High Steaks: Simon Gloftis opens up on reality of running restaurant empire

He was the 16-year-old whose first food venture was a corn-on-the-cob stall at Brisbane’s Rocklea Markets, now he’s one of Australia’s most talked about restaurateurs.

“My favourite cut’s a sirloin because I like that sort of muscle and then the fat down the side, so I’ve got a Black Angus, dry-aged sirloin there on the bone and also one of the signatures from Stockyard, the 6-7 marble score wagyu sirloin, which is pretty special,” restaurateur Simon Gloftis says when our steaks hit the table at his hugely popular James St, Fortitude Valley restaurant SK Steak & Oyster.

While the rules of this column state that The Sunday Mail will pick up the tab, Gloftis refuses to let me pay for the $110 wagyu, deducting it from the bill and insisting it’s on him as he simply wanted to show off his favourite steak on the menu.

While he rates them both “10 out of 10 because it’s my restaurant”, on this particular occasion, however, he declares the Black Angus the better of the two as he’s not entirely happy with the distribution of the marbling in the wagyu.

Simon Gloftis at SK Steak and Oyster Restaurant being interviewed by Anooska Tucker-Evans. Picture: Liam Kidston

It’s this attention to detail and constant striving for perfection in his produce that the 43-year-old declares is what led to his evolution from a 16-year-old whose first food venture was a corn-on-the-cob stall at Brisbane’s Rocklea Markets to one of Australia’s most talked about restaurateurs.

“With my suppliers and things like that, I’m a pain in the arse because I buy the best only that’s available at any time and that’s it. There’s no exception to that and if it’s not good enough, I send it back,” he says, revealing he flies in fish six days a week from Melbourne for his venues: SK, Hellenika, Sushi Room and Sunshine all within Fortitude Valley’s flashy James St and Calile Hotel precinct.

It’s also why he once travelled to South Australia and spent the price of a family car on octopus, just to secure a deal to stock the best squid in the country.

He says only using the finest of ingredients is what helps him achieve consistency in his venues and it’s consistency, he believes, that has resulted in his establishments not only receiving critical acclaim but also becoming an adult’s playground for the well-heeled and well-connected, from celebrities such as Chris Hemsworth, Matt Damon, George Clooney and U2 to billionaires and top business leaders like Bevan Slattery and Terry Peabody.

One of the dishes at SK Steak and Oyster Restaurant. Picture: Liam Kidston.

That top-notch produce doesn’t come cheap, however, which may also be why it’s favoured by the top end of town, with steaks at SK ranging from $66 to $210, while an omakase dinner at his Japanese venture Sushi Room will set you back $330 per head for 21-25 courses. While some may criticise his prices for being too high, Gloftis vehemently defends them.

“I think being expensive and being overpriced are two totally different things,” he says.

“I feel like I’m at the top end of the market for sure, but I need to be. I’m flying in King George whiting from Melbourne every morning for my guests, it’s not coming from the Mekong River (in Asia), frozen, packaged. So I charge what I need to charge. And actually, frankly, I can’t understand how some restaurants are surviving because I know they can’t charge what I need to charge to survive and supply the quality of produce and the service and the entertainment and facilities.”

Those complaining about his prices are usually those enviously following him on social media. On Instagram he shares with his 13,000-plus fans everything from his self-professed “cringe” videos smoking cigars, sucking oysters and throwing his knife and fork down on an empty plate, to high-flying holidays around the world eating everywhere from taco stalls in Los Angeles to seaside tavern as in Greece and Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK.

Restaurateur Simon Gloftis at SK Steak and Oyster Restaurant. Picture: Liam Kidston.

Travel is what Gloftis calls his “rescue remedy” helping him cope with his punishing schedule, which sees him wake about 5.30am, check his restaurant reports from the night before, prior to a walk or boxing, then head into his venues to meet with the kitchen team and staff. His afternoons are usually filled with meetings, a quick nap or lie down in front of the TV, ready to head back into work before hitting the pillow at about 11pm/midnight.

