This year, we’re proud to be collaborating with our friends at Fine Food Australia to host the Culinary Stage 2025.
We’ve curated six practical workshops designed to cut through the noise and confusion around sustainability in hospitality. These aren’t fluffy inspiration sessions; they’re real, grounded, and packed with tools you can actually use to build more resilient, profitable, and low-impact operations.
Across the program, we’re collaborating with 24 chefs, operators, suppliers, producers, and experts who are making sustainability part of their everyday business decisions, whether it’s through food waste reduction, smarter procurement, circular systems, or ethical sourcing.
We’re also bringing in amazing resource partners like North Sydney Council, GoodFish, Harvest Stack, and the Circular Economy Club Sydney, so you don’t need to learn everything about everything, but you’ll know exactly where to go to find the right information when you need it.
As part of the stage, we’ve developed a Hospitality Sustainability Toolkit, a no-fluff, practical guide full of checklists, cheat sheets, and templates designed to help food service businesses take immediate action. It’s free for all Culinary Stage attendees.
Check the schedule below and come join us.
TTFC - The Table Food Consultants
Culinary Stage
10.30 am - 11.15 am
Let’s be honest, most people are still trying to figure out what sustainability actually means for hospitality.
This session is about stripping it back and keeping it real.
No fluff. No greenwashing. Just honest conversations about how sustainability actually works in a food business and how to make it stick.
We’ll dig into what’s worth doing, what’s performative nonsense, and how to design a system that works for your team, your customers, and your bottom line.
Head Chef
Joseh Loayza
Radish Events
Chef
Lead / Facilitator
Natalie Bolt
Lead / Facilitator
Panelists
Gorgina Budd
Business Sustainability Officer
Ku-ring-gai Council
Rakesh Pillai
Executive Chef
Sydney ICC
Henri Turra
Radish Events
TTFC - The Table Food Consultants
Culinary Stage
01.45 pm - 02.30 pm
Local matters, but it’s only part of the story. In this session, we break down why it’s just as important to understand how something is produced, not just where it comes from. We’ll explore farming and fishery practices, transparency, and what to look for when choosing suppliers.
Plus, we’ll unpack what “local” really means in your business context and how to source in a way that supports people, planet, and profit.
Head Chef
Josh Askew
Adobe
Pan Pacific
Lead / Facilitator
Natalie Bolt
Lead / Facilitator
Panelists
Julio Azzarello
Gourmand Providore
Sascha Rust
Harvest Stack
TTFC - The Table Food Consultants
Culinary Stage
12.00 pm - 12.45 pm
Menus are more than price tags; they’re powerful tools for impact. When designed with a sustainability lens, your menu can reduce waste, unlock upselling opportunities, and make your kitchen less dependent on fragile supply chains. This session explores how smart design choices help tell the story of your producers, highlight low-waste practices, and communicate your values to customers. A well-engineered menu is good business and good storytelling.
Head Chef
Michael Rantissi
Kepos Street Kitchen
Lead / Facilitator
Natalie Bolt
Lead / Facilitator
Panelists
Jayne Gallagher
Honey and Fox
David Ohaion
Restoke
Phil Lavers
Moonacres Farm
TTFC - The Table Food Consultants
Culinary Stage
10.30 am - 11.15 am
What if going in circles was exactly what your business needed? This session explores how circular thinking is helping hospitality-forward businesses cut waste, rethink procurement, and design smarter systems that keep resources in play. Hear real examples of venues closing the loop from ingredient reuse to supplier partnerships and learn where to start if you want to embed circular practices into your own sustainability goals. It’s not just about compost it’s about building resilience, reducing cost, and moving forward with purpose.
Head Chef
Dominic Van Herk
Australian Native Product
Lead / Facilitator
Martin Bouchier
Lead / Facilitator
Panelists
Julia Laidlaw
Sporadical City
Mushroom
Lucan Creamer
No offence wine
Caitlyn Touzell
Circular Economy Club
Sydney
TTFC - The Table Food Consultants
Culinary Stage
01.45 pm - 02.30 pm
Food waste isn’t just a sustainability issue it’s a cost you can’t afford to ignore. This session breaks down how to track, manage, and reduce waste without adding complexity to your already busy operation. We’ll share practical tools, real-life examples, and small changes that deliver big savings.
Because when it comes to waste, what you throw out is money you could be reinvesting.
Head Chef
Fernando Sanchez
Opera Bar
Lead / Facilitator
Natalie Bolt
Lead / Facilitator
Panelists
Sarah Huges
Oz Harvest
Ricky Firth
Two Providores
Lucy Ruff
Too Good To Go
TTFC - The Table Food Consultants
Culinary Stage
10.30 am - 11.15 am
Seafood sustainability can be murky but it doesn’t have to be. This session breaks down the difference between aquaculture and wild fisheries, what good practices actually look like in both, and how to spot red flags. You’ll learn how to ask the right questions, make smart choices with your suppliers, and navigate sourcing without needing a marine biology degree. As a chef or operator, this is your cheat sheet to cutting through the confusion no fluff, no greenwashing, just real-world clarity.
Head Chef
Carolyne Helmy
The Fish Girl
Lead / Facilitator
Natalie Bolt
Lead / Facilitator
Panelists
Adrian Meder
GoodFish
Ross Anderson
Aquna
Sustainable Murray Cod
