How These Melbourne Restaurants Are Rethinking Training and Mentorship

Melbourne’s hospitality scene is undergoing a quiet shift. Beyond wine lists and tasting menus, a small number of operators are putting mentorship and long-term career development at the centre of how they run their venues. Rather than sticking to the traditional hierarchies, they’re creating spaces where chefs, bartenders and floor staff can grow, take ownership and shape the future of the industry.

Residence, a new Parkville restaurant from Nathen Doyle (Sunhands, Open House) and Cameron Earl (ex-Carlton Wine Room), is one of them. Each year, an up-and-coming chef runs the kitchen, shapes the concept and receives a share of profits with full visibility over how the business operates. The idea is to give someone the experience and tools to eventually open a venue of their own.

The first chef-in-residence Robbie Noble isn’t just in charge of service, he’s involved in every part of running a restaurant, from rosters and budgeting to staff management. Doyle and Earl are there too, offering practical guidance without micromanaging. “We’re not pretending we’ve nailed it,” Doyle says. “We’re working it out as we go. But the idea is to build someone up, give them the tools, then get out of the way.” Earl adds, “We’ve both had people do that for us. There’s a real satisfaction in giving someone the confidence and the skills to take the next step.”

The team is building a group-wide framework that maps out how anyone, from a barback to a head chef, can move forward. That includes proper check-ins, clear progression, and resisting the impulse to rely on long hours to get the doors open. “The easiest thing would’ve been to just roster everyone for 60 hours and power through,” Earl says. “But we’re not doing that. It’s not sustainable, and it’s not how we want to work.”

Rethinking how teams and people are trained for the future isn’t just the work of independents. In October 2025, restaurateur Chris Lucas launched Collective Foundation, a not-for-profit aiming to support the industry’s long-term sustainable future with a significant focus on training and education. The foundation is currently researching educational needs in the industry and has partnered with La Trobe University to design new hospitality training courses.

Martin Benn and Vicki Wild are also thinking long-term. The pair formerly behind Sepia are overseeing the food and beverage offering at private wine club 67 Pall Mall, opening on Spring Street in 2026. The club will have four separate venues across multiple floors, but for Benn and Wild, the real draw is the chance to build a new kind of training ground.

“We don’t want to do another restaurant ourselves,” Wild says. “This is a great opportunity to give back and provide a really good training foundation for the next generation. Because the industry doesn’t have it anymore. There aren’t any great training grounds.” As Benn puts it: “Mentoring is not just about popping in – it’s more about being there.”

At Etta in Brunswick East, owner-operator Hannah Green has consistently backed her team to step into bigger roles, sometimes before they believe they’re ready. When she first called Lorcán Kan about taking on the head chef role, he didn’t think she was ready for it. A week later, he called back and said, “Let’s do it together,” Green says.

Her current restaurant manager came up through the floor team. A former supervisor led the opening of Green’s new venue, Daphne. “They’re doing the work. I’m just the person in their corner saying, ‘You can do this.’”

Green’s approach is direct. Most of her mentorship happens one-on-one: writing rosters, costing dishes, talking through service and systems. She’s recently brought on hospitality consultancy PAX to help formalise those processes and give her team more autonomy.

“I had people believe in me early on,” she says. “I was 23 when I was given the manager role at Attica. I wasn’t ready, but someone gave me that chance. Now it’s my job to do the same.”