Beach.
For the last 10 years he was based in Auckland working at a celebrated modern Asian fusion restaurant in the CBD.
It was here that the DNA for Terasu was first conceived. When the opportunity came to make the move across the ditch to sunny Townsville and start something new, Yukio jumped at the chance.
“I came to Townsville over 20 years ago when I was on a working holiday where I visited Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Alice Springs,” he said.
“I remember Castle Hill and it was so beautiful. I just loved Queensland, the climate, the lifestyle. Everything.
“With Terasu’s menu, I took my knowledge of traditional Japanese cuisine and things I’ve picked up from other cuisines around the world to create something new.”
Much like his first experience in that restaurant in Tokyo all those years ago, Yukio says the Terasu menu lives and breaths on the quality of the fresh produce available.
“The quality of the seafood is really important. Before we opened, we got some samples from our supplier Red Coral Seafood and it was very fresh, so I was excited to work with it,” he said.
“The quality of the produce is very good – the fish, the Wagyu meat. It’s all very good.”
Half Moon, VIC
If there’s one trait that Aaron Brodie has in spades, it’s adaptability.
Before stepping into the Head Chef role at Half Moon, he spent seven years as Executive Chef at Oakridge Wines in the Yarra Valley where the food philosophy was all about sustainability and hyper-local produce.
“We had a kitchen garden that provided about 80 percent of what we were serving,” he said.
“We set some tight parameters around what we did and how we did it. It was very much that everything’s made in-house, but we took it to another level – we made absolutely everything, from bread to charcuterie, and cheese.”
But with the strict rules came opportunity for limitless creativity.
“It takes a little bit of getting used to. You have to be able to adapt and be very fluid,” he said.
“It’s very produce led. Basically, the garden tells you what you’re putting on the menu. You don’t have the luxury of looking at a supplier list and ordering whatever you want. You’re bound by what’s at your back door.
“It means you can’t be set in your ways. You might have made something years ago, but you don’t have the same resources available, so you have to adapt.”
For Aaron, moving from a boutique winery to a bustling pub in the heart of Brighton means adapting again to a totally new way of thinking.
“I guess the goal is to be able to do a little bit of that, but to do it in a way that’s more approachable,” he said.
“The audience is a bit broader because a pub is something to everyone. When people come into a pub – especially somewhere like Half Moon that has such a reputation – and they’ve got a preconceived idea of what they’re going to get.
“What I’m trying to do is use a lot of old-world techniques, but just presented in something that’s a little brighter, and a little fresher.
“It’s food that people can relate to, but at the same time something that’s a little bit different. We’re not trying to scare them.”
Aaron’s deft ability to adapt and stay cool under pressure is no accident.
It’s a muscle he’s strengthened through an illustrious career working in some of the world’s most renowned kitchens.
Having kicked off his career in Perth working at the iconic venues such as the Subiaco Hotel, Aaron made the move to London to immerse himself in the ‘intense’ food scene.
The five years that followed saw him on board at a series of one and two Michelin-star restaurants including Gordon Ramsay’s Maze working under Jason Atherton.
For Aaron, that kind of experience has been pivotal in making him the chef he is today.
“You just become very goal-orientated, and you learn,” he said.
“I always had a thirst to learn. You really need to learn, and you need to learn quickly. You get a couple of chances but by the third chance, they’re probably not so nice about it.”
“There’s a lot of repetition but that’s how you become better. I guess it’s a bit like sport in that sense. If you’re training for something, there’s a lot of repetition and incremental gains.
“I really like that competitive nature of the kitchen. There’s no such thing as perfection, but the goal is just to make today better than the day before.”
O’Connell’s, VIC
It’s not that much of a stretch to say that Iker Garcia seems destined to be a chef.
Born in Basque Country and growing up in Spain’s coastal Catalonia region, Iker was immersed in the chef life from a very young age.
“My dad used to be a chef, and worked on boats all around the world,” he said.
“I travelled a lot. On school holidays I would go with my parents on the boat, so I was really lucky to visit a lot of countries.
“I spent so many hours in the kitchen, watching my dad cooking. I think that’s when I fell in love with it. I started cooking when I was 12 and had my first job when I was 14 working with my dad for about 10 years.
“Working with my dad really gave me my work ethic. He taught me so much about being consistent and having discipline.
“I wasn’t the best student so my dad would say ‘If you’re not going to study then you have to at least be good with your hands.’”
