Table for Two

Phillip Hallani

Inspiring and educational interviews with the best business and hospitality operators in Australia and all around the world.

  1. 2022. 06. 09.

    TABLE FOR TWO: Episode 55: Meet Anna Petridis

    Episode #55 is now Live Meet Anna Petridis former owner of Patissez.  Anna and her family have been in business and Hospitlaity their whole lives  After selling their successful school uniform business to Lowes an opportunity to open their own cafe presented itself, so they jumped at the opportunity to open a venues together.  They renovated the existing venue and the cafe Patissez was born.  Within a few months they had lines out the door every day from people travelling all around Australia, thanks to Annas creation  of the freak-shakes, over the top milkshakes that everyone wanted to try.  Within 6 months they had opened their second  store in Canberra which was then followed by stores in Malaysia. Singapore, India and Qatar.  From the outside it looked like Anna and her family were living the best life with all the success in the world, But internally things couldn’t be more different.  Within a few years, they had lost everything, Anna’s  partner left her, they lost their family home and they went into liquidation.  Lost everything except the support of each other and their family.  They stuck together and when her grandmother heard they were struggling she stepped in, bought their original store back from the liquidators, which Anna and her family went back to work in which they eventually bought back off her, turned it around and ended up making it one of canberras best cafes and selling it for a great profit.  Anna will be the first to admit she wasn’t a great business owner and operator but through all of the hardship she has learnt from All the mistakes and come out of it to be an amazing leader and business woman.  I’m so grateful I get to interview amazing people and business owners every week. Every story is so inspiring. But I have to admit this is  most inspiring story I have ever heard and what’s amazing is this is just the start for the Petridis family. Their next venue is amazing Mexican concept called cartel which is the first of its kind in Australia.  We were also grateful to have Anna’s beautiful mother join us and share part of her story with us.

    2시간 27분
  2. 2022. 02. 08.

    TABLE FOR TWO: Episode 52: Meet John Lazarou

    Episode #52 is now Live! Meet John lazarou,  John is one of the founders of the coffee club, which now has over 400 locations world wide.  Johns journey in hospitality started a little different to most successful hospitality operators.  At the age of 15 he left school to take on a hairdressing apprenticeship,  2 years later he quit his job and bought a existing salon, taking two of the seniors at his previous work place while still doing his apprenticeship.  He continued hairdressing for over 10 years, and had a very successful career but one of his biggest mistakes was that he was the face of the salon which put pressure on him to be at the store 7 days a week where he felt trapped.  In 1989 by two of his friends, both named  Emmanuel, were opening a coffee shop called The Coffee Club, and approched him to help out. So he split his time between the salon and The Coffee Club.  It didn’t take long for him to sell his salon and become a partner.  After opening 7 company stores in 5 years, they decided to start franchising with massive success.  They opened over 180 stores before selling 50% of their company to Minor International, one of Thailand's largest resort companies in 2007, they then sold another 20% seven years later, Setting up the original founders for life.  The coffee club started the cafe scene and is one of Australia biggest success stories. I’m very grateful to John for taking the time to chat to me about his journey. One of Johns greatest assets is his ability to make people feel welcome and comfortable and is a massive reason for the success of the coffee club.

    1시간 7분
  3. 2022. 01. 25.

    TABLE FOR TWO: Episode 51: Meet Simon Gloftis

    Episode #51 Meet Simon Gloftis Simon’s journey in Hospitality started in the early days as a teenager selling corn on the cob at the markets, what started as a little side job turned into a very successful business, selling over one thousand corn on the cobs in one day, earning more than some adults would earn in a week. That market stall helped him understand business, people and working with suppliers. At the age of 21, Simon bought a run down cafe in Nobbys beach, and created one of the first genuine espresso bars in The Gold Coast, he went on to open two more successful cafes Little bean and Piccolo. 10 years later Simon opened Hellenika also in nobbys beach. Hellenika is often referred to as one of the first to move the Gold Coast dining scene into an exciting new direction, Introducing share menus, set menus for bigger groups and food Gold Coast never seen before. Hellenika helped put Simon’s name on the hospitality map, he would later open the Fish house and Nineteen at the star. Later Selling all venues to focus on Hellenika Brisbane in The Calile hotel. Hellenika Brisbane has been an unbelieveable success. People travelling all around Australia to stay at The Calile and to eat at Hellenika. Simon also owns SK steak and oyster within the same precinct and is about to open Sushi room and Sunshine which is a project he says is the most important project of his life. I was blown away by Simon’s amazing work ethic, love for Hospitlaity, people and culture, strong focus on high quality produce and creating the best guest experience.

    1시간 25분

소개

Inspiring and educational interviews with the best business and hospitality operators in Australia and all around the world.