Melbourne Pizza Chefs Buy First Home After Turning Business Around

When Sansita Bootsrakoothanachok and Daniel Barrese looked at their restaurant bank account each month, they saw zeros. Despite packed tables at Boss Pizzeria in Melbourne, wages, rent, and rising costs swallowed every dollar.

"We had plenty of customers and people loved our food, but the income was not covering costs," says Bootsrakoothanachok, 37. The couple stopped paying themselves entirely just to keep their doors open.

They nearly gave up. Barrese even asked his wife if she could keep going.

"I told him that because I am from Thailand, I am a fighter," Bootsrakoothanachok says. They decided to analyze every expense and make painful cuts.

The couple started getting up early to buy fresh vegetables at the market to save money. They reduced food waste and streamlined floor staff, with Bootsrakoothanachok managing the entire dining room alone during slower periods.

The exhausting strategy worked. After a year of relentless cost-cutting, their accountant noticed something remarkable: the restaurant was finally turning a profit.

Today, the married couple has paid off all business debts and recently bought their first home. "Very, very proud, we have now achieved a big, big goal in life," Bootsrakoothanachok says.

The Ripple Effect

Their success stands out against a troubling backdrop for Australian food businesses. One in 10 restaurants and cafes are closing their doors, double the national average for business failures, according to credit reporting agency CreditorWatch.

Rising ingredient costs, soaring rents, and wage increases are crushing operators on razor-thin margins. Many owners are locked into leases with landlords who ended pandemic-era concessions and pushed through sharp rent increases.

Making matters worse, Australian wages are now falling behind inflation. Pay rose just 3.4 percent in 2025 while living costs climbed 3.8 percent, leaving people with less money to dine out.

"The cumulative effect means that conditions in 2026 are as bad as they have ever been," says Wes Lambert, CEO of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association. "Operators around the country are telling us that there is no money in hospitality."

But Bootsrakoothanachok, who studied tourism in Thailand before migrating to Australia, wants her story to inspire other struggling business owners. She and Barrese, who trained as a chef in Italy, built customer loyalty through friendly service and never compromised on quality.

Their journey from nearly giving up to debt-free homeowners proves that perseverance and smart cost management can turn things around, even in the toughest markets.