“I know my mental health has suffered from working in hospitality,” Sebastian Pasinetti tells me, frankly, as we’re sitting in his new Fitzroy restaurant, Oko, pre-service.

“So many restaurant owners base their structure off this idea that a person can work a 16-hour shift, they probably had four beers at the end of their shift, then they’re back here in the morning expected to be fully alert and okay.”

At Oko, he’s doing things differently. He opened the diner with his mum, Luciana Pasinetti, after a three-year stint in London, where he worked with Kelly’s Cause, a hospitality-specific “mental health first aid” trainer. “It was the best job I ever had,” he says.

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Sebastian eventually hopes to introduce Kelly’s Cause to Australia. But for now, he’s applying what he learned at the Greeves Street restaurant. Each week, staff work no more than 45 hours and get two consecutive days off. Other initiatives include limiting knock-offs, refraining from referring to the team as a “family” (which Sebastian says can blur healthy workplace boundaries), and serving nutrient-dense staff meals.

Sebastian also has a management and kitchen team that’s completely queer- and female-led. “We have worked so hard to curate a safe space for our community to thrive within Oko and feel passionately about defending the mental health of the team.”

Food-wise, Sebastian opted for a broadly Mediterranean menu that encompasses his heritage. “My mum’s Italian and my dad’s African, so I kind of wanted to merge the two together.”

You might find crumbed haloumi dressed with lemon, za’atar and zhoug, a herb-heavy Yemeni hot sauce; merguez, a spiced sausage common in north-west Africa, served on a bed of labneh and chilli oil; or pork-belly skewers rubbed with ras el hanout.

Cocktails tow the Mediterranean line – think Limoncello Margaritas and Ouzo-tinis – and complement the olive trees that fill the corners of the heritage-listed building.

Sebastian hasn’t changed much since he took over the site, where Hell of the North once was. But he does have plans to open the rooftop – just in time for summer.

Oko
135 Greeves Street, Fitzroy
(03) 9041 9177

Hours:
Tue to Fri 5.30pm–11pm
Sat 12pm–3pm, 5.30pm–11pm

okorestaurant.com.au