Pamella Tomio

How are you? It looks like a busy day.

We have a function for around 60 people downstairs, plus in-room dining and people for breakfast, and then walk-ins as well, so it's been a busy day already and it is only 10am.

I've spoken to Ian before and Shannon, so it is lovely to get to talk to you. First of all, to my shame, I haven't been into Lona Misa before and it's really cool. Imagine staying in a hotel like this. I think it's incredible.

We receive lots of great feedback about the vibe of the hotel, how people get approached when they walk in. This is a very important thing for us. It's to give the vibes before giving the service when they walk in, so they feel embraced already. This is part of what we do.

How long have you been here?

It's been two years and a little bit.

So, from the start?

Pretty much. Three or four weeks after they opened. But I started as a little chef to where I am now. But I grew up in a family that has hospitality in their veins. My mum runs a business as well, but she provides food to other companies. She is more like a wholesaler than open kitchen. She provides food to bakeries and small shops. During Covid she was working even more than average because she was providing food for bakeries and they were the only ones open, so it was quite busy for her. I grew up watching her work, waking up at 2.00am in the morning to be able to do her job.

Was that here or in Brazil?

It was back home in Brazil. I was seven when she opened her business, but she got pregnant with my sister and then she decided she didn't want to work for companies anymore. So she opened a small business and then she started growing it, and I grew up with her at the same time. I was always working with her in the kitchen, you know, being around, seeing what she was doing, learning a little bit and learning with her as well. As a small business, you learn with time. Especially back home. It's not like in Australia where people have enough money to go and try to learn from scratch. So I was growing up and growing my career with her as well.

That's amazing. What a great start.

Thats why I'm very passionate, not only because I love the job that I'm doing right now, but because I've always loved being around food, it's where people get connected.

You learned on the job and then what was next?

I saw the good side and the bad side of hospitality. When I was 19, I decided to go to Portugal to do my studies there, but I did Graphic Design. Then when I went back home I wasnt sure about it, and I was really passionate about hospitality. I decided to step back from design and get back into hospitality. When I was 22-ish, I opened my own businesses with my brother, which was a restaurant. Same as my mom, it was very little. I was working in the kitchen, my brother was working front of house and it was only the two of us. Then we got to the point of having 10 employees, so we grew with the business as well.

Then when I was 27-ish, lots of things were happening my personal life and I decided I didn't want to live in Brazil anymore because I was a bit scared. I was in an abusive relationship, and I needed to leave, otherwise I would have been in the situation of going back with my ex at the time. And I said, I'm going to go to somewhere that I can work and do my things and not worry about it. I had three options. One was Ireland, and then Canada and Australia.I chose Australia and then I came here and never left. It's been four years.

That's so great. And obviously you're enjoying it here. And you made it through lockdown and all of hard times for hospitality. Well for everyone, but for hospitality in particular.

Yes. But in 2015 I had started my degree in gastronomy and in Brazil it's like cookery, but university. I graduated and then right after I finished is when I moved to Australia. So when I came here I had my diploma already and I knew this was the path that I wanted to be on and work. Then I found that man Curley. I love working with him.

He is incredible. The number of businesses that he has started and sustained so successfully. What a great opportunity. And to be with Shannon as well.

Yes. I really, really enjoy working with them. Curley gives me very hard time at all times. But it really works for me because we have like the same goals, we have the same attitude, and we know what we want to achieve. And when I'm feeling a little bit lost, he goes, get back on track. Oh, okay, now I'm back.

Because obviously he trusts you and knows that you're capable of doing it. So it's great to have someone have your back like that, isn't it? How does it work? You are the head chef here, but do you work in consultation with Ian and Shannon or how does it work?

Yes. I've also worked at Kirk's, one of chef Curley's other restaurants, And French Saloon as well. When they were opening Amphlett House, I went there to help them with the opening, setting up the kitchen, working on the recipes alongside chef Ben who is head chef there. I did around two months work there as well for the opening. Then when they had everything set, I came back here, but I was sous chef here at the time and then lots of things were happening and then they chose me to be in charge of Lona Misa Kitchen. It has been really amazing. Our team here is very, very good and I trust my team as well as they trust me. So we have been working amazingly together.

You said you started off as a 'little chef' here. What did you mean?

I came because I was head chef in a cafe when I started here, but I was feeling a little bit bored, so I thought Id find another job in the meantime so I can learn something else on the side. And this cafe that I was working was in Fitzroy and in Fitzroy, it's very funky and there are lots of vegan people there. So I found Lona Misa and thought I could work here and learn something so that I, could maybe bring this vegan environment to my kitchen as well.

Then when I came here I was like, oh, I really love this place. I really love what they do here. So I was doing a bit of both at the timeand I got really passionate about vegan food and what vegan food can bring in terms of flavours because it's not easy to be a chef that is used to working with animal protein, then it's very hard for you to make great food and to make your customer not to feel like they're missing something when it is vegan. Here, it is really nice because no one feels like they are missing out on something. Like, I wish I had a piece of steak because the food that we provide, is good enough to make them feel, oh I love this. I don't miss anything about it. I have always enjoyed working with all of these flavours that we can bring with vegan food. People give us feedback, saying, oh my God, this is amazing. How do you do this? You know, and sometimes it's just extra heat, sometimes it's just extra salt, but it's the way of we cook and the passion we put on that makes it work really well together.

OK, well let's maybe talk a bit more about the food. I know your winter menu is Latin inspired.

