When Adam Sadiqzai walked out of Stellas Kitchen last Sunday, he closed the door on a significant part of his life.
He says it will be the last venue he operates in a hospitality career spanning more than four decades.
The decision to step away came out of the blue and not without some angst, but Adam is confident he is leaving the place in good hands.
Scott and Ashley Fairweather, who live just up the road from the Lysterfield venue, took over on Monday.
They have a history in the caper as well, having met while working at Positanos in Hallam and later establishing Ashcotts restaurant in Berwick.
“I see them as a younger version of us,” Adam said, referring to he and wife Victoria. “That gives us a lot of comfort.”
It was actually Scott who planted the seed.
He had run a string of venues and food trucks across the south east and beyond but decided to get out of the industry a couple of years back.
Ash started to work at Stellas casually about six months ago. She would come home sharing her experiences and that reignited the flame.
Scott casually asked Adam if he had ever considered hanging up the boots and that set in train the sequence of events that led to the handover.
“Ash had an intimate knowledge of the venue and our values,” Adam said. “So it seems like a natural progression.”
Adam was drawn to Stellas because of its link to the Montague family’s orchard operation and he says that Ash and Scott are ideal to continue that family tradition.
Like Adam and Victoria, who have three of their four children (Rahart, Zamina and Imran) actively involved in the business, the Fairweather children (Noah 14, Grace 11 and Isla 7) have been exposed to it as well.
Although Adam and Victoria will no longer be involved with venues, the catering company Khans Hospitality Service will still operate and they will help Rahart establish a new venue in East Melbourne.
Hospitality is in the blood.
Adam’s father Sqdiq migrated to Australia from Pakistan in the 1950.
“He met my mother (Gulzar) and they opened the first Indian restaurant in the country in Chapel Street,” Adam explained.
“I remember by father saying he went to a greengrocer and asked for coriander. No-one knew what it was. That’s how different it was back then.”
As with many migrant families, all their children worked in the business.
“I started scrubbing floors and washing dishes,” Adam smiled. “I say to the kids that their Dad is a dishwasher who came good in life.”
