Zac Shearer

Hi Zac, how are you? It's really cute here!

Super cute.

I saw a photo and it's actually even more tiny than it looks in the photo.

I run all week to do 15 hours of service, it's crazy. But, welcome. I've just got a little bit of setting up as we talk.I'm at school full time.

What are you studying?

To be a teacher, Home Ec. I'm about to finish my TAE and then I go back second semester Uni. I'm back there tomorrow at eight o'clock. I've got three months of intense coursework. I just want to end up doing some casual Home Ec. I live across the road and I saw this place and I was watching it. And then I said to my partner, I'm just going for a walk. She's like, you never go for a walk. I'd been looking at this New Day Rising. He wanted to sell it. He couldn't sell it. I knew it had a full general license and I just texted him on Instagram and asked, what's happening with this space? He said he couldn't sell it and was about to lease it. So boom, we got it. And here we are.

It's really great. And so this is something that you would continue to do even when you were teaching?

Yeah. Teaching's not high on the agenda. I just knew that I couldn't be a full-time head chef any more and give what they needed me to give. And then this popped up. I had American barbecues in Tassie. Started it with five grand. Ended up with five in a couple of years, we were doing a ton of meat a week, importing it from Adelaide into Hobart each week from Richard Gunner. And it just went silly. I got rid of those places, and we moved over here just before Covid. It is a story.I was at the Lincoln for four years just before Covid to the end of Covid.

You've been in big places and really good places.

Yeah, I was at the Lincoln, when I moved here from Tassie, I was at French Saloon. That's how I met Ian Curley. I was at the Lincoln, I was the group exec for TGI Fridays and Sporting Globe for a year.

So, this is really sustainable, isn't it? You obviously love food and cooking, but to keep that going in a way so that you can enjoy life and so on as well. This is so perfect. Tiny Bar will feed your hospitality slash cooking desires without it being too overwhelming. Is that the idea?

A hundred per cent. The fit out and everything where we're at and the small wine list. We had a budget. We stuck to the budget. When we go home on Sunday, we're not stressing, we haven't tripled out what we're going to spend. It is sustainable. It's manageable. I've got Josh who was at Poodle and Rocco's, he comes in every second Saturday when we've got my daughter for the weekend. And she does Friday nights in here with the three of us. Apart from that, it's just us. We'll do bits and pieces, but we want to keep it all COD. We had that X amount and that's it. What we've made since then means we can grow this bit. We can buy a bit more wine there. We can do a bit more here. Put in the ice machine. We bought the ice machine from last week's takings. It's just a little thing and we knew we needed it. But then all of a sudden people have been lining up here, they were here at 4.45pm last weekend and we're doing handwritten dockets. We just expected some nice little thing, the two of us come in, few locals. Yeah, no.

When did you open?

We opened last Thursday. They had an article on the day we opened.

How does it work, do you think? Because people open and there are articles about them, but some people like you have garnered a reaction. So what is that? You've got a really good name as a chef. People know you from other places?

I don't really know that many people. I'm that dad. I don't know that many chefs. I know the Lincoln guys, good people that I have met. And I suppose that's where I'm lucky. The network that I have met from Ian at the Lincoln and the French Saloon guys and around is pretty amazing, the guys that have helped us out here. Crazy. I think people like to help us. We can't hurt anyone out here. Do you know what I mean? It's sort of like they're in the city, they're doing a big thing, he's got 15 seats with his partner. That's from the Lincoln, that got given to me, everything just keeps coming. That cryovacker I just got yesterday from another restaurant that bought a new one and was like, Zac, do you want my old cryovacker? Cool. Lots of beautiful people around the town have just been, here we go, what can we do to help you? That's what I find amazing.

Don't you think too, although I don't want to put words into your mouth, but I feel like people want to get back to basics. They want to be sitting against a beautiful exposed brick wall in a small cozy setting with people that love hospitality. They're going to have some good snacks, good drinks and it's not huge and overwhelming. I think what happens in Melbourne often is we go from well not so much the sublime to the ridiculous, but we go from huge venues.

The big groups.

Big groups. And they have their role, don't get me wrong. But what people crave is that connection and that the realness of places like this where it feels like you're in someone's kitchen.

Half this stuff is just from our home. We have that much clutter at our house that it is like, right, what could we get out? The posters were $2 at the closing down sale at the place across from the cemetery on Lygon Street and we went opp-shopping.

Was that tiling already there?

The tiling was there and that was it.

That's nice. I love the wooden cupboards.

Same. We're just trying to be smart about it and fun about it, and that's it. To not make it stressful because I've been there, and I've done that.

This wine is so delicious. So you know about wines and things as well?

