Profile

KEY SKILLS Executive Chef/ Educator / Kitchen / Dining Room Management/Purchasing / Stock Control / Stock Take Business Management/Financial Management / Business Administration /Accounting /Payroll Administration Events Management/ Business Development / Sales Marketing / Promotions Public Relations /Relationship Building Business Networking / Communication / Negotiation to Win-Win Resolution

Additional Expertise: Human Resource Management Training Occupational Health Safety Food Safety (HACCP) Compliance with Legislative Policy Requirements Maintaining Quality Service Standards Organisational Skills Time Management Collaborative Projects – Team Player Computer skills: Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook Express, FileMaker, M.Y.O.B EDUCATION:1966/8 National Service, Australian Army/Overseas experience (Vietnam) * Catering Corp training in cooking equivalent to apprenticeship.

COMMUNITY / INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT RECOGNITION Tourism Training Victoria Committee Member * Developing an advanced training program for qualified Chefs Port Phillip Business Association Founding Member South Melbourne Chamber of Commerce Past President The Restaurant and Caterers’ Association Founding Member Catering Institute of Australian Member Les Toques Blanches -Victorian Chapter President 2003/4 – Currently member-COM William Angliss College Created – “Great Chefs of Melbourne” program. William Angliss College Nominated – Membership of School Council 2004 Department of Human Services Chairman *Committee designing Victorian Food Safety (HACCP) template. The Melbourne Club, Collins Street, Melbourne Guest Chef 2002

RECENT PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

2006 Events Management – “CULINARY PRO-AM” Managed a cooking competition at Melbourne Museum attended by 3, 000 visitors with eight of Melbourne’s leading Chefs’, apprentices and celebrities to promote Melbourne food and wine for The Commonwealth Games management as part of the Commonwealth Games cultural activities program. (Worked closely with Les Toques Blanches, Australian Culinary Federation and Melbourne Food Wine.

2005 · Total Event Managementof cocktail function/new business launch for KODAK AUST.

2005 Events Management – “CULINARY PRO-AM” Managed a cooking competition in Federation Square attended by 10, 000 visitors with eight of Melbourne’s leading Chefs’, apprentices and celebrities to promote Melbourne food and wine as part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. (Worked closely with Les Toques Blanches, Australian Culinary Federation and Melbourne Food Wine.

2004 Total Event Managementof successful and profitable 450 guest gala dinner and ball function at Sofitel Melbourne, Collins Street Melbourne on behalf of Les Toques Blanches

