AFTER 30 YEARSINTHEINDUSTRY,
ATAVOLA’SEUGENIOMAIALEIS
EMBRACINGANEWBUSINESSMODEL
ANDWILLRETURNTOTHEKITCHEN
WITHARENEWED LOVE OF COOKING.EUGENIO MAIALEW
henCovid-19firsthitI almost
didn’tbelieveit.It wasn’tuntil
twoweeksbeforewehadtoshut
downthatI reallystartedthinking
abouttherealityofit.Allofa sudden,thetap
wasjustturnedoff.
MywifeMichelleandI, andmybusiness
partnersworkedharderthanwehaveinourlives,
dealingwiththestressoftheclosureandtrying
togeteverythinginorder– betweensortingout
superannuation,suppliersandlettinggoofstaff- I justwantedtocrawlintoa hole.
I startedtoquestioneverything– waswhatwe’d
workedforacross 30 yearsintheindustry,and 14
yearsontheA Tavolagroup– worthit? Somuch
ofhospitalityis aboutconfidence– andtoquestion
thatwashard.Therewasa weekwhereI wentinto
a really dark space. But we also knew we had to be
positive andwehadtomakeit work.Wehadn’t
comethisfartothrowit away.Weputourheads
togetherandstartedthinkingofwaystosurvive- stilldeliveringthehighstandardoffoodwelove
doing.Westartedbypackingourpasta;andall
ofa suddenwefoundthisnewopportunity.I’d
alwayswantedtocreatea centralisedplacewhere
wecantestandcreatepastaandtrainourstaff.
NowI’vetakenovertwovacantbakeriesat the
Tramshedsprecincttocreatea centralisedpasta
productionkitchen,andcreatedA Tavolaat
Home.We’vehadsomuchsupportfromour
staffandlocals.We’vealsoinheritedanamazing
wood-oven– andwe’reexcitedtobelaunching
ourownfocaccerialaterthisyear.It’sa newmarket
forusandonethatI’vealwayspushedaway.I had
tunnelvision– it’shardnotto.WhatI triedto
initiallyavoidis whatsavedus.
It’sfunnyhowthingsinliferepeat– when
I firstopenedA TavolainDarlinghurstin2006,
it wasjustmeinthekitchen.Wehadmyclose
friendNickfromGelatoMessinaandmywife
Michelleonthefloor.Astheyearsmovedonand
weopenedmorerestaurants,I movedoutofthe
kitchentorunthebusinesses.NowI’vegottothis
stagewhereI’msoexcitedtogetbackintothe
kitchen.We’veguttedthewholerestaurantand
givenit a totalrefresh– andit’sthesamefeeling
ofwhenwefirstopenedallthoseyearsback.
It’slikefashion,it alljustcomesbackaround.
NowI ampumpedandreadytogetbackin
there– I wanttobeonthepansandfullyimmerse
myselfagain.It’shardwork,butit’sbeautiful.
Thishasbeena bigreset.Nowwe’reonly
goingtobeopenfivedays– andtakingthetwo
days offtrulyformyselfandthefamily.It’salso
aboutofferingourstaffa goodplacetoworkand
a q ualityoflife.It’sreallyopenedoureyestowhat’s
important.Closethedoor,gohomeandbea really
goodfatherandhusband.Insteadofbeingstuck
ina timewarp.Inthisindustry– thehardestthing
is toswitchoff.ButnowI’verealised,whywaste
theenergy?I amgoingtoputthatenergyintonew
dishes.Talkingtostaff.Openinga bottleofwine,
drinkingit,talkingaboutit andlearningaboutit.
Becauseevenat myagethere’salways something
more to learn.atavola.com.au
58 GOURMET TRAVELLER