Feature image: d’Arry’s Verandah Restaurant
Behind every cellar door lunch, packed restaurant and busy café on the Fleurieu is a hospitality worker expected to keep smiling while juggling long hours, financial pressure and the demands of life outside work.
For some, that now means working three or four jobs just to make ends meet, while the region’s quieter winter months can bring another layer of uncertainty.
It is this often unseen side of the industry that inspired Balancing Plates, a Fleurieu initiative bringing hospitality workers together for an evening of food, conversation and wellbeing.
Their next event is taking place at at d’Arry’s Verandah in McLaren Vale on Tuesday, October 27 with tickets deliberately kept at just $10 to make the event as accessible as possible.
The initiative was created through the 2024 Fleurieu Future Leaders Program by five locals who came together under the name Pivot: SA Ambulance Service’s Megan Syvertsen, Ekhidna Kitchen’s Erin Mutton, d’Arenberg winemaker Ben Wilcox, City of Onkaparinga’s Joanne Thompson and IT consultant Werner Mertz.
“We recognised that hospitality underpins tourism in the Fleurieu, with over 200 cafés, restaurants, pubs and cellar doors who employ over 3,500 people,” the Balancing Plates team said.
“We wanted to support those people, the ones who spend their professional lives filling the cups of others and helping our region thrive.”
Several members of the group work within hospitality themselves and had seen firsthand the pressure created by long and unsociable hours, staff shortages, customer expectations, physical demands and the constant need to deliver a positive experience.
“We have learnt that they are living their own lives, carrying their own pressures, challenges and struggles, while also being expected to show up every day in a forward-facing role, and deliver a positive experience for every customer,” the team said.
They have also seen the impact of rising financial pressures, particularly on workers taking on multiple jobs and dealing with quieter tourism periods across the Fleurieu.
“This is especially difficult for the Fleurieu, as the winter hibernation hits quite hard with little tourism,” they said.
The Balancing Plates Team. (Image via Balancing Plates).
The first Balancing Plates gathering was held at Ekhidna Kitchen in May 2025, followed by events at the McLaren Vale & Fleurieu Coast Visitor Centre and Wirra Wirra Wines.
Across those events, conversations have centred on stress management, sleep, healthy boundaries, self-care and the broader pressures facing hospitality workers.
“There is nothing else like Balancing Plates in the Fleurieu, no safe spaces to discuss our mental health, to have these types of conversations, which to us, was the whole point in creating Balancing Plates,” the team said.
Now, the initiative will head to d’Arry’s Verandah for its fourth gathering, bringing the project into the workplace of one of its original creators.
After Hours by Balancing Plates will include a light dinner, drink on arrival and curated goodie bag, along with an opportunity for hospitality workers to “rest, recharge and reconnect with like-minded hospo folk”.
The keynote speaker will be Alexis Guttridge, founder and owner of ANCHR Consulting, who spent more than 20 years working in hospitality in the United States before relocating to South Australia and previously built a multi-million-dollar restaurant business of her own.
Above all, the organisers hope attendees leave knowing they are supported by a wider hospitality community.
“We want them to walk away feeling looked after, connected to the community, recognised and appreciated, like their own cups are filled,” they said.
The Balancing Plates team is also developing a hospitality-specific self-care toolkit, designed to give workers practical resources they can use beyond the events.
As a small community-led organisation, the group relies on donations and support from local businesses and individuals to continue its work.
“We are a small organisation with big ambitions, every bit of community support counts,” the team said.
“Every donation helps us to make a difference.”
After Hours by Balancing Plates
When: Tuesday, October 27, 6pm to 8pm
Where: d’Arry’s Verandah Restaurant
Tickets: $10, including a drink on arrival, light dinner and dessert, keynote speakers and a goodie bag.
For tickets, click here.