Yes, it is always towards Latin food. We use lots of fresh herbs. There is always lots of coriander, lots of mint, but also lots of spices. And it's a bit tricky when people say I don't eat spicy. Then we ask them just to try, because they will really enjoy it even though it's a little bit spicy at the end, you feel like it's nourishing, it's moreish and fills you up. It's not too much. And me personally, I have always enjoyed bringing sweet and savoury dishes to the table because I feel like it complements on your palate. Right now we have the watermelon salad; thats one of my favourites. It's so beautiful to the eyes and also in the mouth because it's what you expect from a watermelon, but at the same time it's not, it's very hard to explain. You have to try it. And now we are bringing a few more things from the Josper as well.

Yes. Is that unusual for plant-based restaurants to be using the Josper?

I believe we are the only plant-based restaurants that owns a Josper because usually it's used to cook steaks on because of the high temperatures. We cook vegetables at around 400 to 500 degrees. It brings out all of the sugars from the veggies.

What's a dish from the menu featuring veggies cooked on the Josper?

We have the Tacu tacu that is eggplant. We also have celeriac, which we call sea celeriac because it brings a seaweed flavour to it. Oh. But it's josper and then seaweed and alongside with some almonds. So it's very complex and simple at the same time. But it's beautiful. It's more like a seafood style of veggie. Of course we are still serving the Peri peri chicken that is one of the favourites. Everyone talks about the chicken because of its texture, it's very, very similar to a traditional chicken made on the barbecue grill.

What do you use?

It's gluten based. But it's the peri peri sauce that makes it. It's also like sugars and stuff. So when we grill it, it creates that skin that resembles chicken skin.

I know that vegan cheese has been problematic in the past, but I think nowadays it is getting better. Do you make your own cheese here or are you getting it from someone else?

We outsource it, but we add flavours because when you buy vegan cheese, the most problematic thing about it is that it is very plain, so people expect to get lots of flavours from it, but it is very plain. That is changing now because of the market. Lots of people don't become vegan from being vegetarian because they say they cant do without cheese. So the market is getting much better for cheeses, but the ones we use, they're very plain. And then we add on the flavours. So we do marinate them for 10 days to bring out the flavours that we want.

And what's it like being in this hotel situation? Do you have to also do room service?

Yes. We do in room dining here, it's not a very big menu. We have around 12 dishes on the menu, but then we also have the Backroom Bar, which is not Shannon Martinez, but it's Ovolo only. So it's two different types of brands. We have Lona Misa, then we have Backroom Bar, and we have our function spaces. So for Backroom Bar we can do up to 80 people for a function. Then we have Benny and the Jets, where we can do 30 people.

How many rooms in the hotel is it a big place?

Around 120 rooms. It's quite big actually. All the rooms have the same vibes, so if you walk into the rooms, they look beautiful as well.

I don't know if I'd want to leave if I was staying here. You've got this down here, beautiful rooms.

Yeah. We also have the social hour for in-room guests. So every day from 4 to 5pm we have some snacks and free wines or free beer. So people that are staying in the hotel can gather around and make some friends and talk to people there in the same situation who are visiting another city. So we have a one hour gap that people can go into their own gatherings.

Great idea. I love that. This feels like a really amazing place to work and I've been speaking to chefs a lot lately about wellbeing and mental health and hospitality and I know that the kitchen can be a really challenging place, but it sounds as though there are some good things set up here so that it's a good place to work. What do you think is important in the kitchen to create that sense of wellbeing and good vibe?

I think mainly it's good working hours because we know the kitchen it can be hectic. As head chef, I always try to get them to work their proper hours. Not to do overtime too much. Not to be, oh, we are going to work six days a week and doubles every day. I want my chefs to do their correct hours instead of over working. And of course working in hospitality, most of them, they have partners as well. They're also in hospitality and they're doing 16 hours a day and I say, Jesus Christ guys, this is one of the things that I do not want any of you doing.

At the end of the day, you're putting your health in danger and this is the most important thing. Besides your work, you are the one that is living with yourself 24 hours a day. So you need to look after yourself. Every week we do our meetings with the chefs and front ofhouse and I always tell them, it's my job to put everything together so you don't overwork. So I'll do my best to make it work for you guys. And when they ask me, oh, can we take leave? Of course. It's not even something you should not consider. You are doing your job and you earned your time off, so please go and do it. They know they can rely on us to say, you can take your time off if you need.

And then how do you look after yourself if you're looking after everybody else?

I'm crazy. Then I have Chef Curley that he tells me, Pamella, you are working too much. So he's the one that looks after me. Im not joking. He's always on top of how many hours I've done and he tells me to take a break.

You obviously love it. What do you think it is about cooking and hospitality that's kept you in it?

As I said before, I love the table environment. It's something that I've always been passionate about. It reminds me of family, it reminds me of cosiness, you know, safety. It's where you sit, you put your armour down and you say, okay, now I'm going to relax. I'm going to have some soup, or whatever it is. When you are sitting in front of the table, you have the people you love around. It can be either your family, your friends, your co-workers.The table is always a place where you can see people being relaxed and laughing without worrying. You know, it's where we leave everything behind and we think, okay, now is my time. So I think that's the thing that for me. It's the table concept.

That is so beautiful. And just to finish off with, with all your experience in hospitality, what would your advice be to someone who was thinking about becoming a chef?

It's mainly to look after yourself because you cannot look after anyone else if you don't look after yourself. We try to look after others, but we don't take a look at ourselves and you cannot cook beautiful food or do your job properly if you are not in good health. It can be your physical health or mental health. It is a subject that we are bringing up nowadays. And try to get good sleep, that is very important. But always look after yourself, because you can only look after others if you're in good condition yourself.

Lona Misa, 234 Toorak Road, South Yarra