“Mentally I go, ‘That’s the way my life is’, and I work as hard as I can, do what I can and then go away (on holidays). I like to spend as much time overseas as what I can,” he says, revealing his favourite part is walking the streets in a foreign country and not knowing anyone – unlike in the restaurants where everyone wants to say hello.

“I enjoy staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, but I also like staying in the village where my dad was born on a little mud block house in northern Greece. The problem with me, because I’m in the industry, is I’m a bit of a snob so it becomes an expensive habit.”

It is Gloftis’s only habit, however. While times are slowly changing, the hospitality industry is still rife with recreational drug use and partying.

The SK spread for Simon Gloftis and Anooska Tucker-Evans. Picture: Liam Kidston

Working long, unsociable hours is the perfect excuse for cocaine consumption and pick-me-ups in pill form, but Gloftis insists he’s never touched any of it.

“People don’t believe me, but I’ve never done drugs in my whole life and I think that’s held me in good stead because I haven’t had those big ups and downs and swings (with comedowns and mental health),” he says, declaring his only vices to be travel, cigars, wine and the occasional box of KFC.

“I’m not a party boy. I don’t hang out in nightclubs and things like that. Party boys and fast women can be fun for five minutes, but long-term it doesn’t add up. I would rather professionalism any day.”

The introverted extrovert says he would prefer to be at home on the couch with a home-cooked meal than out, which is also what he loves about his new fiancee Madeline Twyford, 28.

He met the former real estate agent-turned-florist about three-and-a-half years ago when she began working as a host at Hellenika.

The eternal bachelor – with his friends even joking he only had one pillow on his bed – says he immediately knew she was something special.

“It is a bit strange when you’re the boss and you’ve got to try to navigate how to ask a staff member out, but at the end of the day, I really liked her so I couldn’t let that stop me,” he says, revealing he would find himself upset if he came into work and she wasn’t there.

While it took some old-fashioned courting on Gloftis’ part, he says he eventually won her over and popped the question in March this year after his father pulled him aside and told him he wouldn’t find anyone better.

Renowned restaurateur Simon Gloftis proposed to his partner Madeline Cara in Sydney's InterContinental Hotel. Picture: Supplied.

Simon Gloftis and Madeline Cara. Picture: Supplied.

“Some people just have it and she’s got it, and the best thing is, she’s got it and she doesn’t know it, or she doesn’t care,” he gushes.

He says the couple hasn’t set a date for the wedding yet, but are thinking early next year.

It will most certainly be a “big fat Greek wedding” with 350 of just close family and friends already on the guest list. Kids are also on the cards for the retired bachelor, with Twyford wanting 10, while he’s just happy to “see what happens”.

Children will, of course, have to be juggled around his restaurant empire, however, which he says is both a joy and constant stress.

“I love eating in my restaurants and other times I want to sell them all and move to Greece and live on an island somewhere,” he says with a laugh.

“At the moment I’m 90 per cent moving to Greece.”

The restaurateur, who dines at his venues at least three times a week so he can have the “customer experience” and continually refine operations, says staffing is the current bane of his existence, with about 350 employees between his four venues.

“It’s really hard, especially after you train someone for maybe a year or two and they’re just getting good enough at their job to be worth what you’re paying them and then they do the crab walk sideways to another restaurant,” he says.

“Staff retention and finding the right staff is really tricky … if they’re not happy after two or three days, they’ll go get a job somewhere else.”

He says it’s an issue affecting the whole industry and it’s only likely to get worse in the coming months and years, with Queens Wharf set to launch 50 new restaurants, cafes and bars starting this August, followed by the relaunch of Eagle Street Pier, and a feast of new venues across the CBD and Newstead.

“Unfortunately they’re not all going to be successful, so there’s going to be a little bit of pain coming, but I think overall South East Queensland is now at a point where we’re well and truly punching above our weight and we’re becoming a place where we’re not the joke of dining in Australia anymore,” Gloftis says.

As for what’s next for his portfolio, he reveals there’s more happening but is keeping mum on details.

“I’ve been offered a lot of stuff that I’ve knocked back over the last couple of years, even some really cool things that I might kick myself later, but if I don’t feel it in my gut, I’ve got to want to do it,” he says.