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Every Sunday for 13 years, I've had a restaurant review column in the Sunday Age. Today, there isn't one. You always know as a freelancer that any phone call could be the one that informs you a gig has gone. I got that call on Monday. Fair enough. But of all the reasons that might have called time on my column - budget cuts, fresh voice, editor doesn't like the way you use adjectives - it never, never, ever occurred to me that the reason might be, "Melbourne has no restaurants". I'm sad about my column. The missing income will hurt. But I'm mostly stricken about the reason behind it: the closure of restaurants and cafes, the standing down of thousands of employees, the loss of that way of gathering, expressing ourselves, sharing culture and community, and finding meaning and connection. For me, writing about restaurants was always a way to write about people - the way they grow food, cook it and serve it, and in so doing, share of themselves, give from their hearts and hands, honour the bond between host and guest. I always loved hearing the stories behind food businesses: it was a privilege to get nosy and then to work those tales and my own impressions into words for my readers. I learnt so much. The biggest compliment I could ever get from a restaurant was, "You really understand what we're trying to do". And the biggest compliment from readers was, "I never would have tried that / got that / known that, if not for your review." Anyway, if you served me food and wine and coffee, thank you. And if you read my reviews, thank you, I hope they steered you well. To @theageaustralia, thanks for trusting me. If you're wondering what you might do next, I give you two ideas. 1. Support your local restaurant or cafe if they are still doing takeaway, selling groceries, vouchers, toilet paper, whatever. 2. Support media organisations: it is more important than ever that we have strong, independent, well-funded media keeping eyes and ears on the world right now. I don't care who you support (though The Age / SMH would be great) but if you can afford to buy a subscription to whichever news outlets you rely on, I would appreciate it as a citizen, not just as a journalist. ...

Cake break. One of my kids turned 15 today. Her original plan for her birthday was a night in a hotel with her friends. That idea got a Hard No from 'worst mum ever' over here. But as it happens, I could have pretended that I was fine with it and let a global pandemic swoop in to play helicopter parent. Live and learn? Anyway, the best thing I could think of to make the day spesh was a cake from @sweetbakes_ - and what a cake! Thanks, Alisha for supplying sweet sunshine and buttery goodness for my girl. A birthday to remember, if not the best birthday ever. Apparently the cake feeds 40 but probably fewer if you have it 3 meals a day, am I right? #cakeforbreakfast #coronabirthday #covid19birthday ...

Overseas workers are especially
vulnerable at this time. Many of
them have visas tied to the job
that they have now lost. They are
not entitled to benefits. They often
have few resources or connections.
So we built a form for overseas hospo
workers to register their needs and
we will try to help. Not sure who 'we'
is but it might be you...We are in this
together. Link in bio and bit.ly/OSworkers. #savehospo Thanks @meandu for
assistance with this 🙏 ...

Had a few legal questions come up from hospo folk so I got in touch with workplace lawyer @libertysanger1 to ask her for some tips to help #savehospo. Before we got started, we had a bit of a cry about the whole *wehavenorestaurants* bafflement and bereavement and how hard and sad that is making things for so many of us. Watch the interview in my Instagram Live. All her answers and follow-ups are also on my resources page via danivalent.com. Thank you, Liberty, principal lawyer at @wefightforfair and thanks Josh Bornstein for the intro. Got more legal questions? Ask and I'll find the answers. ...

@fareshare_australia will accept
donated produce. They are
best-placed to deal with a
random selection of items.
It's what they do all the time.
Your ingredients will be cooked
into nutritious meals and given
to those doing it tough...
which will be many of us
YOU MUST CALL FIRST (03) 9428 0044
Kitchen is in Abbotsford #savehospo ...

OK, restaurants &
cafes closed by
noon tomorrow.
Feel the relief.
Feel the awful pain &
sadness. Takeaway
& delivery OK. News
on food drop-off to
prevent waste coming
shortly #savehospo ...

While Melbourne's supermarkets are stripped bare of produce, local farmers who supply restaurants are in danger of ploughing fruit and vegetables back into the fields. Independent restaurateur Lily Stokes at @theodor.es_ decided to do something about it. Link in bio. Yay @northsidefruitandveg Also doing great work in this space: @beccorestaurant @smithanddaughters @annam_melbourne @vicfarmersmarkets 🙏❣️ ...

Hey hospo, just made a page which collects together some resources which may help you navigate this cluster of ducks. Link in bio or you'll easily see it at danivalent.com. Hope it helps. Tell me if there's other stuff you want to see here #savehospo ...

Victorian Government announcement and what it means for hospo... The Victorian Government is announcing a $1.7 billion rescue package today, targeted largely at the stricken hospitality industry. The package includes the following measures: - a complete withdrawal of liquor license fees. - a payroll tax holiday for the 2019-20 financial year, with all payroll tax paid to date refunded and no more due until July 1. - a six-month commitment to rent abatement for tenants of state and council-owned properties. - interest-free loans. - transitional Victorian Government jobs for hospitality staff who are now unemployed due to the COVID-19 crisis. - a $500 million business support package

Thanks @danielandrewsmp #savehospo ...

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