Since then, his career has been one filled with globetrotting, working in fine dining kitchens all over Spain, France, Italy, and Korea before he found his way to Australia 10 years ago.
“Learning English was the main priority for coming to Australia at first,” he said.
“I was supposed to come only for six months and then I extended my Visa for another year, and another year, and another year, and now here we are ten years later.”
While he’s well and truly settled into the Australian way of life, Iker says travel remains one of his biggest inspirations in the kitchen.
“Knowledge comes from travelling around the world,” he said.
“I feel very grateful for all the places I’ve been able to travel and go to really good restaurants and see what they do.
“I just want to explore as much as I can, surround myself with the best people, and learn from the best.”
A peruse through the menu at South Melbourne neighbourhood favourite, O’Connell’s, is a nod to Iker’s upbringing, with a definite shift towards a lighter, Mediterranean inspired fare.
“I used to live in a fishing village, and I was really lucky to have friends who worked on boats so I could get the fish from them and take it home and cook it for that night. You can’t beat that,” he said.
“Obviously coming from the Mediterranean it’s all about seafood – I really love cooking fish especially on charcoal. I just love seafood. If I had to pick one ingredient, my favourite thing would be seafood every time.
“My main thing with cooking is always to treat the ingredients and produce well and do the least possible with it and showcase it because if it’s good, you don’t have to do anything to it. Less is more.”
Beechmont Estate, QLD
While their paths towards the chef life were pretty different, husband-and-wife team Chris and Alex Norman say they were both sucked in by the same thing.
“For me I think it’s the camaraderie, the banter between the chefs, and the lifestyle,” Chris said.
“I remember walking into my first kitchen at 14 or 15 years old and just going ‘This is so cool. This is an environment I want to be part of.’
“I just was drawn to the idea of being part of a team – especially at a young age. They really took me in.
“It’s a lot like going into the military or something. You’re in a team and it’s got a strict hierarchy, and you’ve got your leader at the front driving the team. And sometimes going into service is a lot like going into battle.”
The story was much the same for Alex.
“I always worked in big places with like 40 or 50 chefs. You were doing big hours, but you were all in it together,” she said.
“The bonds that you make – they’re friends for life because you just go through all this stuff together.”
Having cut his teeth working in a pub kitchen throughout high school, Chris had no doubts about his direction post-graduation and began his chef apprenticeship.
It wasn’t long before he sensed a big change. Suddenly it wasn’t just the team dynamic driving him. His passion for food and the craft had been ignited.
“I was working in a fairly good place, but it wasn’t the best of the best,” he said.
“I just had this realisation that if I’m going to do this I may as well do it properly. From there I started what we call ‘chasing stars’, which is looking for work at any restaurants with a Michelin star.
“I put myself through 10 years of working at the best places that I could, trying to learn and soak up as much as I could like a sponge.”
The decision to become a chef was a pretty clear one for Alex. Clear enough for her to follow her gut take her career advisor’s words of warning with a grain of salt.
“My career advisor at school really didn’t want me to be a chef. She was like ‘You’ll just waste your career!’ But I think that kind of I was like ‘Well, I’m just going to go and do it now,’” she said.
And with that, at the age of 16 she landed a scholarship at London’s Royal Academy of Culinary Arts: one of the UK’s most prestigious culinary schools.
“Only 30 people a year get to do this scholarship, so I was very lucky,” she said.
“You essentially do three months full time at the University of Bournemouth and then you go to London for a year and you’re just a chef in the kitchen.
“So, I was a 16-year-old living in London, and I just had the best time! It was pretty clear then. I was like, ‘Yep, this is this is what I want to do.’”
As her skills in the kitchen grew, so did her fascination with the pastry kitchen.
“I think I was attracted by the science behind it. It’s a little bit more academic in some ways,” she said.
“There are really clear rules. Like, there are reasons that things will work in a certain way – a sponge will rise in different ways depending on how you make it. I really enjoyed that part of it.
“I also enjoy that you can do a some more crazy things with pastry and push the boundaries. You can do some mad stuff!”
The pair met when their careers both led them to working at The Ritz in London, and they’ve been working together ever since.
While most people would find it difficult working in such a high pressure environment with their significant other, Alex and Chris say they’ve found a way to make it work seamlessly.
“We like to be under the pump we like to be under pressure,” Chris said.
“We’ve had some steep learning curves. It was very tough earlier on,” Alex said.
“There are times when you bring work home, but now we are used to working each other. We kind of know and understand each other and what we do so it’s easy.”