Not as much. I just like yummy stuff, and we've just used lots of friends. Once again, friends from Tassie that have moved over. Weve got Duncan from MoVida, he's their wine guy. He helped us. His partner Tash is an importer, so we've got a couple of wines off her. Ian has clean skins and let me get some stickers made up and we bought some Prosecco off him. It's just been lovely like that. Jamila's best friend from high school helped us with the martini recipe. Caretakers guys have helped us with bits and pieces of logistics and licensing.

That's so nice. I'm interested in the teaching part of it because I'm a teacher, but I feel like as chefs you have to teach as part of your job anyway. Is that where that comes from as well? Wanting to share your knowledge?

I think so. I think I just wanted to do a little bit more that wasn't in the kitchen screaming and yelling like we probably have over our lives and give a little bit back and maybe not apprentices into high school. I love that thought that they're not too broken yet. Even

though people say what they say about young kids, I don't know. It's kind of a good space to be in and actually teach something that then they can go and eat for the rest of their lives.

I agree. When I spoke to Gabriel Gate, he says that a big problem these days is the kids don't touch food, they just have it presented to them and they don't know the process and they don't even really understand that what people might buy from the supermarket doesn't resemble the original animal and all that kind of stuff. You probably can't go that far in school, but I think it is really important for children to learn where it comes from and what goes into what they're eating and that they can do it themselves and not be afraid of food. I think there are generations that are afraid of food. But do you think, because I love cooking and food and so on, but I think there are certain people, like the really good chefs with all those practical skills and tips and tricks and hacks and being unafraid of it. Do you think everyone can be a chef? Probably everyone can cook, but can everyone be a chef?

I don't think everyone can be a chef. No, I don't think so. I think you have to love it that much to be able to be in it. And it is a different environment in a service situation. You could go and do different roles, don't get me wrong, in different areas of the food industry. But if we're talking about service in a hatted restaurant in the city, then yeah, you do have to be on your toes and think about it and have a pretty thick skin to able to keep going.

I just think the volume and the timing of everything, how do you get multiple meals up, in all different times. I still think that's really amazing. And chefs need to be much more applauded than they are because that is incredible.

Yeah. Look my time management over this week just to be able to get this place open. Mondays is office day, menu planning. Tuesdays is markets and then that's out the whole day; run around, make sure the orders are into that Wednesday, back to Preston markets and then start prepping puffs and making our bread. We're doing all our butter. I cold smoke and do most of our prep Wednesday that we need to do. Everything's really prep heavy. It has to be done. We've only got one salamander. I've got an induction here. We haven't even got that going yet. I need that space. So it virtually is heat and serve now. Peppers are roasted, everything's ready to go.

What is that?

It's the tomato tatin.

It is so beautiful.

House puff, tomatoes from the garden, I'm growing tomatoes, potatoes, corn, all our herbs. Oh it's silly. Im trying to do that bit of Tassie garden to plate. These are from the Preston Market, all different peppers, I just char them all and then with the agrodolce, instead of using raisins, because all the little grapes are around at the moment, it's just a little agrodolce with the grapes. and then mint and pine nuts and stuff over the top. I just flash them and they are done.

So every week it will be different?

Yeah, pretty much. The last two weeks I've kept it the same because we are. Monday, it took me eight hours. I had to replumb all those sinks and I'm not a plumber. And that was three trips to Bunnings and back just to get that little freezer in under there, you can see it's pretty tight. So just things like that at the moment. It'll be fun in a couple weeks when we've stopped the build and we are completely set up. It's logistics.

And choreographing.

Yes. And us dancing together.Saturday night was Josh and my first night and Jamila was at home and my friend, the general manager, Brent from the Lincoln came in at 5.30 for a drink with his partner and he left at 10.30 after working all night. It was crazy. It's been a whirlwind. Insane. We're doing 50, 60 covers in our five hours.

Wow. Because you're so good obviously. What a problem. And where did it all start for you? I know Tassie, but did you always know you wanted to be a chef?

Yeah, pretty much. My mum was flying me over for Good Food and wine shows and Jamie Oliver and Rick Stein back when he was the first cook. Dad was a deep-sea trawl fisherman, Fortuna seafoods off the west coast of Tassie. I grew up around a lot of seafood. They had the filet-o-fish contract. So that's what we did. I've always been around food. I loved getting out and doing bits and pieces and yeah, I dropped out of Grade 10 and became an apprentice. I moved from La Trobe to Hobart and was qualified just before my 18th birthday. Then when I went back to school last year, that was the first time I had to finish Grade 10 doing my bits and pieces.

Right, and you have to relearn how you learn, I suppose.

That's it. It's been fun. I enjoy it. It's a great team. The guys that are in there, it's a mixed group, firies and nurses. All different trades wanting their training and assessment qualification.

