Hi, my name is Tommaso, Chef and the Founder/CEO of Anytime Chefs – a Chef staffing agency based in Perth Australia, committed to providing professional Chefs and services as well as rapid staffing relief for your venue needs. Now that we got that out of the way, you can call me Thomas!
Welcome and thank you for checking out our website. Hopefully, you are here to discover more about our services and connect with us.
And since you have stumbled upon this page, I hope you’d take the time to read a bit of why I founded Anytime Chefs and how it can serve you (or someone you know).
First things first: I strongly value interpersonal relationships for a spectacular business. Which is why I would love for you to get to know me and the values I hold. In doing so, I hope it will also express the values that Anytime Chefs hold.
My childhood
I was born in Milan but grew up in Celle Ligure, a small village close to the France coast in a region in Italy called Liguria. We moved there from Milan after my parents divorced and my mother decided to live in our holiday house. I loved Celle Ligure because I could freely go anywhere by myself even if I were just only a 7-year-old kid. It felt safe. Safe enough that I was allowed to stay to the side close to the beaches. The only thing that one can consider as a big danger was a road that split the village in two.
My mum had a restaurant, and it is there where I first started to have an interest in cooking and discovering new flavours. I loved food as a kid (still do!) I have always been very curious about how to make a dish taste the way it does. Consequently, I became that weird kid that always said “yes” to trying new foods. I became a favourite of other kids’ mums to be invited over for dinner.
The Story That Inspired It All
But as to the truth about why I chose this career?
It was all thanks to a fantastic story told by my grandmother! She talked about a Chef who used to travel all over the world in a “legendary” cruise ship. This Chef had seen all the world, knew five different languages and had a different love in every city. I have been so inspired by that, that it led me to start a career as a Chef.
World Travels and Working with World Class Chefs
At 20 years old, after living with my father in Milan for two years and working as a Chef in the city, I moved to Stockholm and stayed there for over two years. There I had a mind-blowing opportunity working beside Chef Stefano Catenacci. Creating not just incredible food but also creating a totally amazing experience at the Michelin Star level, NOBIS HOTEL!
I was also part of the first MAD FOOD CAMP organised in 2011 by Rene Redzepi, owner Of NOMA Restaurant in Copenhagen. It was there that I got to meet some of the most well-known Chefs of the world – Massimo Bottura, Yoshihiro Narisawa, Magnus Nilsson, and of course, the legendary Rene Redzepi in person.
After over two years of winter up in Sweden, I decided to get a bit of summertime. I moved to Tenerife Island, one of the seven Canary Islands. I became a part of the team of “Hotel el Botanico” which was a favourite hotel of the Aristocratic who came to enjoy the island. It was all good at first but after a year and a half? I began to feel confined, and I started to call Tenerife, “Alcatraz”. Yes, it got that bad. I decided that was the right time to leave. So, I left and boarded a cruise ship that went around all of South America.
I finished cruising the Caribbean in three months, and I felt truly fulfilled travelling around the world! I got to visit amazing cities and learned to speak three languages fluently.
Recognitions and Achievements in my 20’s
More significantly, at the age of 24, I was already the Head Chef of “La Terrazza”, one of the restaurants operating on one of the most luxury cruise ships on the planet – the Silver Sea. I held weekly cooking shows at the Theater of the vessel and was rewarded as the youngest and most talented Head Chef of the cruises, collecting the best reviews from customers.
Another Move
However, after a while, I felt like I had to achieve more… And since I liked moving, I thought that I had to make another transition. Therefore, after having travelled around South America twice and have cruised the Caribbean Sea, I concluded my contract at Lisbon in Portugal.
I headed back home to Italy and spent the summer working as a Head Chef in a small festive restaurant on the beach in Celle Ligure.
Sometime later, I felt like heading back north. I wanted to visit Rene Redzepi in Denmark to see if he remembered me and to ask for a position in “Noma” Restaurant. But then my friend Mirko who was living in Perth Australia told me all about how great Australia is and suggested that I go there instead.
And I did!
The Land Down Under
I started here in Australia as a “Chef de partie” back in 2013 at “The Wine Store” in East Fremantle. After two years, I became the Head Chef and rebranded the venue that is now called “Young George”. Working along Rob Broadfield, we enhanced the flavour of the signature dishes and updated the recipes. All this happened before Melissa Palinkas took over the business in 2016.
After that, I helped the same company with its other venue in Claremont named “Asado”. I assisted in setting up breakfast logistic, developed new ways to improve service while keeping costs and expenses low.
Since then, I realised that organising, planning, and putting people together is truly what I am great at!
And because I was getting bored with always working in the same place, I started to work in a Chef agency and worked at over 30 venues in under a year. That experience empowered me with knowledge and a great understanding of the most common mistakes in my industry. I learned what successful venues share against the ones who aren’t successful; the similarity of the menus; what are the “must have” dishes and the not’s; which suppliers are the bests and which aren’t; which systems are winners and which are the failures.
Founding “Anytime Chefs”:
As I learned more and more about the ins and outs of the industry, I took notice of the shortcomings that most Chef staffing agencies have. I noticed that often, these agencies do not recognise the importance of trust when forging a healthy relationship. There is a lack of support concerning human relationships, as well as the delivery of a transparent and personal service.
That was the drive that led me to create my Chef staffing agency, and in 2017, I founded Anytime Chefs.
We are currently helping more than 30 venues in Perth and surrounding areas, going through their volume during peak periods, functions or special events. We are also often called when emergency staffing occurs or to cover annual leave.
Recently we also became famous to be the only agency to have pizza Chefs from Italy working consistently!
The Key to Our Success
Thanks to our team of Chefs, our network of suppliers and all rounded hospitality resources, we are often called for Startup teams, new opening venues and kitchen logistics. The latter involves all process of supplier setup plus costing cards showing the food cost percentage so that the client will know the margin of profit and loss right away. In this manner, the client can start the venue of their dreams knowing that everything has been spot on and calculated. They can start making profits instead of wasting money and time trying to organise everything by yourself, only to reach an average result at best.
I have worked in 3 different continents with some of the top 50th worlds bests restaurants. Through my experiences, I have met and shared opinions with some of the most awarded Chefs of the world. These learnings allowed me to be confident in helping my clients create or develop any hospitality project or the venue of their dreams.
If you are considering Anytime Chefs for your business or events, believe that we are here to support you in getting the bests possible results, reviews, feedback and profits. We aim to assist you in the best manner we have through very personal service, almost familiar in a way, and we take pride in that!
Which, in my opinion, is the primary reason for our success!
This personal service is what makes us stand out from any other Chef agencies out there. We care about who we send to you because it is important to us that you are looked after. This is done by making sure that we send you a professional Chef who is keen to share his values and knowledge with you with the goal of improving your venue. We prioritise quality and tangible results against quantity and short gains profits.
Anytime Chefs is here to make a long-term difference, and we can’t wait to be working with you.
Ciao for now,
Thomas