In 2011 they made the move to Australia and found their way to Southeast Queensland – a place that holds a special place in their hearts.
For them, that stunning location was a huge part of the appeal of joining the team at Beechmont Estate to lead its celebrated chef-hatted restaurant, The Paddock, into a new era.
“It’s a beautiful area and we’ve worked already with the local suppliers for years. So, coming here was very easy for us,” Chris said.
“For us, having full creative autonomy is a big factor. We want it to be a destination where people know they can come and have a really good meal, but not necessarily just for special occasions.
“One of the biggest things for us is that we want to get the best quality ingredients and cook them with respect – it does matter whether it’s a piece of Wagyu or some coral trout or some vegetables from a local farm.
“We don’t want to change anything. We don’t want to take ingredients and dehydrate it, mix it with a load of chemicals and turn it into something else. We’ll keep it as it is.
“We’re classically trained, and we’ve worked in restaurants that have kept to that kind of philosophy, but we do it with a more modern Australian spin.
“We like to think our food is unpretentious and approachable but still really high quality.”
The kitchen at The Vincent has been brought back to life as Morris Hospitality’s production kitchen and butchery.
Under the direction of Head Production Chef, Dan Greenwood, one of the kitchen’s main responsibilities is preparing the array of premium meats for the group’s collection of Victorian pubs from the bulk deliveries from suppliers.
Dan says that apart from the obvious cost benefits, there are other big advantages to the concept.
“Skilled labour is always hard to find, so pulling this kind of labour out of the kitchens and letting the chefs focus on the thing they do best which is service makes a lot of sense,” he said.
“I can spend a bit of time continuing to build the strong relationship with suppliers like Flinders & Co, and it just gives us a bit of quality control over the product that ends up making it into the restaurant kitchens and onto the plates of our guests. I can make sure we’re getting the consistent level of excellence we’re looking for.
“Centralising also means we can make the most of any trim and wastage and have it all in one place to repurpose and value-add to it rather than it just being used for staff meal or chucked into a stock. We can actually repurpose it in a way that is more thoughtful, so it doesn’t get wasted.”
Before joining the Morris Hospitality team six months ago, Dan was working in product development for LaManna gourmet supermarkets, where he’d also been head chef for their ready-meals production kitchen.
“I started out in restaurants and then transitioned into production kitchens after that,” he said.
“The hours are a little bit more family-friendly and I found it really interesting. I did some time in airline catering before that, and I’ve just kept growing in that side of hospitality. I just really enjoy it.”
Sure, you might have had a beer or two in your time. But have you ever had an ‘epiphany beer’?
CBCo Brewing’s Head Brewer Ash Hazell has, and he credits it with setting him off on his path to brewing enlightenment. One single pint launched his 20-year quest to find the magic formula for the greatest tasting beer imaginable.
“There’s a term that brewers use called epiphany beers,” Ash says.
“It’s like the first beer they picked up where it’s changed everything, from being just a beer to get me drunk to something much bigger. This epiphany beer is a life-changing moment.”
For Ash, the pint in question was served up at Western Australia’s Little Creatures brewery where he celebrated his 18th birthday.
Up to that point he’d been brewing some admittedly pretty nasty beer – mostly as a way to get around his problem of being underage with a social calendar full of uni parties to attend.
“I was brewing horrifically bad beer and when I tried the Little Creatures Pale Ale, in that moment I was like, ‘I have to learn how to make beer this good’. That one beer sort of set my whole career path,” he says.
“I was studying chemistry at the time and was doing some boring mining-related chemistry units. So, I dropped out of all of them and instead I picked up some biochemistry and microbiology units to learn how to make that beer.
“And 20 years later I’m a tragically obsessed brewer, still trying to make the best beer I can.”
The shift from casual hobby brewer to full-time fanatic was swift.
“I was just obsessed. Absolutely obsessed. Every waking hour I was researching brewing,” he says.
“I’d built a semi-automated, fully stainless steel brewhouse in my back shed, using kegs I’d ‘borrowed’ from the back of pubs.
“I found a local welder to weld it all up for me and found all the parts online from across the world. At the time you just didn’t have access to homebrew equipment like there is now. You had to piece it together yourself.”
As it turns out, the efforts to upgrade his set-up clearly paid off. From that point Ash entered and won a couple of home brewing awards including one major national one.
