Dirty Linen - A Food Podcast with Dani Valent · A Deep in the Weeds Production

Monica Melendez (Elm Dining, Bright) - leadership, seasonality and thriving through change

·26 min·1 clip

Monica says TAG told her she was ready for head chef, even though she kept saying, 'I wasn't ready.'

Dani Vallant opens from Bright in Victoria's high country, where food, wine, scenery, and adventure all sit close together. She is with head chef Monica Melendez at Elm Dining. The room has a long memory. It once traded as Simone's of Bright and sits in a building that used to be a doctor's practice. Monica speaks about Bright with real affection. The place is beautiful, but the episode stays grounded in what it takes to work there. Reopening a venue has become less daunting over time. Monica says the first few cycles felt nerve-racking, especially before she was head chef. Experience has changed that. Now the hard work is still there, but it feels like work that will get done. She also values the flexibility of moving between restaurants within the same company. That system let her shift through a few venues before settling at Elm Dining and then Astra. Menu development for Astra begins around February or March, while things are quieter, so the team can test dishes before the hill opens again. Sourcing changes sharply once the kitchen is up the mountain. Monica explains that La Madre Farm isn't an option up there, and supplies have to move through ATS before they reach the restaurant. That creates a slower, less direct supply chain. The conversation also lands on the small pleasures of the menu, including the faro salad and the whipped brie. By the end, Bright feels like a place worth returning to every year because the food, the view, and the restaurant story keep unfolding.

As heard by us

A regional dining story grounded in reopening, menu work, and place.

Elm Dining in Bright reads as a regional restaurant story shaped by place, history, and the people behind it. Monica Melendez describes a venue with a previous life, along with a town and surrounding area that reward return visits.

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Why you'd press play

A calm look at Bright's Elm Dining as it reopens and works through a new season.

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