Coronavirus: Thinking outside the square serves up success

An inner Sydney chef has spoken of the ‘creative’ rethink – sparked by COVID-19 – that gave business a new life.

‘We tried to be different to everyone else’: Michael Rantissi. Picture: Jane Dempster

The coronavirus pandemic could have quite easily spelled the death of his inner-city Sydney restaurants but instead Michael Rantissi credits the public health lockdown with actually giving his business a “new life”.

The chef, who has owned Kepos Street Kitchen in Redfern since 2012 and Kepos & Co in ­Waterloo from 2015, said he had “had enough of the world” when strict COVID-19 isolation restrictions forced him to close both restaurants in late March.

Chef Michael Rantissi says his venues are a COVID success story. Picture: Jane Dempster

“The whole world went into this meltdown and people started getting scared of walking near other people on the street,” the 43-year-old said.

“But it gives you time to re­assess what the business is about and what can you actually do that is creative.”

Rantissi said it was about March 20, when the pandemic forced him to take a four-week break, that he was pushed into a rethink of his business model, which then propelled it into greater success than before.

“What we did is tried to be a ­little bit different to everyone else,” he said.

“We started with a deli.

“While everyone else was trying to do a lasagne, meatballs and more comfort food, we tried to do more Mediterranean, Israeli slash Middle Eastern takeaway.”

The Kepos & Co eatery remained closed throughout the lockdown period but Kepos Street Kitchen came alive, serving homemade delicacies including dips, relishes, tahini, salads, stews and soups.

Business boomed.

“I would easily say we had a 25 per cent increase in new customers,” Rantissi said. After just one week of the temporary deli-style food that was served from mid-April, he decided it should be permanent.

So he “went and renovated the whole place and added an actual deli”.

Mr Rantissi at Kepos Street Kitchen. Picture: Jane Dempster

Both restaurants have now reopened as the number of people ­allowed inside indoor venues in NSW is determined by the one person per 4sq m rule, with no upper limit.

Although Kepos Street Kitchen and Kepos & Co have recovered and thrived on the back of the COVID-19 pandemic, they did have to reduce operating hours.

“We used to do dinner before (at Kepos Street Kitchen), we dropped our lunches from Kepos & Co,” he said.

“But what we have been able to do is retain all our existing staff, and that has been pretty ­remarkable.”

He said beyond finding new ways to serve his loyal customers quality products, the aim to keep all of his staff is what “enticed him to reopen and think a bit more out of the box”.

“It’s been remarkable to be able to bring our staff back,” he said.

“We operate our business like a family, we argue but then we end up hugging.

“I think what kept the businesses alive was everybody pulling their weight and everybody believed in the same mission together,” he added.

Rantissi’s restaurants have been visited by celebrities, including actresses Margot Robbie and Toni Colette, but he said the star-studded attention has not changed the businesses’ core values.

“We thrive ourselves on quality, and we like that when people walk into our venues, they feel like they are coming home.”