The work is relentless and the earnings unpredictable: So what keeps an independent restaurant owner in the game?
asserted
what → keep → game
It's a Thursday morning and Bridget Raffal, co-owner of Claret Club, a restaurant and bar tucked into an old terrace on the edges of Sydney's CBD, is bracing for the worst.
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Raffal → tuck → worst
One of the kitchen's two heat lamps has broken.
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One → break → lamps
Without it the venue's two chefs will struggle to keep food warm until a waiter can ferry their carefully prepared plates of risotto and quince and walnut clafoutis to customers.
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waiter → struggle → customers
"At first we thought it was just a broken bulb so we ordered one — a very expensive bulb," says Bridget, looking like she doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.
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she → think → one
"Now we think we have to replace it"
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we → think → it
The bar's regular handyman, Christian, is on the phone and begins explaining Bridget's options.
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handyman → begin → options
Her facial expression suggests none of them are great.
uncertain
none → suggest → them
"I just want the best and cheapest," she says after she hangs up the call.
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she → want → call
"That's always what everything comes down to here — do we try for a quick fix or a long-term solution?"
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we → come → fix
Hospitality has never been an easy job, known for long hours, low margins and high personal risk.
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Hospitality → know → hours
But in 2026 the industry is in extreme crisis, facing a tornado of unfavourable conditions.
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industry → face → conditions
According to CreditorWatch, one in eight restaurants and cafes closed between July 2025 and July 2026, almost double the average of other sectors.
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one → accord → sectors
Analysts blame inflation, cost-of-living pressures, skyrocketing costs and damaging policy decisions.
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Analysts → blame → living
A generation ago, average net profit for a restaurant or cafe was around 10 per cent, says John Hart, national president of industry peak body Restaurant and Catering Australia (RCA).
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Hart → say → Restaurant
By the end of 2025, that had shrunk to 2.5 per cent.
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that → shrink → cent
Now, with minimum wage increases and costs such as the recent policy shift that means restaurants must absorb card bank fees, profit has dwindled to almost nothing for many operators.
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profit → mean → operators
"Twenty or 30 years ago I warned this would be what I called a 'culinary Armageddon'," Hart says.
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Hart → warn → what
Rising food and wage costs are partly to blame, but Bridget and her partner and co-owner Harry Hunter say their biggest issue is cost-of-living pressures, which reduce customer attendance and spend.
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which → rise → attendance
"We run a tight ship," Bridget says.
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Bridget → run → ship
"We just need more people through the doors.
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We → need → doors
"
Independent venues, where the staff know your name and your drink order, where you can drop by for a meal and a chat after a long day at work, and where every inch of atmosphere is created by intuition and imagination, rather than AI — have never felt more important to the fabric of our cities and towns.
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inch → know → cities
"'Commensality' — the idea of eating together to reinforce kinship links — is part of what brings a group together," says Teresa Davis, associate professor of marketing at the School of Business Analytics and Marketing and co-founder of the Australian Food, Society and Culture Network at the University of Sydney.
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Davis → eat → Sydney
"It builds and reinforces the social fabric."
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It → build → fabric
Independent places like Claret Club do this particularly well.
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places → do → this
Their intimacy means customers connect not just with each other but with the people who bring the food and wine to the table.
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who → mean → table
Today, when the world swirls with uncertainty, upheaval and unrest, independent restaurants feel like a lifeline.
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restaurants → swirl → lifeline
"The experiences of being able to hang out with your friends, being able to escape from whatever it is for a little bit … being around people that you don't know, being treated well — all of that feels more essential than it ever has to me before," New York Times food reporter Brett Anderson recently told The Daily podcast.
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Anderson → hang → podcast
The ABC spent two days and nights at Claret Club, an independently-run venue in Sydney's Darlinghurst, to witness exactly how much grit and grind it takes to stay open in today's crushing climate, and how much we stand to lose if places like it disappear altogether.
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places → spend → it
The heat lamp issue has been set aside.
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issue → set → ?
Chefs Andy Buchanan and Fernando Vargas will have to make do with the remaining lamp for tonight's service, and the waiters and food runners will need to work twice as fast as usual.
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waiters → have → service
Bridget and Harry have begun discussing marketing and social media.
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Bridget → begin → marketing
There's a wine event upstairs tonight, and another scheduled next week with tickets still available.
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tickets → be → ?
"Should I do a last-minute social media push on it?" Bridget wonders.
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Bridget → do → it
"I'll write an EDM on Sunday and send it out on Monday," offers Harry, fluent in the shorthand for Electronic Direct Mail, something few restaurateurs would have thought about a generation ago.
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restaurateurs → write → Mail
"I thought it would be nice if we could have Sunday off together?" suggests Bridget.
uncertain
Bridget → think → Sunday
Sundays are the one day the couple tries to spend away from Claret Club and their other venue, the wine bar Where's Nick in Marrickville.
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couple → try → Marrickville
They have a regular ritual of gathering with friends for a quiz at another wine bar, or cooking something special at home, music on and glass of wine in hand.
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They → have → hand
Harry shakes his head.
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Harry → shake → head
"I have to be here for a photo shoot anyway so I may as well do it then."
uncertain
I → have → it
…and 207 more, not listed.
The Aporia