MASSIMO MELE
Tourism Tasmania Awards INDUSTRY FEATURE
2023 has been a big year for renowned chef Massimo Mele, with two of his restaurants at either end of the state reaping rewards of success. Massimo Mele’s culinary journey has taken him around the world to a host of top notch, fine dining restaurants and accolades have followed him wherever he heads. But after returning to his roots in more recent years, there is nothing quite like receiving recognition for achievements in his own backyard. “It’s been a long journey, seven or eight years of hard work since I’ve been back in the state. It’s nice to be able to come back and do it here,” Massimo says. “Tassie is not the sleepy little town everyone thinks it is.” This year alone has seen both the well-established Grains of the Silo in Launceston and Massimo’s newer venture Peppina land a swag of medals across various awards. Peppina, housed in the precinct of the impressive Tasman Hotel, was joint winner of the Best Restaurant in a Hotel or Accommodation Venue at the THA Awards for Excellence, as well as adding the Wine List of the Year title. In August it took out Best Tasmanian Restaurant in the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards, while in late November it also secured Hotel Restaurant of the Year at the HM (hotel
management) Awards. Capping off the accolades, Grains of the Silo won gold in the Tourism Restaurants and Catering Services at the Tourism Tasmania Awards. “Gourmet Traveller was the one that was really unexpected, I’m 43 and it just seems like everything’s working and I think the only reason that’s happening is because I decided to stay in my own lane and just own it,” Massimo says. “I try and do the best I can with the people around me. Last year was best new restaurant [in the GT Awards] and this year it’s best restaurant in Tassie, to be up against restaurants that are 30, 40 seaters and we’re doing 200 [meals] a night, it pretty much blows my mind. But it’s even better to come back and do it in Hobart and do it on the wharf, where I kind of started my career. “It’s like the fairytale full circle, to be honest. Grain as well… it’s kind of hard because Peppina is the baby but when I opened Grain, it was the same thing. It took a long time to get it up and going. But I’m super proud of that venue because of what we do for the producers up there and what we do for the local community up there. The 40,000 tonne of waste that we don’t throw away, we take it to the tip and it gets converted into
36 Tasmanian Hospitality Review December/January Edition
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