Ides is #59 on the AFR Top 100 Restaurants list. Here, co-owner Peter Gunn shares the lessons he learnt when opening his restaurant in Collingwood, Victoria, and the wise words he received from mentors who helped him to not make a meal of it.
Opened: March 2016 Previous experience: Cooked at roving pop-up IDES, Attica, Ezard, Royal Mail Hotel
Do you have a mentor whom you rely on for advice?
I went to see a life coach; we put together a step-by-step plan. One of the first things was to find some mentors 10 years ahead of where I was. Another was to find some business partners. I had a newsletter and I wrote that I'm looking for a backer. Then I got a message from David [Mackintosh, now his business partner and co-founder of MoVida and Pei Modern, which closed this year].
Biggest learning moment?
A couple of weeks after we opened we got a scathing restaurant review, our very first review. The very thing we put so much effort into meant nothing for a day; I felt bankrupt. I learnt it was one person's opinion and I needed to just go my path. We haven't changed anything since that day. I've had great reviews, and we might pick up one or two bookings from the review. I've also had very negative reviews and we've also had one or two bookings from that.
What advice would you give young chefs starting their own restaurant?
No one will ever care as much [about the business] as you will care. You've got to pick your battles, be frugal and trust the process. Not everything needs to happen immediately.
Was there a challenging situation that a mentor helped you navigate?
Ben [Shewry, Attica chef] helped me through the birth of my first son. He was very supportive, saying the job doesn't change but you've got to be able to balance a bit more. A simple thing would be taking two weeks off when the baby was born, but he said, no, no, take six weeks. We've got a baby girl due in August, it's going to be exciting.
The AFR Magazine Culinary issue is out on Friday, June 30 inside The Australian Financial Review.
