Chef Colin Fassnidge on how Covid has affected Sydney staff shortage

Top Sydney chef Colin Fassnidge has spoken out on how the Covid pandemic has kept the “star” of his kitchen out of the country.

Who do you think cooks your food?

When you push back those swinging doors and enter a kitchen, there is a lot less cooking going on thanks to the staff shortage crisis.

For years, Sydney’s kitchens have been made up of an eclectic mix of staff, many of who (like myself) weren’t born here. When Covid hit, many non-visa holders had to return home as they didn’t get looked after by Uncle Scott.

My Nepalese head chef JD (named that because he has a tattoo on his neck that looks like a John Dory fish) first burst through my kitchen doors in 2014 looking for work.

Colin Fassnidge at Banksia Hotel. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

He started washing pots and moved on to peeling potatoes. For 10 years he worked his way through the ranks to head chef. He’s the star of my kitchen and in my first cookbook, I told him I loved him. That’s what he means to me.

At the start of 2020 he headed back to Nepal for a holiday and got stuck there when the pandemic hit (he was on the cusp of getting his permanent residency.) I was due to pick him up from the airport last week (which would have been a tear-jerker of a moment) but Omicron spoiled that. Now, I don’t think I will see him till the New Year.

Every kitchen has a JD. And the reality of them not being here is that many family businesses are closing for parts of the week because they can’t get staff.

Or they are doing the reverse. Working 15-hour days, six days a week. I know chefs crying themselves to sleep at night because of the stress.

So next time you order at your local restaurant, spare a thought for those behind the curtain and the real price of hospitality.

Colin Fassnidge is a chef and runs Banksia.

Originally published as Chef Colin Fassnidge on how Covid has affected Sydney staff shortage