About Taste Hospitality
An operator's judgement on every hire.
Taste Hospitality is a Melbourne recruitment agency for senior chefs, general managers and venue leaders. I founded it after twenty years running kitchens and venues in the UK and Australia.
A note from Rob
Founded by an operator with more than twenty years in hospitality.
I've spent more than twenty years in hospitality across the UK and Australia. I built my career with Mitchells & Butlers, one of the UK's largest hospitality operators, running flagship and high-volume venues front and back of house, before leading multi-site restaurant operations in Australia turning over more than $15 million, with teams of more than 100.
I founded Taste Hospitality to bring an operator's judgement to recruitment. I run every search personally: I brief each role the way an owner would, and I assess every candidate myself before they reach your shortlist.
Assessed by an operator, not screened by a recruiter.
Before anyone reaches your shortlist, I sit down with them for an in-depth leadership interview, built around your venue and your brief. It goes well past the resume and a reference call.
See how we workFit with your venue
The formats, pace and structure of your operation, and whether they have led in one like it.
Service leadership
Where they stand in a busy service, when they step in, and how they lead through others.
Commercial impact
Whether they can move the numbers, not just report them: growing sales and covers, and driving food and labour cost to hit margin.
Menus and compliance
Menu development across service formats, and how allergen management really runs in their kitchen.
People and retention
How they build, keep and develop a team, with real examples rather than talk of good culture.
Judgement under pressure
What went wrong on their watch, what they changed, and how they work within a structure.