As time went on, brewing became increasingly ingrained in his life and his studies. When his classmates were doing their final year research projects on crystal formation, Ash opted for his own beer-centric topic.
It was such a step outside the norm, that even his uni lecturer had no idea what he was talking about, so he was to enlist the help of an expert to verify his research.
Little did he know that this would be the beginning of his big break in the industry.
“On a whim I reached out to the head brewer at Little Creatures to verify my research and he agreed,” Ash says.
“I got questionable but somewhat useful results, but more importantly he offered me a job as a keg cleaner, cleaning kegs by hand while I finished my degree.
“And by the time I finished my degree I worked there full-time and have been a brewer ever since.
“There were probably only about 50 craft brewers in the country at that time. It was such a tiny industry, so just to get your foot in the door was huge.”
From there he began his slow rise through the ranks, jumping on new opportunities as they presented themselves.
“Little Creatures was growing really fast in those days. It wasn’t the easiest industry to work in at the time – the hours were long. It was a hard slog,” he says.
“But just by persevering through it, and being absolutely obsessed with it, I ended up getting lots of opportunities.
“My career goal was always to become the quality control manager of a significant Australian craft brewery, and I’d achieved that by the time I turned 25.”
When Little Creatures was bought out by global beverage giant, Lion, Ash found himself at a crossroads.
Wanting to stay fiercely independent and not work for ‘the man’ he took it as a sign to move on and started his own brewery with Little Creatures’ ex-CEO, called Barrow Boys.
Despite a few strong years in Melbourne, Barrow Boys eventually closed down leaving him looking for a new opportunity.
And that opportunity came at CBCo.
“I came here and chatted to (Managing Director) Lawrence (Dowd) about contract brewing,” he says.
“But I also knew he was looking for a head brewer at the time. So, I was half coming to suss out contract brewing for my old business, and half coming into suss out opportunities in case I lost faith that I could make that work.”
One thing led to another, and before he knew it he was head brewer at CBCo Brewing and the rest is history.
For Ash, the best thing about working at CBCo is that he gets the freedom to play with flavours, and for him that’s the magic of brewing. That’s what keeps his obsession going, even after more than two decades in the industry.
“When you work for one of the big guys, you have resources – and resources are great. But you also have many different gateways to pass between the idea and delivering the idea,” he says.
“The whole reason I love working in craft beer is that I love craft beer and I want to play with flavours, and I don’t want to work for a company that just wants to make boring beer.
“There’s nothing better than brewing a beer and having that first pint off tap and being like ‘Yeah, this is delicious; we’ve nailed this. That’s still what I strive for every day.”
We all lead such busy lives; juggling work, family commitments, personal relationships, hobbies. Sometimes our health and wellbeing can start to slip down the priority list. We spoke to team members from across Morris Group to find out how they look after their physical and mental wellness.
General Manager – The Albert Park Hotel
Morris Hospitality
“Wellbeing to me is about being healthy and happy, maintaining a good work life balance, and taking the time to do things that I enjoy.
I try to get out for a run at least a couple of times a week and go to the gym as well. I used to run a lot and have done quite a few ultra marathons, but these days it’s more important to me just to get out and have a bit of fun. When I get the chance, I still really enjoy trail running. Being out in the bush all on your own is the best form of meditation and a good reset if I’m feeling overwhelmed.
For me, running seems to be a good all-round exercise. It keeps you fit, motivates you to get out into the bush, and is a really good way to clear your mind. I also find that the more I run the more I need to stretch. We have a little yoga space set up at home and I really enjoy taking some time to stretch and relax. Looking after your physical health tends to keep your mental health in good shape as well.
Feeling well rested and having a consistently high energy level is important especially when you are dealing with people every day in your job like I am. Hospitality obviously isn’t known to be a particularly healthy industry. It can be quite stressful at times with long hours and late nights, and there can be a tendency towards unhealthy eating and drinking.
I think that when you are taking care of yourself, exercising and being conscious of your thoughts, you are better prepared to do a quite demanding job. I try to be a good role model for people who are just starting in the industry. I want to have a positive impact on people rather than encourage some of the negative behaviour that the industry is known for.
When it comes to wellbeing, I’m a big believer in consistency and balance. My wife is a pilates and yoga instructor, and that is definitely helpful for me to have such a balancing influence in my life. We spend a lot of our spare time outdoors, going for a hike or swim. I think when you find ways to be active that are fun, it makes it a lot easier to get out the door.
