Winter Warmth
Monday, 25 May 2026
Top tips for tough times
Featuring:
Joe Pavlovich, Bondi Trattoria Sydney
War, soaring fuel costs, interest rates, cost of living pressures… sometimes it seems like it’s all bad news. But when times are tough, smart operators focus on what they can control. For Joe Pavlovich, chef and co-owner of the iconic Bondi Trattoria, that means knowing your customer, engineering your menu carefully, and never underestimating the power of good garlic bread.
Under pressure
Bondi Trattoria, affectionately known as Bondi Tratt, has been a fixture on the Bondi Beach dining scene since 1987, moving to its current location in 1991. Joe Pavlovich, who was previously Executive Chef for Luke Mangan’s restaurants, and his business partner Alasdair France bought the business in 2017.
They have maintained the Tratt’s loyal following with generous portions, quality Italian cooking, and a menu that has been carefully evolved to suit one of Australia’s most diverse and demanding dining precincts.
But right now, business in Bondi is even tougher than other parts of Australia. The December 2025 terrorist attack cast a long shadow over the area’s summer trading season, and the ongoing heavy police presence has deterred some visitors. “It scared everyone off,” Joe says. “I’m hoping things get back to normal soon, but it is what it is, I guess.”
It is a sentiment echoing across Australian hospitality right now. Rising input costs, cost-of-living pressure on diners, and shifting post-COVID foot traffic patterns are squeezing operators everywhere. So what can you actually do about it?
Start with your demographic
Joe’s first piece of advice for any chef or venue manager is deceptively simple: understand who you are actually cooking for before you design a single dish.
“When you buy a restaurant business, you need to really go and study the demographic of the area,” he says. “We’re chefs. We all have egos, and you want to cook what you want to cook. But that doesn’t always equate to what people want to eat.”
At the Bondi Tratt, Joe and Alasdair have continually responded to customer feedback, with a diverse menu to cater for both the international tourist trade and local regulars. He says with no corporates nearby, lunch tends to be tourists at lunchtime and locals for dinner.
“For lunch, we see a lot of international visitors who are on a budget, so they often share meals and just drink water,” says Joe. Knowing that, he focuses on value adding for dinner service and on the specials menu, so he can increase average spend without alienating the lunchtime crowd.
When you buy a restaurant business, you need to really go and study the demographic of the area
Build a hardworking menu
One of Joe’s key cost and waste management strategies is a menu that looks lengthy but is not expensive or wasteful to implement.
“We try to use things two or three times,” he explains. “Napoli sauce, for example, we might use in four different ways. Tuna, I’ve got it in a pasta, on a tartare and as a fish special. You try to keep everything fresh and turning over.”
Keeping on top of suppliers is equally critical, particularly in the current cost environment. Joe makes a point of maintaining genuine relationships with his reps, not just transactional ones.
“I make daily calls, weekly calls, just finding out what’s going on,” he says. “Even just ringing them to see how they’re going. Usually if you have a good relationship, you get a better price.”
Joe finds this approach helps to keep food costs predictable and the menu more responsive to what is actually available and competitively priced on any given week.
Star of the sides
Joe says garlic bread is a mainstay of the menu. “When we started it wasn’t on the menu, but we learned very quickly.” Now he sells around 100 portions a week in winter and up to 200 in summer. “Kids love it, older customers love it, it always sells.”
Easy, crowd-pleasing additions like garlic bread, simple salads and shareable starters deliver consistent revenue and increase the average spend per diner. At Bondi Tratt, the rocket salad, tomato salad and brussels sprouts are reliable performers that complement pasta and pizza mains.
Joe says garlic bread is a mainstay of the menu. “When we started it wasn’t on the menu, but we learned very quickly.”
Seasonal specials
Rather than overhauling his core menu seasonally, Joe uses a daily specials program to test new dishes, make the most of seasonal produce, and give regulars a reason to keep coming back.
“If you’re a local and you don’t want to think about the menu, there are eight different specials you can choose from every day,” he says. Specials also allow Joe to manage portion risk on premium ingredients. “I know I can make 10 portions of pork belly. If it sells, I get another 10. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t kill my costings.”
For desserts, Joe experimented with various to create a short list that performs consistently rather than carrying a long menu of slow sellers. The tiramisu remains a staple, and a recently added souffle is building a strong following.
Resilience is a long game
In one of Australia’s most competitive and volatile dining strips, over the past decade Joe has navigated a pandemic, structural cost increases, and now a significant external shock to the area. But his business is still here, still full of regulars, and still attracting the fickle tourist market.
Joe is living proof of Australian hospitality’s resilience. The ones who survive and thrive are the ones who know their customers, sweat every detail on the menu, keep their suppliers close, and never stop looking for the next small improvement to average spend.
“You work out your demographic, you work out who you’re going to be cooking for, and you cook just for them.”
You work out your demographic, you work out who you’re going to be cooking for, and you cook just for them.
Diners will love the robust, garlic flavour from the latest products in the Australian Garlic Bread Co. range. Each bite delivers the same taste you expect from AGB, while the six-month shelf life and easy ‘thaw, heat and serve’ process simplifies your kitchen workflow.
7″ Garlic Bread Sub
Perfect for pizza venues, restaurants and caterers, these are packaged in twos ready to take straight from the freezer to the oven. The innovative packaging features a horizontal layout with a layer of grease-proof paper between halves, and is flow-wrapped in pairs to ensure the portions remain perfectly intact.
7” Garlic Bread Catering
High volume caterers will love these individually foil-wrapped loaves, that help manage costs and enhance productivity, without compromising on taste.
8″ Sourdough Garlic Bread
With more garlic and a subtle sourdough flavour, the 8-inch Sourdough Garlic Bread has an open crumb texture to allow the garlic blend to soak through. This premium product has a more rustic appearance with just the right amount of crunch.
7" Garlic Bread Sub
48 x 90g
Offering dessert is a great way to increase a yield per diner, and when you don’t have the time or patissiers available, NESTLÉ Docello Dessert Mixes deliver for both venues and customers.
Even junior chefs can produce professional-level desserts with precision and finesse. Just add milk and cream to whip up elegant, high-quality desserts with minimal preparation.
Crème Brulée
made with an authentic French recipe to restaurant quality and prepared in just 10 minutes. Use as a base to make signature desserts with winter fruits and berries.
No Bake Egg Custard
gives a delicious, smooth and creamy texture which is ideal for filling tarts or making Crème Caramel. Make it with skim milk for a lower fat dessert, or whole milk for a higher energy dessert.
Chocolate Flavoured Mousse
a gluten free mousse that makes a delicious reduced-fat dessert. Also available in mango, strawberry, caramel, citrus, mixed berry and French vanilla flavours.
Creme Brulee Mix
6 x 2kg
Featured Products
Rustic White Bread
6 x 700g
Cheekies
6 x 1.3kg
4.5" Garlic Bread
48 x 85g
Jelly Beans
1 kg
7" Garlic Bread Catering
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Minties
6 x 1kg
7" Garlic Bread Sub
48 x 90g
Party Mix
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8" Sourdough Garlic Bread Loaf
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Party Mix Retro Lollies
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White Super Thick Bread
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Demi-Glace Sauce Mix
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