A chef with extensive experience working in various restaurants in Melbourne, Tracey Lister moved to Hanoi to immerse herself in Vietnamese and Asian cuisine. It was there where she started her journey from chef to educator, having started a social enterprise and a cooking school there.
The passion for teaching stayed with her when she moved back to Melbourne, eventually starting the cooking school Brunswick Kitchen. In our conversation with Tracey, she shares her journey of growing Brunswick Kitchen.
ISB: What inspired you to start a cooking school rather than going into the restaurant business?
TL: I always loved the way food brings people together, and how ideas and cultures can be shared over a meal. And I love to help people to feel more comfortable, more confident and more skilled to do this. It is something I have been interested in throughout my career, even when I worked as a senior chef at restaurants in Melbourne, training staff and incorporating a range of culinary traditions into my menus.
I made the transition into sharing my professional knowledge at the beginning of the millennium, opening the social enterprise, KOTO in Hanoi, which is a training restaurant for disadvantaged youth, and subsequently publishing my four cookbooks (Hardie Grant, Australia) on Vietnamese food. Before Brunswick Kitchen, I owned a cooking school in Hanoi for nine years and when we returned to Melbourne, opening a local cooking school seemed to be the next logical step. Also, how many more restaurants does Melbourne really need?
ISB: What is the most challenging aspect of operating a cooking school and how did you overcome it?
TL: The most challenging aspect of running any business at the moment is marketing.
Everything happens on social media and it is not easy to get noticed. It’s simply not enough to have a great product or service, you have to have a flashy reel to go with it. I try to post something every day and communicate regularly with customers who have signed up to our database. Luckily, I also have some very talented friends who help with photos and videos, and maintaining the website.
ISB: How do you choose what courses to offer? What does market research look like for your business?
TL: I run a lot of Vietnamese cooking classes, given the long time I spent there. But I also teach classes on other cuisines I love and know through my travels, for example, food from Penang, Sri Lanka, Spain or Germany.
For me it is very important to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable about what I am teaching. If my heart would not be in it, I am sure the customers would pick up on it very quickly. Brunswick Kitchen also engages guest chefs to run classes in their area of expertise like Japanese cooking, pasta making and pastry baking. They bring fantastic knowledge in their respective areas, and are great communicators, trainers and all-around nice people.
Market research first and foremost involves listening to my customers, even if that might result in me having to “kill some of my darlings” and not go ahead with something I might find interesting but my customers don’t.
ISB: How do you retain existing customers?
TL: Brunswick Kitchen has a growing customer base, many of them local, who have subscribed and receive news and updates through our mail-outs.
I also offer regular subscriber discounts.
While discounts can be important, having a community presence is, in my opinion, essential. I engage in many local events and twice a year organise events myself such as our annual Christmas market at Brunswick Kitchen to show my appreciation for the support from the community.
ISB: How do you envision Brunswick Kitchen in the next couple of years?
TL: There are always more different classes and new and exciting guest chefs to discover and develop. I also want to grow the culinary tourism side of my business. At the moment, I, together with a Vietnam-based designer, offer bespoke food and textile tours to Northern Vietnam, especially designed for travellers who normally don’t go on organised tours. I would like top expand the concept to other Vietnamese regions in the years to come.
ISB: What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting a similar venture?
TL: Tap into your local community and never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth.
