How John Rivera Built His Dream Restaurant Without Sacrificing Time With His Kids

John Rivera spent his twenties in fine dining kitchens.

Working every Saturday. Missing birthdays. Missing weddings.

Then he opened his own restaurant — and found himself video-calling his kids from the pass just to see them awake.

Something had to change.

In this episode, John — chef and owner of Ascal Restaurant, Inman bar, and Filipino gelato concept Carton — talks about the decision that shifted everything. The boundaries he set, the systems he built, and how he went from working every day on the tools to dropping his kids at kinder before heading into work at midday.

He didn't give up the craft. He just refused to let it cost him everything else.

You'll hear:

00:00 – Born in the Philippines, raised in New Zealand, built in Melbourne 

02:00 – 10 years in fine dining and what it conditions you to accept 

05:00 – The viral dish that was costing more than it made 

08:00 – Why your numbers are scarier to avoid than to face 

13:00 – Two turbulent years and what the growing pains taught him 

15:00 – Three days without seeing his kids awake 

17:00 – The decision: set the boundary before the burnout 

25:00 – Letting staff take risks and why protecting your ego costs more 

30:00 – Partnership lessons the hard way 

40:00 – Building community vs chasing foot traffic 

45:00 – What's coming and how to get ahead of it

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New episodes every Wednesday.