ALANNA SAPWELL
JUSTDAYS INTOTHECOVID-19
PANDEMIC,ARCDININGANNOUNCED
ITWASCLOSING ITSDOORS FOR
GOOD.NOW,ALANNASAPWELLIS
GOINGITALONE,OPENINGPOP-UP
RESTAURANT ESMAY IN NOOSA.T
heclosureofArcwasa shocktothe
system.It wassucha hardtimeforanyone
thathada business.It wasa difficult
thingtohappentoourindustryandthe
pandemicdidnotdiscriminate.EvenArc– which
waspartofa largeorganisation– wasn’texempt.
Noweveryonehasmovedon;theclosurehas
alloweda lotofstafftopursueotheroptionsthey
mightnothavehadtheopportunityto.Andeven
thoughArcis closed,thebondswehaveandthe
feelingoffamilyis stillthere.
Aftertheinitialshockworeoff,I startedto
enjoymyself.Inroleslikemine,youneverreally
gettimeoff.It wasguilt-freerealtimeoff– I think
a lotofpeoplefeltthatway.I hadneverreally
exerciseda lot,soI gotintothat.It wasa nice
waytomeetwithpeopleforanhour– andit was
refreshingtoseepeopleina differentsetting.
SomeofmyfavouritedayswerewhenI’d
doa trainingsessionwithmyoldmanagers.
Thisperiodalsogavemethetimetoreflect.
It mademerealisethatI hadbeenmakingthe
rightdecisions– I didwanttobeinQueensland,
I wantedtobeclosetomyfamilyandI wanted
tobeworkingwithgreatproduce.
I alsospenttimetalkingtootherpeopleinthe
industry.It wascomfortingthateveryonewasinthe
sameboat,andwewereallthereforoneanother.
OnepersonI spoketoa lotwasDanielleGjestland
fromWasabiinNoosa.I startedtolookat the
possibilityofdoingsomethingmoreindependent.
NowI havetakenontheWasabispacewith
myownpop-up,Esmay.I’mstillworkingwith
a lotofmyfavouriteproducersandwe’refocused
onprovidinga funtimeat anapproachableprice
point.Daniellehasbeena mentortosomany
intheindustry.She’slettingit bemyownthing,
butalsoofferingsomuchhelp.
Arcwassucha fantasticopportunity– I got
a chancetoreallystepintotheheadchefrole.
Nowit’sa newlearningcurveformetoseethe
restaurantasa whole,notjustfromthekitchen.
I neverthoughtI wouldbeinthisposition– chefs
justdon’thavethatmuchmoney.Tohavean
opportunitythat’srelativelyturn-keyandaccessto
a waterfrontrestaurant– I’mprettymuchpinching
myself that it’s happening.esmaypopup.com.au➤“It’sa newlearningcurveforme
toseetherestaurant asa whole,
not just from the kitchen.”GOURMET TRAVELLER 57PHOTOGRAPHY JESSICA BRENT (XINYI LIM) & PANDORA PHOTOGRAPHY (ALANNA SAPWELL).