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Back of House

We sat down with Ian Tran AKA Domus Vim, to explore the connections between design and dining, hitting the 10 years in business milestone, his recipe for success in the Sydney creative scene and how oftentimes, simple is best.

Meet Domus Vim: Sydney's Restaurant Sign Guy

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The creation of our first ‘Proudly For Everyone’ campaign image for Archie Rose began mid-shoot, moments after the team found out they’d landed their long-awaited partnership with Sydney Mardi Gras. What followed was a *vision* from Archie’s Head of Hospitality – flowers, and lots of them, beneath a bottle of their Signature Dry Gin. We’ve now been recreating this image for four years running, each time on a bigger scale. Read on the for the full scoop, plus Harriet’s hot takes on the current, and future state, of our industry.

Four Years of (Floral) Pride with Archie Rose's Head of Hospo

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Pro Tips

Buffet's Head of Content has led the charge on shiny, bold campaigns for the likes of Squarespace, Icebergs, Belles Hot Chicken and the City of Parramatta. In this month's Pro Tips, she dissects the ins and outs of creative that sings true (and cuts through), mapping out strategy that'll get it in front of the right eyes, and how to get a leg up if you're just starting out.

The Cult of the Campaign with Buffet's Head of Content

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World of Crema Portrait

Meet Sydney cake queen, Tia De Berardinis, the creative force behind World of Crema — crafting cohesive and visually stunning dessert-scapes (think two-metre-long tarts and log cakes) for all kinds of large-scale events. By seamlessly blending her artistry as an entertainer with her skills as a dessert chef, Tia whips up her bespoke delicacies to take your celebration to the sweet next level. Having experienced the magic at our Buffet party last month (we're still in cake-induced bliss thanks to her display of a 1.5m-long chequered Napoleon cake surrounded by cannoli piped with peach ricotta cream, cherry-topped cream puffs and hazelnut crumb raspberry crostatas!), we couldn’t help but wonder — what does it take to pull something like this all together in the busy world of events?

We called upon the cake goddess herself to unpack her creative process, from conceptualisation to set up of the ultimate dessert experience. Forks ready?

World of Crema’s Tia De Berardinis on Creating a Memorable Dessertscape

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News

We hit record shoot numbers this year, some weeks hitting the 13 shoots in five days mark! From trumpets on sky-backed rooftops, to one-hit steakhouses and so, so many Martinis, our photography and creative teams delivered on nothing if not diversity in 2023. It was a hard task, but we've whittled down the images that have changed our brain chemistry this year. Enjoy. 

Team Buffet's Favourite Images of 2023

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School Up

Trying to land a coveted spot on your target audience’s For You page? We’ve done the sleuthing, feast below on our latest TikTok engagement advice!

11 TikTok Tips for Higher Engagement

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Strategic Ideation FINAL

A small but mighty service for small but mighty businesses, empowering you with 10 creative recommendations to execute in-house — direct from the Buffet Brain’s Trust.

All the gear, no idea? Meet Buffet’s Strategic Ideation service

Most people know Joey Kellock as the “lasagne guy” who first popped up on people’s radars in a big way when his Melbourne-based lasagne delivery business exploded during Covid lockdowns. He immediately strikes you as someone running at a hundred miles an hour — and we mean that literally.

Between the Layers with Joey Kellock of 1800-Lasagne

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Alice Oehr

The star behind our latest collaboration, our Fruit Sticker Poster, is Melbourne-based artist, illustrator and author, Alice Oehr. Alice's style is unforgettable in its bright joyfulness and promise of deliciousness. She was the perfect collaborator for this project which keeps fruit stickers out of landfill by turning them into art! Here, she delves into the backstory to her career, what catches her eye at the market, and how she believes in the power of the slow burn when it comes to a career in making art. 

Drawing Nostalgia and Emotion from Food with Artist Alice Oehr

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Pro Tips_Aplenty

Drum roll, please, for the coolest kids on the catering block, Aplenty, here to spill the tea on entertaining (without breaking a sweat). Having recently catered for my own wedding I can safely say Aplenty’s founder, Michaela Johansson knows a thing or two about impressing crowds big and small (hello, dinghy full of oysters and occy on the chargrill!). Now that it’s cooling down and we’re retreating indoors, we asked Michaela to share her essential tips  for hosting the *perfect* dinner party. 

How To Host a Dinner Party with Aplenty's Michaela Johansson

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If you’ve made it here you already know that what you post is important, but have you considered the impact of when you post? The answer: it's more important than you may think. 

Is there an optimal time to post on social media anymore?

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Art’s role in enhancing the restaurant experience seems to be changing. More attention is being paid to pitch-perfect curation, bespoke collaborations and commissions that truly enrich a venue’s atmosphere and memorability, rather than pieces that just fill walls. Amy Finlayson is a Sydney-based curator (and artist herself!) who’s zeroed in on curating all mediums - sculpture, painting, textiles, photography and mixed-media - for restaurants and bars under her company, The Fin Collection, finding herself in a market of high demand. With the paint now dry on the walls of our most recent venue launch, Love Tilly Group’s expansive Palazzo Salato, Amy lets us in on the lesser-known sides to her curatorial niche, and the special pieces to be found in Sydney’s new salty palace.