this week into Swillhouse group, which operates six of Sydney’s most high-profile venues including Le Foote in The Rocks, Restaurant Hubert, the Baxter Inn and Caterpillar Club in the CBD.does not publish these sorts of stories lightly and a huge amount of work has gone into this series over many months from investigative reporter Eryk Bagshaw, Good Food reporter Bianca Hrovat, investigations editor Michael Evans and the head of Good Food, Sarah Norris.
This investigation has struck a real chord with readers. For something a little different, I wanted today’s note to give you an insight into how this came about. To do that, I have asked Sarah a series of questions, which you can read below.Earlier this year, a number of Instagram accounts started to call out bad behaviour in the Australian hospitality industry. Good Food alerted theinvestigations team, and Eryk Bagshaw began digging.
But the good thing about these stories – and this is what makes people feel hopeful – is they also highlight the business operators fighting the good fight and trying to transform the industry into a safe place. People shouldn’t feel unsafe at work, and for this to be true for the Australian hospitality industry, it requires people willing to blow up industry norms. For every bad venue, there are great ones that show leadership and respect.
Swillhouse’s first venue, Darlinghurst’s Shady Pines Saloon, changed Sydney’s bar scene when it opened in 2010. The city was fighting the domination of the mega-pub and the “Fast-forward to 2024, and Swillhouse has six venues, including the perpetually busy late-night CBD bar Caterpillar Club, Baxter Inn , and Restaurant Hubert, which confirmed Swillhouse group as one of the most influential players in Sydney’s hospitality scene.