Most restaurants rely on heroics. That’s why they break.
Chef calls out—everything collapses.
Staff turns over—culture disappears.
Owner burns out—nothing changes.

After 33 years in the kitchen, I’ve seen it all.
I’ve run high-volume operations, trained green teams into machines, and led groups through chaos and culture collapse.
And here’s what I know:

Culture eats talent for breakfast.
Systems beat talent when talent doesn’t have systems.

Today, I help restaurant leaders build kitchens that don’t rely on superheroes.
I work with chefs and operators to:

→ Define their way of doing business
→ Build leadership systems that teach it
→ Create operations that run consistently—even when they’re not there

It’s not theory. It’s not fluff.
One client cut turnover by 60% and grew profit by 15% in 90 days.

If your team is talented but inconsistent…
If your culture changes depending on who’s in charge…
If your restaurant falls apart when one person is out…

Let’s talk.

On the CULINARY MECHANIC podcast, I host candid conversations with hospitality's most innovative leaders. From kitchen culture to tech innovations, we blend battle-tested wisdom with modern insights that challenge 'the way it's always been done.' It's where restaurant wisdom meets real systems that work.

🎙️ Host: CULINARY MECHANIC
📩 DM me or visit culinarymechanic.com

Simon Zatyrka 🔥🥄

Restaurant 209

Owner/chef

Boheme

Head Chef

New opening in the city of Chester, with a bakery, an a la carte restaurant and a grazing bar menu. 

Run with intent, class and generosity. Back in whites, back in the mix!

Senior Sous Chef

Currently the encumbent “sous chef”, slightly different to my previous postings as this is within a smaller brigade where my duties are essentially that of a chef de partie. As a casual outlet the clientele and staff are also slightly different to my usual environment with the focus largely being on covers and volume. And within a country with less supply chain, experienced workers and variability in produce than Europe there’s a lot of hurdles to understand.

Sous Chef

Private Chef

The Forge , chester

Originally hired as a sous chef to fill a gap in my employment prior to my imminent return to Auckland my main responsibilities were as a senior chef,with the usual responsibilities of running services, stock taking and due to staff shortages, jumping on a section occasionally. These responsibilities changed with the dismissal of the previous head chef so I accepted to take on the role of head chef whilst a replacement was found and my contract came to an end. New responsibilities included managing payroll, further management, GP control and liasing with the hotel side of the business also.
The corporate environment has been alternative to work in with a lot of differences from previous independent restaurants, one of the biggest challenges was to adopt to the larger amount of bureaucracy and the diplomacy needed to navigate it.

Sous chef/ Acting head chef

The forge

Docket No33

One of the most hands on and constructive of workplaces that I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The literal definition of a family run business where you are actually a part of that family, not some bullshit advertisement trick where the owners just take you on for their financial gain. Being a part of this team taught me so much, not just in the kitchen but I’m the creative process of running a restaurant and showing all the hurdles and pitfalls this entails, as well as all the smiles.
One of those workplaces which encouraged enthusiasm and individuality in becoming a better chef. Stuart and Fran constantly backed me to look elsewhere for experiences knowing that it would benefit us all and become a more rounded and worldly team, during my time their I personally feel we all grew in skills, in stature and confidence, something I took into my next role.

Restaurant Natura

Really great workplace and opportunity, only short lived due to other commitments, language barrier and my own bad planning. I still actively apply things I learnt here into day to day life.

Chef De Partie

The Forge Restaurant

Junior Sous Chef

Restaurant Frantzen 

Intern

A number of years experience within the hospitality industry, mainly focused within the fine dining environment. My interest in food has seen me take positions around the world to gain more experience learning skills not only limited to my profession but to wider life, such as business, communication and developing an independence of ideas to apply to my own business.

I am currently working privately catering for families, events and occasions, something that I am looking to develop further. This came about from working to keep myself occupied during Covid-19 and later developed into a pop up restaurant in Liverpool, and other events such as weddings. Currently this project is still in its early form and looking for further development and investment.

taplio

The Battle

Simon Zatyrka 🔥🥄

felix S.

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