I went through a stage when I was a bit fanatical about the fitness side of wellbeing. I would try to run or get to the gym every day. Now, I tend to do things because I enjoy them. Going for a run is more about getting outside than trying to set a record. I do need to remind myself to be consistent and not make excuses for putting things off. Even if it’s just taking the dog for a walk, I always feel better for getting out and doing something.”
Reservations Agent / Ground Crew
Nautilus Aviation – Port Douglas
“I would say wellbeing is a combination of my mental and emotional state, physical health and social health all intertwined into one. Since having kids, it’s definitely not something at the forefront of my mind but I do think it’s important for everyone to take the time to think about.
I’m lucky that in my role I have a balance of office time doing reservations, as well as outdoor time interacting with guests while ground crewing. Sunshine and fresh air are a big thing for me to help reset. I’m also fortunate to have my office in a 5-star resort with stunning pools that back onto Four Mile Beach in Port Douglas. On lunch breaks I can unwind with a walk on the beach or lay by the pool. Checking in and catching up with friends and family is also super important for my mental health on the weekends.
I’m very much a water baby so I often swim after work to keep fit and if the winds are under 10 knots I’ll try get out to the reef for a cheeky dive or snorkel. I am lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the world with rainforests, beaches and waterfalls. So going on adventures with my family and friends does tend to tick most boxes in the wellbeing department.
Looking after my health and wellbeing helps me keep a positive mindset. I try to stay positive where possible. When you are positive and happy, it tends to have a flow-on effect to the people around you in both your work and personal life.
We are a small team here in Port Douglas, so if one or more of us become sick it can throw the whole operation out for the day. I wouldn’t say it’s a physically demanding job, but you need a lot of patience and flexibility in aviation which can become mentally demanding at times. But having a strong support base in our team, we all work together to keep each other going both mentally and emotionally.”
Senior Brewer
CBCo Brewing – Port Melbourne
“For me wellbeing is about a good mental and physical balance in my life, understanding and listening to your body, and doing what you know helps. It’s also important to understand that your wellbeing needs change overtime. What I thought my wellbeing needs or priorities were in my 20s are hugely different now.
These days I find the best way to take care of my wellbeing is focusing on regular exercise, trying to cook healthy and eating well, having regular catch ups with mates, getting into the garden, and having some down time by watching cartoons or reading. I’ve discovered that growing my own food when I can, such as herbs, tomatoes and such, and reaping the rewards of getting your hands dirty is really satisfying.
For me, running is a great way to just unload and forget about the day. I also have a regular Saturday ride with friends. A ride and a coffee ends up being a good group debrief about the week and helps everyone put their week into perspective and talk through some solutions to problems. Even a simple after work walk is great to clear the head.
Making the time to be social is really important, especially for mental health. I do a fortnightly beer, chat and dinner with some mates. Everyone is responsible for a course on the night, so it’s a nice to make and share food with mates. It’s a relaxing way to catch up and just chat about stuff.
I think that the biggest benefit of taking care of my health and wellbeing is being able to have the energy and physical capacity to do what I want. Brewing can be a very physical job with moving hoses around or lifting bags of malt, and we tend to spend most of our day as brewers on our feet, so simply taking care of myself allows me to do my job as best I can.
Having an improved headspace makes it easier to turn off after you’ve had a bad day. I always feel great after exercise, and not so great if I don’t get to exercise. I think the most important thing is learning to listen to your body.”
Senior Assistant Front Office Manager
The Ville Resort-Casino
“To me, wellbeing is about a balanced lifestyle aiming for harmony in both physical and mental wellbeing. The way I look after my physical and mental health is by maintaining proper eating habits, practicing yoga and meditation. I find yoga to be the most effective way to stay fit, healthy and well.
I think taking care of my wellbeing has helped improve my self-confidence and means I’m able to prioritise the day-to-day tasks with a smile. It makes me more productive and allows me to perform at my best and deliver the best customer service.
It can be challenging to stay motivated sometimes, but I find that rewarding myself when I achieve small milestones helps me stay on track. I’ve made wellbeing part of my daily routine which really helps me focus on what I do in my day-to-day life.”
For food lovers the arrival of winter can only mean one thing. Truffle season is upon us and it’s hitting menus across Morris Group venues for a month-long celebration of the seasonal delicacy.
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What is it about truffles that gets chefs and diners so excited? Surely the hype is just one of those trendy foodie things that fills our social media feeds for a brief moment before moving out of the way for the next big thing.
