What do our Chefs Really Eat?

Every afternoon at 4 pm, when the restaurant is closed, a small crowd gathers around a table at Attica to enjoy a dish you won’t find on the menu. The dish changes daily, is served only to a select group and there’s only one way to try it – you need to work here.

Staff meal, or family meal as they’re sometimes known, is one of hospitality's most important daily rituals. At Attica, we like to think of 'staffies’ as more than a simple break to refuel. We believe that when they’re shared with intention, they become an opportunity for camaraderie and connection (like any good meal).

Through hundreds of staff meals, we’ve enjoyed food that’s brought us closer together, taught us something new, sparked our imagination ­– and ended up on our menu for you to enjoy, too.

The most important meal of the day

In the old days, at other restaurants, chefs would call upon a mix of coffee, energy drinks and cigarettes to make it through a service. Here, the mix is more likely to be freshly made paella, served in the courtyard with non-alcoholic sangria on a sunny afternoon.

What’s more important than the food or setting, though, is the act of coming together as a team. The meal gives us a chance to break up the day, take a moment together and mentally refresh as we shift our collective mindset from prep into service mode.

“[You’re serving] a meal to energise and nourish the team for the service ahead. It's really important. If you put up something that's delicious and healthy, then you know the team feels good and is ready to rock and roll,” explains our head chef Matt Boyle.

Creating with intention

The kind of meals we want to avoid are the ones we’ve all likely experienced at other restaurants in our careers – made up of left-over, forgotten-about ingredients that are hastily whacked together. Instead, we approach our staff meals with the same considered planning that goes into our service. We’ll always take advantage of resources already handy, but we also order ingredients, especially for staff meals (within reason, of course).

The staff meal changes daily, with our chefs each taking turns spearheading the meal. They get about a week’s notice to plan a healthy, delicious and well-thought-out meal.

“What sets the staff meal apart is that it’s not just a boring bowl of pasta that gets put up – it's a really thoughtful dish that they explain to the team. There really is a lot of work and effort that goes into it,” says Matt.

Catering for a hungry team of more than 30 people is no small feat – especially when you still have prep for the restaurant’s diners later that night. To help, the chef leading staff meal will delegate tasks to the rest of the kitchen throughout the day.

Our front-of-house team gets involved too. Tapping into the same skills they use for our set menu’s drink pairings, they’ll develop a one-of-a-kind drink to match the day’s meal. They also get creative with a bespoke decorated menu for each meal shared with the team on the day.

Show us who you are

We believe in cooking as a medium for sharing stories, experiences and ideas ­– it’s part of what we do each day – and we hope our staff see these meals as an opportunity to do so. Some of our most memorable staff meals are the humble, authentic kind of food you’d serve your family, rather than complicated assemblages.

We’re a diverse group here, so it’s also a chance to learn something about team members’ cultures – to experience new flavours, approaches and techniques. That might mean a French banquet, the best Korean fried chicken we’ve ever tasted or a Chilean grandmother’s recipe for Panquecas con Carne – each meal is an opportunity to learn.

Inspiration comes from everywhere

In the case of Sunny and Gurnam, two of Attica’s longest-serving and most beloved staff, the impression staff meals create can take new forms. Every Tuesday during their nine years at the restaurant, the duo would make dahl in the style of their hometown, Waraich, in the Punjab region of India.

Over the years, the dish became special to everyone in our team. Now, when you visit the restaurant, you’ll find Wattle Dahl on our menu in homage to Sunny and Gurnham. The dish has been changed – the spices swapped and the lentils replaced with wattleseeds – but at its core, the dish honours the generosity of their guidance and technique.

A clean plate speaks volumes

The best way to assess a staff meal’s success is to look at the plates when they’re done. A plate that’s been scraped clean of every last bite says it all, really. And when that feedback comes from your peers, it tastes even sweeter.

“The buzz you get when the staff come around, tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘Hey, that was amazing. That was delicious.’ There really is no better feeling,” says Matt.

Really, that’s why we do what we do – the simple act of nourishing others. Turns out it’s just as nourishing for us, too.

Make a booking now and let our (well-fed) staff take care of you.