Keeping faith: why I’m trying to look on the bright side

Doing, then undoing, became all too familiar to the hospitality industry in 2021. I thought this year would be different...

Raring to go: John Lethlean

And here we go again. One of my less fond memories of 2021 was planning an interstate restaurant reviewing trip – booking flights, hotels, restaurants, even lining up a few buddies to eat with – and then un-booking the whole lot. Not once, not twice, but four times. For the same non-trip. Yes, first world problems and all that.

The experience of doing something time-consuming with no productive outcome – doing, then undoing – has become familiar to the broader hospitality industry over the past 20 months or so. Can you imagine the man/woman hours that have gone into arranging meals, functions, conferences, weddings, events, meetings, bar mitzvahs – only to have to wind back the whole lot? So much has been wasted during this ghastly period.

Stuck at home – more or less – for the past 18 months, there were times early in the piece when I thought, “How fabulous is this?” No airports, Ubers, hotels, strange beds… reduced contact with the world means reduced chance of Covid, right? Phase One of the pandemic was, in short, a relief.

We then moved slowly but inexorably to Phase Two; a sort of indifference about the situation. Yes, I was missing the razzmatazz of getting about the big cities, trying new restaurants, taking the pulse of the dining nation, so to speak, from a table or high chair in the corner with a glass of something interesting at hand. On the flip side, however, I live in a lovely place and it’s really not a chore to be stuck at home. Comme ci, comme ca.

Phase Three arrived surreptitiously. It was a gradual realisation that Paradise doesn’t always dance to the sound of angels with golden harps. That the good thing about living somewhere lovely is going away then coming home, on a frequent basis, to give it meaningful context. And that a gig writing commentary on the country’s restaurants is not only a serious responsibility but a real pleasure. Sometimes, a complete lark.

I began to realise, too, that the downsides of this lifestyle – the aforementioned nuts and bolts of being away from home, the “forgot my underpants” moments – are in fact a small price to pay. It was my wife who said it with characteristic clarity when I may have grumbled something about hitting the road again despite shining sun and a beckoning beach: “Wake up to yourself; you’re a very fortunate person.” Yes, well.

So towards the end of last year, with the world seemingly about to reopen, and the word to “go” from above, it wasn’t without some trepidation that I set the wheels in motion for a return to duty.

The itinerary? Drive to Perth, review a new place; fly to Brisbane the next morning and scout around for reviewable restaurants (to be honest, this is the first decision and everything else flows from that), no easy task given that reservations can be a real issue these days. Like when you want to visit a vaunted 14-seater that does five services a week and you’re only trying to get in three weeks in advance. Then fly back to Perth and drive south to home – about three hours of dodging cars in the only state of Australia where indicators for a motor vehicle are an optional extra. In total, five nights, five restaurants. Lots of pictures and notes. Hopefully some clear opinions. And bonus: no quarantine at home. Adelaide and Hobart next. Well that was the plan. In the event it all had to be cancelled, again.

What is truly staggering, however, is that all of these were new restaurants. Beacons of faith in a return to times when going out for a meal would be something we’d feel comfortable with. Because there must have been times for many existing and would-be restaurant operators, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney over the past 20 months, that a sense of hopelessness simply engulfed them.

As always, there has been attrition, but also this incredible fecundity; the grasslands get burned and the subsequent renewal is a miracle of nature – or in this case, entrepreneurial optimism. The list of new restaurants in Sydney alone since last I visited is quite staggering. The major problem is that so many can’t find staff to operate properly.

So, for now, our reviews are on hold. Again. It’ll change very soon; that I fervently hope.