How three families made their food dreams come true: Roll’d, The Lake House and Sweet Greek
These Victorian foodies make working with the family look easy: from the cancer diagnosis that sparked a Prahran Market dream, the love behind the luxurious Daylesford lakehouse, and the mum and son duo behind popular Vietnamese chain Roll’d.
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It’s the busiest day on the hospitality calendar — bigger than Christmas, more heavily booked than Valentine’s. Larissa Wolf-Tasker learnt from a very young age that Mother’s Day equalled a house full of strangers and a rather stressed mum in the kitchen.
For most, a weekend at Daylesford’s luxurious Lake House conjures visions of glorious autumnal afternoons on the deck and winters cosseted by a fire, of decadent dinners and call-for-another-bottle-of-pinot lunches made up of a procession of plates celebrating the region’s best produce.
THE PASTA BAR WORTH CROSSING TOWN FOR
EAT AND DRINK YOUR WAY AROUND BRIGHT
For a young Larissa, however, weekends at the Lake House meant cutting butters and filling sugar bowls and Saturday nights spent on the couch with her grandmother peeling carrots for the restaurant next door.
“Ah, yes, child labour,” Alla laughs.
But rather than send her screaming at the very thought of serving another Sunday lunch, those first experiences that turned into pocket-money shifts on the restaurant floor developed into a love of restaurants and hospitality that saw Larissa rejoin the family business as an adult.
Alla says she never allowed herself to dream that one day Larissa would return to the business she and husband Allan began more than 30 years ago, which has since turned into a globally acclaimed hotel, award-winning restaurant (that’s currently ranked 9 in the delicious. 100), cafe and, now, farm that supplies the restaurant with its produce.
“I knew she needed to spread her wings, if she was going to come back she’d need to return on her own terms. I honestly didn’t think she would.
“Daylesford, even 15 years ago, was a very different proposition to what it is now. And she’d done Daylesford. She’d lived in New York. (I thought) Daylesford wouldn’t be sophisticated enough. But when she came back it was like the biggest gift. When she stayed it was an even bigger gift and now she’s still here that’s just enormous,” Alla says.
Larissa, who finished a degree in the US before returning to Australia, is now the brand manager for the hotel, looking after communications, marketing and social media for the pioneering regional drawcard. Larissa’s husband, Robin, is also part of the team, running the restaurant and its celebrated wine cellar.
“I could see what mum and dad had created here at Lake House was really special and unique and I wanted to be a part of that. It wasn’t an ‘aha’ moment, it was more an opportunity to be a part of it growing,” Larissa says.
Starting a business from scratch in regional Victoria in the late 1980s with a four-year-old in tow was not without, as you’d expect, its challenges.
“So many kids don’t have a sense of what their parents do,” Alla says.
“They get up, they go to work. Her whole life has been about what we do, Larissa was part of everything. There was always discussion around the table, drawing on napkins, when we were planning things. I used to be wrenched with guilt, but I felt having her around was such a blessing.”
Living in and around and being part of a 24/7 business meant from a young age, Larissa knew of the unique and constant challenges of the industry.
“For better or worse, I wasn’t sheltered from anything. It’s a fast-paced, creative industry that’s stressful,” she says.
“Now, it’s important for us to each have our own areas of expertise, a clear division of labour. Otherwise you’d potentially tread on each other’s toes.”
Larissa says her mum has taught her to trust her instincts — “she reminds me to trust my intuition, if you’re feeling something it means something and she reminds me to trust it” — while Alla says Larissa reminds her to “be a better person”.
“She is just the best human being. I get gripey about stuff, she calms me down. It’s wonderful to see people respond to her.”
With the recent arrival of twins, Larissa says while the idea of creating an enduring multi-generational legacy is appealing, at just 16 weeks old it’s perhaps a little too early to get them cutting butters.
LIFE IS SWEET
Like so many Greek Australians, Kathy Tsaples’ love of food was handed down from her mother.
But it was not her mum, but rather a cancer diagnosis, that first pushed her into transforming that homegrown love of cooking into the food business that’s now the popular Prahran Market stall, Sweet Greek.
Kathy says that initial cancer diagnosis gave her the confidence to pursue her food dream.
“I had no fear because my fear was consumed by my illness. I thought ‘I have one moment, one chance to pursue this food dream and if it works it works, and if I fail, what does it matter?”
Two cookbooks and a successful battle against her illness later, Kathy says Sweet Greek was only made possible through the support of her husband and two sons.
“My family was instrumental to the starting up of Sweet Greek, encouraging me to fulfil my dream. They sacrificed every spare minute they had to help me rebuild the space with its own kitchen,” she says. “I could not have achieved the success of Sweet Greek that I have without their emotional and financial backing.”
She says food businesses are often by their very nature family businesses.
“Food businesses run better when all the family is involved because, first and foremost, there is trust. The vision is clear and everyone is working towards the same end goal,” Kathy says.
In the beginning the family chipped in with every aspect of the young business, including shopping, cooking, delivering, doing the paper work, banking and serving in the shop. While her sons still pull the occasional shift at the market, they mainly help their mum out with social media and bookkeeping.
Kathy — who nominates her own mother’s galatopita as her first food memory — says whenever she makes the Greek custard tart she imagines her mum is right by her side.
“It was part of our life, comforting and delicious and she made it all the time,” Kathy says.
“I also love Mum’s avgolemono soup. She made it for us we were happy, when we were sad and we always had to have it when we were sick — we call it Greek penicillin. I still eat it all the time and it is a big favourite at the shop.”
ON A ROLL
Roll’d began as a small, hawker-style space in Goldsbrough Lane in the CBD in 2012 and in just a few short years has grown into a chain of more than 60 fast-casual Vietnamese restaurants across the country.
Founded by Bao Hoang and his mother Phien, along with his cousin Tin Ly and school friend Ray Esquieres, their brand of fresh and fast rice paper rolls quickly found many fans, with up to 800 people coming through for lunch each day.
“One of my mum’s famed dishes is her rice paper rolls, and we thought there’s not much difference between that and a sushi roll, so we gave them a go. They were a great success.”
Bao says his mum, who’s known throughout the business as Mama Hoang, along with Mama Ly (his aunt), plays a big part in the business, especially in menu development.
“We love getting to share with everyone the recipes our mums have refined over the years. Mama Hoang still makes all the pho spices that are distributed to all stores nationwide,” he says.
“All meals on our menu are guided by Mama Hoang and Mama Ly before they go through their toughest test of all — quality control.”
He says as matriarch of Roll’d, his mum makes the business of company-owned and franchised stores more than a restaurant chain but “a family” while she, in turn, is pretty chuffed that he called their more up-market CBD restaurant and bar, Mama’s Buoi.
“She loves the idea of calling the restaurant Mama’s Buoi. My brothers and I, we’re all mama buois after all so the name works perfectly,” he says. “She is of course very proud and, to be honest, a little surprised, fascinated and pretty excited about how well received the Vietnamese food and culture is being enjoyed by the masses.”
He says his mum taught him to be loyal and resilient, two key aspects he credits to the continuing growth and success of the business.
“Resilience has been embedded in my upbringing, which was inspired by our journey to Australia. (She also taught us) to dream. We’re optimistic and believe in following our dreams.”
With further growth plans, including international expansion, for those rice paper rolls, Bao says while business is the topic of many family conversations, his mum, like all mums, never ceases to be one.
“She is definitely excited and proud (of the business), but always puts her mama hat on and encourages me to make sure I look after myself, my health and put my family first. She reminds me that success and wealth is no good if I can’t share it with the people I love.”
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