2003 Total Event Managementof successful and profitable 450 guest gala dinner and ball function at Hilton on the Park Hotel Melbourne on behalf of Les Toques Blanches. Hospitality ConsultancyRecommending and placing hospitality staff and chefs at leading food service establishments 1994 – Initialized“WILLIAM ANGLISS INSTITUTE – GREAT CHEFS OF MELBOURNE” program (tenth anniversary 2004) · Organized the participation of top Melbourne Chefs – invited to prepare a menu, demonstrate to apprentices and supervise their preparation and service of the menu. Career Achievements 1996 Lecturer /Teacher – * La Trobe University, Faculty of Business Executive Chef Management – Bayview Hotel Rogalsky’s Restaurant. Introduced Italian cuisine to Locanda Veneta at the Bayview Hotel Career Experience Beacon Cove Foodstore Café – RACV City Club, Bourke Street Blake Dawson Waldron Locanda Veneta at the Bayview Hotel Industry Recognition The Age Good Food Guide (highest award achievable) “Ross Campbell’s Good Life Award” “Cascade Hotel of the Month, March 1991” Third place – “Cascade Hotel of the Year 1991” Proprietor Rogalsky’s Restaurant Awarded “Restaurant of the Decade 1989” The Age Good Food Guide. Achieved excellent ratings “Three Hats” Rating – The Age Good Food Guide Acceptance Speech: Thank you very much for this award. I think it goes without saying that to be recognized by your peers, who are the leaders of our industry, is a tremendous and very humbling honour. This year is the 10th anniversary of my involvement with Les Toques Blanche. I have gained so much from my membership of this association – greater knowledge, lasting and firm friendships and an enduring connection to the industry. My involvement also enabled me to contribute to the betterment of the industry – one of my most satisfying achievements was developing the associate membership program so that our suppliers can join, which has fostered stronger, more productive relationships between us. I also enjoyed the honour of being Les Toques Blanches President from 2002-2004, and it was my privilege to help steer the association to become the profitable and respected entity it is today. Importantly, Les Toques Blanches is also a social organization, a club for Executive chefs and food professionals to meet, to share their experiences and, sometimes, their war stories. Some my fondest memories of LTB are of community events such as the annual gala dinner and the more causal picnic at Domaine Chandon. I also remember some amazing field trips, in particular to New Zealand and Tasmania, trips that were not only enriching professionally, but that were also damn good fun. Today there was also another event that I am particularly proud of. I personally oversaw the running of the Apprentice Cooking Competition for a number of years when I was on the LTB Executive.[1] These apprentices represent the future of the restaurant industry, and they are becoming an increasingly rare commodity. Young cooks and apprentices deserting our kitchens is a troubling problem and one that we need to address to ensure continuing high standards and excellence in the industry. Television and the media today makes stars of cooks, but I don’t need to tell you all that the reality of working in and running a kitchen is far removed from the glamour portrayed on the small screen. Television romanticizes the kitchen, but it is suspiciously silent about the truth of the cook’s life. I’m talking about the long hours. The daily cuts, burns and bruises. The ache in your back after a busy Saturday night. The hours of unpaid overtime. The split shifts that make the work day seem endless. I don’t need to tell everyone here tonight that the restaurant industry can be tough and unforgiving. We all know that because we’ve served our time in kitchens. We also know that there is easier, cushier work out there – jobs where you don’t risk accidental amputation daily, where you get to spend quality time with your loved ones and families, and where you don’t get slandered by irresponsible critics. But, no matter what the hardships, the difficulties and the pain, for people like us, there’s no other life. I have to admit that as a young man, I felt no burning desire to cook. Meals at home were wholesome and plentiful, but not spectacular. I fell into the chef’s life – I started as a cook in the army when I was conscripted back in 1966. That might not be the most auspicious beginning for a chef, but it’s where I learned the basic cook’s skills – how to roast, boil, bake and grill. When I returned from my tour of duty, I had the cooking bug. Unfortunately, one of my first jobs was at a city hotel that I won’t name in case anyone here tonight once ate there. Let’s just say what I did in that kitchen wasn’t so much cooking as disguising the spoilt meats and produce provided by the owners, forming it into meals and sending it out to unsuspecting patrons. It was truly disgusting – I lasted about three days! However, I soon ended up a Fanny’s – which really was an excellent restaurant, very much a leader of the dining scene during it’s heyday – and not long after that, with the help of two partners [2] – I was chef in my first kitchen at the Hot Pot Shop in South Melbourne. The Hot Pot Shop was a really an unusual and fresh concept for a restaurant, and it’s one that I am very proud of. However, in the early 80s, when my wife Adriana returned from a European holiday raving about the elegant, creative food being served by the top chefs of France, I was inspired to take a new direction with my cooking. In 1983, Adriana and I opened Rogalsky’s to showcase our interpretation of nouvelle cuisine with the highest standards of service. While I don’t want to look like I am blowing my own trumpet here, it appeared