That will be helpful when you are teaching to remember that there are all different kinds of learners and to be open to that.

That's what's been really nice about this and it'd be good to learn a bit more about that I think going into your cooking, all the different people, how to handle those people, the different ways and learning techniques and all those things you learn. But I mean that's part of teaching. For head chefs, it's that repetition of whoever the first last person who taught them flows on and on. Whereas it's quite nice to actually learn from a teacher how to teach people properly and I've learned too and I think I've been a better chef for it since doing this course. One hundred per cent. And you'd hope so as well, seeing as I'm going to be a teacher.

How do you handle the stress? I feel like it could be quite stressful here as well because, as you say, there are different people coming through and it's a small space. Hopefully it's a more enjoyable experience than some of those bigger kitchens. What do you do to deal with it?

Oh, I'm a pretty stressful person. I don't know how I deal with it. I don't really, yeah, you just keep kicking.

Jamila: You need to have a reaction and then you move on though. He doesn't hold on to things. Hell be in the intensity for a moment and then we're done straight away.

Can you do that in this space?

No, not at all. I did that 15 minutes ago. When youve run all week, I've planned all week to the nth degree to be able to do this, to do that. Then there are just those little things. One person forgot something yesterday. You are like driving those little couple of things that just throw you. At the moment it's hard because its not down to the wire. But at the moment it's a little bit more stressful. I hope in the next few weeks, as I said once we're not building, we're not painting, we're not doing that stuff. Losing a whole day on plumbing. You're in above your head trying to do things because that's small business.

What do you love about hospitality and food?

I do like just serving the people really. And that's what I like about this. It is nice. It is a home environment. I get to go to the markets. I cook fifteen of each dish and that's it. It's beautiful. We're not mass producing. I get to work with Jamila. I get to work with Josh, Ive had some good friends coming through. It has been a nice collaboration of people, and the people coming in here, it's lovely. You do get to see them. You're not in a kitchen just deep frying and slogging it out and you know, next, next, next, next. It's beautiful as long as you're ready. That's the thing. As long as you're ready. That's what we want and we're nearly there, where we can just be like right, Monday's a day off Tuesday, the alcohol's done. Wednesday's my cook day, Thursday, a little bit of garnish stuff. That's it. Friday, Saturday, I might have to go to the markets and put another dish on somewhere. Happy days. Run up to Preston Markets and find something.

How great are Preston markets? I live in Port Melbourne so I feel like I'm far away, butI went to a cooking class at Brunswick Kitchen and the teacher, Tracy Lister had bought all of the things at Preston market. It was the best swordfish I'd ever seen. She had a banana flower and it was all so good.

That's what I like. There's a bit more running around with this because I don't hit minimum orders to have heaps of suppliers. I get Savour and Grace for my salamis and bits every fortnight and they're amazing. I'm using DK Seafoods and he delivers to me daily for four dozen oysters a day. Apart from that, you get to see everything. It's there.

Are you at that point where your inspiration is the produce? Or do you still look to other things like cookbooks or Instagram?

I had whole menus planned for this and cookbooks and I haven't put one dish on yet. Josh and I went to the markets and we were just like, whoa. We were just buying stuff and then thinking about what we wanted to do. It was heaps of fun. That was nice. He just got back from Saigon, we'd worked together a lot. So that first couple of weeks was just our manic energy. Two kids just running around going, right, let's get this done. I think the food's bloody come out amazing.

I'm not going to change it for a week or so. I like the finer things, like, chicken ballotine. I've got a scallop and abalone mortadella we're working on and the charcuterie fridges at home. I think I've already bit a little bit off than we can chew. Everyone's already waiting outside. We only want 15 people. We want it to be a lifestyle. We want to have good service, good food, but we still want to enjoy each other's company and have our relationship and have our fun and have our Sundays. We're not going to say every second Sunday, but we're opening this Sunday. We haven't told anyone yet. We'll say on Friday night, we're opening Sunday, 12 to 3pm. We'll be in here.

So nice. I love it. And so maybe just to finish, and I feel like you've touched on this a bit already, but just to sum up, what would your advice be to a young person starting out as a chef?

I reckon just do it. Have a crack. It is hard work. You do have to love it, but it's not all bad. It's not as bad as it used to be. The pay is not too bad these days. There are good working conditions. There are great restaurants and chefs that want to teach you. It's a pretty good time to have a crack, I reckon. Something like this isn't that scary. You can do things and you don't need that big backer. I think that's what I liked about this, it is that we have done it on a small amount. You might not buy a house or a Mercedes-Benz, but it's good lifestyle. And it works. So you can do it. That's all.

Tiny Bar, 221D Blyth Street, Brunswick East

Photography credit Bernard Chege Mbuthi @photobychege