A fierce war of words has broken out between the editor of a major food magazine and the manager of a Sydney restaurant, as smaller restaurants battle rising costs and fierce competition from hospitality giants.
Rebecca Fanning, director of Sydney’s popular Jane and Arthurs restaurants, took aim at Gourmet Traveler magazine after it published an article about the growing dominance of hotel empires such as Justin Hemmes’ Merivale.
“The bigger the better,” the article titled. ‘Is this the future of dining out in Australia?’
Fanning accused the food media giant of not doing enough to support smaller restaurants operating on limited budgets.
“Those small operators don’t have the funds that the big ones have, and by rewarding these large-scale, hugely funded projects (largely by sponsors), you’re saying this is how people should dine,” he wrote.
‘Maybe if publications put more emphasis on smaller venues, with owner-operators and smaller budgets doing amazing things in much more innovative ways, there would be a change in consumer mindset.
“You make these places the places to be.”
Gourmet Traveler Editor Joanna Hunkin Appears at Restaurant Awards in 2023
Michelle Badek (pictured left) said independently owned restaurants were struggling to get coverage in publications like Gourmet Traveler because they didn’t have the budget for the best public relations.
Ms Fanning was backed by Michelle Badek, general manager of Melbourne restaurant Al Dente Enoteca, who said she was “getting emotional reading this”.
‘Maybe it’s the fact that I finished work at 1:20 am (working at an owner-operated place that I believe in and WANT to work hard for) or the fact that these are hard facts, I don’t know. HE. But thank you for saying this, a thousand times more. Correct,” said Mrs. Badek.
Gourmet Traveler editor Joanna Hunkin weighed in on the debate, telling Ms Fanning: “I’m sorry, Bec, but I’m not going to accept that.”
“If you look at the last 12 months of GT, our main features include Little Pickett, Bar Louise, Yakitori Yurippi, Sean’s Bondi, Agrarian Kitchen, Soul Dining, Kafeneion and more,” he continued.
“We often champion smaller, independent restaurants, including yours.”
In a final blow to Ms Badek, the editor told her: “You literally had a cover of GT, facts.”
Badek responded by saying that while she was grateful for the coverage, smaller operators were still struggling to get as much publicity as larger groups.
‘I’m not necessarily just speaking from my experience, but from the shared experience of many owner-managed venues; “Every time a multi-site group appears in the news, there seems to be less room for independents to occupy the media,” she wrote.
“It’s a competitive game and I know many, many restaurants are tired of watching the big slot machines get more and more airtime.”
The restaurant manager added that most independent restaurants can’t spend up to $4,000 a month on public relations firms.
Hunkin said Gourmet Traveler tried to “spread the love” as much as possible.
‘We are actively seeking a variety of restaurants to cover, many of which have no PR and are small, independent operators. “We try so hard to spread love and being told we are the problem is unfounded and unfair,” she wrote.
Pictured is Rebecca Fanning, manager of popular Surry Hills restaurants Jane and Arthurs.
Hunkin said Gourmet Traveler tried to “spread the love” as much as possible and actively sought out smaller, non-PR restaurants for its coverage.
Fanning then went directly to the editor and told him that a large percentage of small restaurant owners were being overshadowed by larger groups.
“I think you’re missing the part that a large percentage of small business owners feel this way,” he wrote.
‘I mentioned you were part of the problem, not the whole problem – every post plays its part.
“I would love to understand their strategy both online and in print to see how they are putting the small businesses that are the backbone of the Australian hospitality industry at the forefront,” he said.
“Big, flashy spaces and key industry leaders take up a big part of the media landscape and it doesn’t sit well with a lot of people in the industry.”
Fanning said he wanted industry experts to be heard as a growing number of small businesses are forced offline.
‘My goal was not to appear negative, but to get the attention of people who care. “I can see that GT is trying, but in the end it feels like the big guys get a lot of airtime to the detriment of the little guys,” he said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Fanning, Hunkin and Bedek for comment.
Pictured: Joanna Hunkin, editor of Gourmet Traveler
It comes as a growing number of small operators have been forced to close their doors for good amid higher operating costs during a cost of living crisis.
In the Gourmet Traveler article that sparked the furor on Instagram, Atilla Yilmaz, owner of Pazar restaurant in western Sydney, said he was struggling to compete with larger restaurant groups when it came to retaining staff.
“Groups can offer their staff career progression in different places, uniform bonuses, big tips, even trips abroad, all that,” he explained.
Yilmaz wondered if “it was even healthy” for him to do so much work at his restaurant, including reservations, lists, payroll and repairing kitchen appliances.
In January, several Sydney restaurants were forced to throw in the towel due to the impacts of Covid and declining revenues amid rising inflation.
Lima, formerly located in Walsh Bay, closed in January after just six months; Italian restaurant Andiamo Trattoria closed its Abbotsford location and popular Japanese restaurant Okami closed six locations across the city.
A Tavola, a popular Italian restaurant in Darlinghurst, was also forced to close, as well as Flour Eggs Water and dumpling restaurant Palle.
Grim statistics from a recent CreditorWatch report found that companies in the hospitality sector are most likely to fail in the next 12 months.