that a lot of people enjoyed Rogalsky’s and I am humbled by the awards and appreciation I received during the life of the restaurant. When Rogalsky’s closed, I began what many who know my wife Adriana would consider the brave task of cooking in the Northern Italian-style at our next venture, Locanda Veneta. Adriana is from the Veneto region of Italy and an exceptional cook in her own right. She is also my harshest critic and is certainly not shy about telling me whether my food is to her tastes or not. But I can honestly say that without Adriana’s support, which includes her criticism, I would not have pushed myself, I would not have opened Rogalsky’s and I would not be standing here as the recipient of the Pioneer Award tonight. So, I would like to pay tribute to my wife, who I have loved and worked side-by-side with for so many years. I might no longer cook to the same level as in those heady days – in fact I can’t even cook at home, because Adriana won’t let me – but I am still connected to the business, supplying Gourmet food ingredients to the hospitality industry. I’ve been involved with the industry for just on forty years, and I’ve seen some remarkable changes in the produce and products available. I can still remember how excited I was to get some of the first Tasmanian salmon to cook with when I had Rogalsky’s. The more mature among us will remember that at one time salmon was either imported from Scotland or came in a tin. In Australia, we now have access to some world-class food, some of which we import but some of which we are growing and making ourselves, such as Australian truffles. I am proud to supply some of the new generation of chefs with some of the best food from around the world. I’ve spent well over half my life in this industry and it still excites me. I eat at new restaurants and old favorites regularly – and am about to go on a trip to Europe where eating out and in the homes of family and friends will be high on the agenda. I still read all the reviews, food articles, recipes, and trade papers. I would like to say thank you again to the Executive of the Les Toques Blanches for honouring me as a Pioneer of the industry and thank you to every Chef and supplier here tonight for striving for the highest standards of excellence and for making the industry such a vibrant and incredible one to the last 40 years. Long may our industry continue to prosper. – Thank you. Tony Rogalsky – Recipient of LTB Pioneer Award 2008 An Introduction Speech by Jeffrey Tan In his book “The Consolations of Philosophy”, Alain De Botton said Epicurus once observed: “Of all the things that wisdom provides to help one live one’s entire life in happiness, the greatest by far is the possession of friendship.” Unquote. Ladies and Gentlemen, Tonight, I am standing before you precisely because of this friendship and to introduce a good friend of mine, a wonderful mate and more importantly a beautiful person who is about to be honored the LTB highest Award for the recognition of his contribution to the industry. So what do I know about this person from a personal perspective I have known this person as a perfectionist in his culinary creation. He is an innovator and who settles for nothing less than the best. Yet he is never pretentious. He is well respected by his peers within and outside the industry as a man of the highest integrity and conviction. He is humble, sincere, ethical and totally firm in his commitment. To me, he is one of the pioneers in the modernization of LTB into what it is today, a progressive and a forward-looking 21st century organization. Four years ago, he has the foresight to recommend me to be the first Individual Associate member and with the support of LTB, my “Cooking for Charity: Initiative which has now raised some A$200,000 for Charities would not have happened. This is a man with a vision. To this beautiful person and a friend, I say thank you. So, who is this person, one may ask, He is an Executive Chef, an Educator, a Manager and a Restaurateur. For over three decades, he offered diners at his South Melbourne restaurants a high level of excellence in all categories of food, wine and service. He opened his first popular restaurant called “Hot Pot Shop”. Then in 1983, after renovation to the restaurant, the name was changed. The restaurant held a two hat rating since the inception and in 1989, it was one of only ten restaurants ever awarded ‘Restaurant of the Decade Award” by The Age Good Food Guide. He was the President of LTB (Victoria Chapter) for two years 2002/03 and 2003/04, He was a recipient of The Age Food Guide Highest Award, Ross Campbell Good Life Award. He is a great believer in giving back to the industry. He is dedicated to training the next generation of talented young chefs through being involved with a number of training provider institutions and organizing competitions for apprentice cooks. More recently he helped manage a Rotary Fund Raising dinner for Beyond Blue held at The Windsor Hotel with five of Melbourne’s leading Chefs. His name has become somewhat of an institution within the Melbourne hospitality industry as he continues to set standards by which other restaurants are judged. Of course, in ever-successful man, there’s always a wonderful woman backing him up and tonight, we must acknowledge her contribution too. For every successful man, there is always a very supporting and capable wife behind him, may I congratulate her too for her contribution to this person’s success. So, Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please join me to welcome firstly his wonderful wife, Adriana. Yes, now the Chef Extraordinary, a beautiful person and a true friend of mine, and the recipient of 2008 LTB Pioneer of the Industry Award – Tony Rogalsky.