If you ask Morris Group Executive Chef Peter Reffell, the love for truffles is much more than just a flash in the pan craze. It all comes down to their scarcity.
Truffles are a form of mushroom that grow underground at the base of either oak or hazelnut trees. Often taking up to four years to mature, the truffle farming process is complex. Specially trained dogs or pigs are needed to sniff the treasures out under the soil.
“Truffles are one of natures truly sought-after ingredients,” Reffell says.
“Chefs and food lovers are drawn to them not just because they are a true delicacy in every sense of the word, but also because of their unique aroma and flavour.”
With the season now officially underway, Reffell and his team of chefs across Victoria and Queensland are about to put truffles in the spotlight with special menus to give diners the chance to experience the flavour sensation for themselves.
Morris Group’s Melbourne-based pub group is bringing working alongside supplier Friends & Burrell to bring Victorian black truffles to the menu at three of its iconic venues.
Producer Oak Hill Truffles is a family-run operation located just 95km north-west of Melbourne. They’ve been farming truffles for 17 years with the help of their trusty labrador Peggy.
Here’s what diners can expect from Truffle Season at Morris Hospitality.
O’Connell’s
Over its 140 years in South Melbourne, O’Connell’s has been at the forefront of modern Australian pub dining. Having recently undergone a minor facelift and released a new, more refined menu, the local favourite is perfectly placed to showcase the seasonal delicacy in all its glory.
What’s on the menu:
The Albert Park Hotel
Albert Park’s restaurant Happy Valley has become well-known for its signature take on modern Chinese cuisine. True to form, the team of chefs have put their unique spin on Truffle Season with some inventive dishes to bring the flavour to life.
What’s on the menu:
Half Moon
Brighton’s much-loved local watering hole is known as the place to gather, drink and dine no matter the occasion. Its existing menu of refined pub classics and seasonal dishes is the ideal launching off pad for a celebration of all things truffles.
What’s on the menu:
Morris Hospitality’s Truffle Season runs until Sunday 14 July.
Townsville’s newest luxury hotel has made its mark on the region’s food scene since opening in December. Its signature fine dining steak and seafood restaurant, Marmor, and modern Japanese cuisine at Terasu have fast become favourites amongst visitors and locals alike.
The culinary team is working with suppliers Friends & Burrell to bring New South Wales black truffles to the menu for Truffle Season. Their truffles come courtesy of Wylie Creek Truffles, located 750km north of Sydney.
What’s on the menu:
Marmor
Terasu
Ardo’s Truffle Season runs until Sunday 30 June.
As Deputy Head Housekeeper of Pennsylvania Castle Estate, Keanna Pearce is key to keeping the property running like clockwork. Keanna shares her story and gives us some insight into what it’s like working in an historical castle on the UK’s Jurassic Coast.
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I’ve worked at Pennsylvania Castle Estate for nearly two years now. I joined the team as a Deputy Head Housekeeper, but I’ve also worked in The Hayloft Café and The Castle Bar for events. It’s great to be able to support so many different areas across the estate.
My family owned a hotel, so growing up I was able to help with housekeeping and I always found it to be something I really enjoyed. Before I joined this team, I was a Head Housekeeper at a hotel in Bridport. It was a lot smaller than The Penn Estate so I really have enjoyed the change, working somewhere with so much variety.
I love the estate as a whole. It’s such a beautiful location and I feel so lucky to be here every day. I love the beaches and the views. It’s such a lovely area. You can really understand why people choose to take their holidays here.
Everyone at the property is also so welcoming and helpful. Probably the best thing about working here is how friendly everyone is. We all get along so well and if you every need help, you get the support straight away.
The properties on the estate are so beautiful and I enjoy being able to support maintaining such high cleaning standards. There is such a variety of different types of accommodation, and each one requires a different level of housekeeping and different needs.
At the castle, we pay attention to different little details and have extra cleaning requirements such as the pool and bar area. The Clifftops Lodges are luxury and require great attention to detail to maintain a high standard for guests. Our vans and pods are smaller and much easier to clean. It’s interesting that everyone in the team has a different favourite area they like to clean.
I am really passionate about providing the best standards of cleaning at work, and I even find some of the processes creeping in at home. Little things like how we make the beds to make them perfectly flat and the way we fold the corners, I do the same at home without even realising.
It’s a very fast-paced job and keeping up to date with all the little changes or extras can be challenging, but that’s what I love. No day is ever the same!