Top chefs blame restrictive visas for staff shortage

By Myffy Rigby
Updated September 5 2015 - 10:08am, first published August 19 2015 - 12:15am
Chef Martin Benn in his kitchen at Sepia restaurant, which struggles to secure skilled staff. Photo: Dallas Kilponen
Chef Martin Benn in his kitchen at Sepia restaurant, which struggles to secure skilled staff. Photo: Dallas Kilponen

There's a massive shortage of trained chefs and cooks in Sydney and no quick fix in sight, according to leading Sydney chefs Dan Hong (Ms. G's, Mr Wong), Neil Perry (Rockpool Group, Burger Project) and Martin Benn (Sepia). Surely, though, television shows such as Masterchef, Iron Chef and Top Chef have done a great PR job for the industry. The answer here is yes. A little too good. Those fresh young chefs straight out of TAFE have no interest in working their way up. They're going straight for chef de partie, ready or not.

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