Perfect days: Marchetti in the sun-drenched sanctuary he shares with his best friend Kimme Shaw and their two cats. Photo: Tamara Dean
He has ties with one of Bali's wealthiest people, was rated by Gordon Ramsay as one of his favourite chefs, serves Nicole Kidman regularly and has Pat Rafter around for a barbecue on a Sunday afternoon. But refreshingly, restaurateur Robert Marchetti doesn't come with the hype that surrounds so many Sydney chefs. Many would never have even heard of his name.
But this Melbourne boy is behind some of Sydney's top nosheries. The successful string of eateries includes North Bondi Italian, the restaurant at the QT Hotel and Neild Ave in Sydney as well as Melbourne's Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons at the Crown Casino and the Bondi Butcher La Macelleria.
He most recently inked another deal in Bali to consult on two restaurants due to open in Seminyak in December.
Robert Marchetti at this North Bondi home. Photo: Tamara Dean
Marchetti is blunt about how important he believes a name chef is to the success of a restaurant.
''Nobody really cares who owns it - people aren't loyal to owners they're loyal to product and lifestyle and atmosphere,'' he says. ''You don't care who the boss is, you only care about your experience.''
In an industry renowned for its egos, Marchetti is a rare breed.''I've never chased hats,'' he says.
''People said I should have kept Icebergs because of the two hats … if it was my ego and was all about fame and fortune, I would have kept Icebergs - it is one of the highest profile restaurants in the world - but I used to pride myself on walking through the dining room and nobody would know who I was and I would think, 'That's fantastic!'''
In the sparse and sun-drenched modern Bondi pad he shares with his best friend of 20 years Kimme Shaw - and their two cats which he is allergic to - Marchetti has things under control. He talks fast and likes control of the remote.
There are artworks painted by his mother, some graphic prints from the Tim Olsen Gallery and some he has painted himself, during rare holidays in Noosa where his mother and sister live.
Marchetti started out in family kitchens in Melbourne. ''I was about to buy my own restaurant - I'd left the kitchen my brother had in Melbourne and worked in hotels, which gave me a taste of outside the kitchen environment.''
He says he's never tried to hide from being in the kitchen, but he's also never pretended that he is in the kitchen. ''Does that make sense? I write all my menus, do all the dishes with my chefs but they basically run their operations and I oversee as the boss.''
And his decision to stay under the radar has been a conscious one.
''These days it's rare to see a chef in his own kitchen - it's incredible how difficult it is to run restaurants in Australia and if chefs don't get out of the kitchen and become a little more high profile and focused on business and brand stuff, they can go broke. It's a really tough business,'' he says.
''I think the whole chef celebrity thing, everybody's starting to get over it. They've got chefs selling everything from cat food to frisbees. I've been very careful to stay on track and I try very hard to not pretend to be something I'm not.''
The most high profile Marchetti has been was in his split from the very in-the-limelight Maurice Terzini. Together, with Shaw, they built the two-hatted restaurant Bondi Icebergs, its success taking them by surprise.
''I opened the Icebergs with Maurice and Kimme and from day dot it just grew and grew.''
Terzini approached Marchetti, who was having a year off, to help him get the project off the ground for a few months. ''He said I'd be able to surf in the day.
''Of course we opened and it was an absolute monster. Of course there was no surfing in the day. It was 90 hours a week.''
After six months he wanted out, but was convinced to stay and bought into the business instead. When he bought in, Terzini said, ''Promise me 10 years.''
The pair later established North Bondi Italian at the opposite end of the beach. ''I was tired of all these beach restaurants - I took a trip to Rome and came back and said, 'It's gotta be Italian.'''
He took a controversial gamble. There would be no double tablecloths, buckets of cutlery on the table and no bookings. And it paid off. ''I wanted a canteen like a bohemian neighbourhood restaurant and I decided we had to train Sydney.
''Everybody wanted to eat at 7.30pm, diners were arrogant they wouldn't show up or would show up early or late and in the wrong numbers. I thought if we made a cheap product with a great atmosphere and have a $26 main course on Bondi Beach - when we're paying the rent we do - well you'll have to forgive us these other things. And Sydney did. They get used to it.''
They went on to set up Giuseppe Arnaldo & Sons in Melbourne, Neild Ave in Rushcutters Bay, and Bondi's La Macelleria.
But once the agreed 10 years were up, Marchetti asked Terzini - who he says can be a difficult person - to buy him out.
''I guess I was the first person - longest business partner ever. He likes to not be able to show up for two days and you can't do that in my organisation. You can't disappear and have your phone off … You have to be disciplined …''
The pair split their business, with Terzini keeping Icebergs and Neild Ave and Marchetti keeping his baby North Bondi Italian, La Macelleria and the Melbourne operation.
Nine months later, Marchetti made an offer to buy back Neild Ave. He then opened the restauraunts in the QT Hotel in the old Gowings building in Sydney.
Turning 40 this year, Marchetti says he enjoys having no business partner. ''My only partner is St George Bank.''
And he's really excited about his future. He is still best friends with Shaw, with whom he was involved for 17 years and is the woman he credits with getting him where he is now. ''She's the disciplinarian, where I get my focus from, the brains.''
He rises at 6am to exercise and have breakfast and then checks in with all his operations.
''If they don't need me, well that's the sign of a good boss.
''I don't micromanage - I think for me when they don't want me around and they don't need me I've done my job.''
On weekends he's cooks for friends at home, toying with a gas barbecue and cooking dishes that are simple ''but not daggy''.
In summer, the perfect day is: ''one o'clock barbie, everybody over after a swim, sit on the balcony eating cheese and drinking beer and listening to music and talking shit.
''It's a sanctuary here in North Bondi - I can even dream I'm in Italy. It's perfect.''
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