Every day, restaurants around the world host an exclusive, invitation-only event. There's no waitlist, no calling in a favour and no sum of money that can secure you a seat. This is an experience reserved for a select few: the staff. 

It's an often-overlooked yet vital part of the restaurant's ecosystem, where the true essence of hospitality comes to life for those who make it all happen. 

"A staff meal is as important as a restaurant dish,” says Jason Kim, head chef and owner of Tokki in Auckland. “I believe there are no chefs who can make good food without making great staff meals." His sentiment underscores a deeper truth; that staff meals are about more than just nourishment. The practice is a microcosm of the industry, a daily ritual that mirrors the very essence of the job. What other industry exercises its craft internally, for its own team, with such care and intention?

Like any aspect of running a business, the logistics of staff meals vary from venue to venue. At their most prosaic, staff will select something from the regular menu. At their most egregious, they will receive nothing at all. But, by and large, they are a collaborative affair, providing a sacrosanct opportunity for the team to sit and eat together—usually served between lunch and dinner service, buffet-style, with chefs rotating responsibilities and, occasionally, front-of-house staff stepping in. 

Dining together as a team isn't feasible at venues like Clover, a wine bar in Richmond, where service runs from lunch through dinner. Yet, staff meals remain a non-negotiable for owner and chef Charley Snadden-Wilson. "Ensuring the team is well-fed is one of the most fundamental aspects of the job," he says, prioritising hearty dishes like curries or one-pot chicken and rice.

“I think about three principles; it must be delicious, nutritious, and efficient," says chef Sebastian Javier, who has cooked at Embla and Gimlet in Melbourne and now Bridges in New York, when discussing his approach to the inception of a staff meal. Dishes that will give the staff the energy needed to see out the remainder of their shift, like souvlaki, bangers and mash, and larb salad. For many chefs, the overwhelming factor informing their staff meal is "whatever we want to eat."

"Every time I try to be creative with my staff meals, the chefs always hate it,” says Henry Onesemo, head chef and owner of Samoan restaurant Tala in Auckland. “I later learned that comfort food done extremely well is the key." But comfort means different things to different people, and in an industry built on the backs of immigrants, staff meals often serve as a reflection of its diversity.

Onesemo recalls how cooking staff meals in restaurants worldwide often felt "as though you were representing your country." This rings true at Anchovy and Cá Com in Melbourne's inner east, where much of the team is from Southeast Asia. There, staff meals often consist of dishes they've been dreaming about from home, a poignant reminder that this practice can be a powerful tool to reconnect with edible culture.

Often, this results in staff meals showing a surprising divergence from dishes on the venue's menu. At Tokki in Auckland, known for its bold Korean flavours, the team has tucked into pozole and tamales, meanwhile, across the city at Tala, staff meals have featured Nepalese momo.

Chefs at Punter's Club in Fitzroy use leftover kangaroo from their schnitzels to make a "vindaroo curry," and at Rolo's in New York, a wood-fired grill restaurant with a Bib Gourmand award, the primarily South American and Southern USA kitchen staff regularly serve tacos and tortillas, with staff meals providing the perfect platform for the team to share culinary traditions. 

Staff meals also often serve as a proving ground for dishes, providing a rare chance to cook for a captive and knowledgeable audience. At Tala, the larder chef served a Panipopo—Samoan bread cooked in coconut milk with pandan—which was so well-received that it was promptly incorporated into the menu without changes. Similarly, the Onion Bhaji with raita and tamarind chutney at Punter's Club, a staff meal creation, became a menu favourite, much like Tokki's signature Milk Bun stuffed with kimchi, spicy pork, and beurre blanc. These dishes, born from humble staff meals, help disseminate culinary traditions to a broader audience, shaping and enriching a city's food identity. 

Head Chef and co-owner at Reed House in Melbourne's CBD, Mark Hannell, commented on the usefulness of staff meals as a training tool, emphasising that they are a valuable way to humanise dietary requirements.

"If you have a face to the name and connection with that person, it makes everyone more mindful of being able to cater for everyone,” he says. This philosophy extends beyond just meeting dietary needs and speaks to the deeper impact of staff meals on team dynamics and restaurant culture.

Jia-Yen Lee, co-owner of Anchovy and Cá Com, shares this sentiment, stressing the importance of giving staff meals the same care as any other dish. "Don't cut corners because it's your own team," she says. She explains that staff meals offer a unique opportunity for chefs to refine essential skills like time management, portion control, and creativity.

"A good barometer for how much a restaurant cares about its team is its willingness to spend on staff meals," says Sebastian Javier, highlighting that a venue's integrity is often reflected in the quality of its staff meals. While chefs account for wastage by using trimmings, excess mise en place, and leftovers, the general consensus is that staff meals are too integral to a venue's culture and daily operations to economise.

However, staff meals are not just a reflection of integrity; they play a pivotal role in shaping a restaurant's culture. Curated wine lists and tableside guacamole can only go so far—authentic culture is often defined by how the team absorbs and embodies the underlying philosophies of a venue. This is frequently visible in the venue's unique staff meal traditions. Reed House, for example, hosts "Friday Chicken Fridays™," while Anchovy plans special Saturday meals weeks in advance. These idiosyncratic rituals become tangible expressions of a venue's personality, fostering confidence and character—especially within the context of a restaurant's ethos, which the staff internalise and carry forward into service.

One of the most pervasive analogies in hospitality is that restaurants are like family, and staff meals are often referred to as "family meals" or just "family." Much like a family, restaurants contain multiple complex hierarchies, and once service starts, staff will peel off into these respective units. But staff meals provide a respite from this, a moment of calm in the eye of the service storm, where everyone can break bread together.

Aside from Silicon Valley tech companies, where staff meals are a de rigueur work perk, no other industry regularly feeds its staff. In hospitality, however, what might be seen as a mere practicality serves a unique purpose: an opportunity to reconnect with the profession's core—nourishing and nurturing those around you.

Ultimately, the staff meal is more than just a break in the day—it's a daily celebration of the camaraderie, creativity, and care that define the heart of the industry itself.