Page 31 - foodservice magazine Feb 2019

DINING
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“That's insane when you think about it, we've created a restaurant where people must go.”
While Carrington had already racked up some serious experience in kitchens around the world before running his own, the fiscal realities of running a restaurant was something he didn’t have.
“I don't reckon anyone has ever opened a restaurant before with less financial idea than I did,” he admits.
Still, at the tender age of 22, Carrington could be forgiven for not being prepped for the role of team leader, human resources manager and CFO, as Atlas is his first ever whack at the head chef title.
Going feet-first worked out to be a pretty solid strategy. Atlas opened to both glowing reviews and a public fascination with the young chef ’s audacity.
Within a year, to Carrington’s surprise, business was booming. But for a guy perpetually on the move, he was ready for a new challenge. “It's one thing to be a chef, which is a really fantastic career, but it's also nice to, once you've started a restaurant and you've had a lot of success with it, then take it to the next level,” he says.
So, he and his brother (also partner at Atlas) opened a second diner, Colours, across the street. The more-accessible version
of Atlas plays the hits from the restaurant’s ever-changing menu in a casual setting.
With Colours, Carrington joined an ever-growing roster of name-brand chefs trying out ‘fast-casual’: Scott Pickett, Shane Delia, George Calombaris, Shannon Bennett, Neil Perry et al. Despite all the industry hype around the category, Carrington had discerned that there was still a significant gap in the market. “I genuinely believe that very, very high-end dining is slowing down quite a bit. People are looking for UberEats at home, they're looking for really quick, casual experiences, or they’re looking for places like Atlas,” he says.
Despite the obvious attraction of the fast-casual formula, achieving fine-dining standards in a takeaway setting isn’t easy. While dishes can be simplified and the level of service can be reduced, there are only so many corners that can be cut before quality is sacrificed. “We had to figure out the model,” Carrington explains. “How do you serve food that's quite inexpensive while maintaining standards, paying staff directly, [getting] enough people there, and [serving] the food quickly so they like it?”
One major challenge with fast-casual, is that it’s, well, fast. Diners come in and out of the restaurant without hanging around to empty their wallets on added-value items, like wine. “You're not really selling booze,” Carrington says. “At Atlas, you could get a group that comes in and they could spend $1000. At Colours, you might have a group of six come in and they spend $70, but they all sit there, enjoy their food, chat.”
Nevertheless, it’s a challenge Carrington is ready to rise to. He already has plans to open two more editions of Colours later this year, and intends to take both brands overseas. “I definitely want Atlas to be global. I really want to make the idea that a cheap set menu has a context and take that to the world. I think that's something that no one has done before. And that's something
I really want to pioneer,” he says. “I think I just like a challenge,
and I want to see how big we can grow.”
Given the scale of this 25-year-old’s ambition, the world is his oyster.