Todd Langley (FRED Eatery): On building the local café they want to visit
There are restaurants that put streets and suburbs on the map. FRED Eatery has made Aldgate a culinary destination. Todd Langley, co-owner of FRED, had worked in hospitality as a chef for 28 years before satisfying his appetite for ownership.
Todd talks to Michael, a frequenter of FRED, about falling in love with a location, creating a vibe that carries through a space, its staff and décor, and the quirky FRED persona. He shares the story of the eatery’s expansion into homewares and their philosophy on building out the brand, without detracting from its essence.
This episode is for coffee lovers, foodies, people who appreciate thoughtful design, and those interested in building a business on the back of the Adelaide Hills community.
Transcription
Michael Nitschke:
On today’s episode of the podcast, I get to catch up with Todd Langley of FRED Living and Eatery in Aldgate. It’s a great interview. Let’s check it out. Welcome to the Nitschke podcast, today, I’m so excited to have Todd Langley of FRED Eatery and living in Aldgate.
Todd, welcome.
Todd Langley:
Thank you. Thank you for having me.
Michael Nitschke:
Pleasure. Todd, for those that don’t know anything about FRED or yourself, share your story. What’s it all about?
Todd Langley:
Okay, well, FRED Eatery, we came up with a concept and the idea way back in 2015. It’s called FRED. It’s a hybrid of say, a cafe and a restaurant. It’s not one or the other. It’s sort of taking the best of, we feel both worlds and that’s why we came up with calling it an eatery back in the day.
Michael Nitschke:
Wow. That’s 2015 and obviously we’re a long way down the track today.
Todd Langley:
It was eight this year.
Michael Nitschke:
Happy birthday to FRED indeed. Tell us about the humble beginnings of FRED. How did it begin and grow from there?
Todd Langley:
Okay, so for about 18 months we were looking for a space. We didn’t know it was going to be a location in the hills, but we were looking for a space and we came across this space back in early, no late 2014, and it was called, back then, it was called the Aldgate Providore and Cafe. And we were like, it had the right vibe, it had the right energy, and so we thought, lovely, what if anything like this come up? Because previously we’d been looking for 18 months, and that was early December. We went through Christmas. I happened to be on a website that I’m not normally on. It was Seek and they had a businesses for sales section. I was looking at that and this was the first thing that came up for sale. And I saw that on a Sunday, made contact on a Monday. They said, you need to put your best offer in by Wednesday. There’s two other people in the mix. And so after 18 months, this had the right vibe. I just knew it was the one. So we just went in and secured. It was meant to be.
Michael Nitschke:
I was going to say after an 18 month journey to then suddenly just late night scrolling, find it, then we’ve got 72 hours to make that decision.
Todd Langley:
I was, but I was ready to make that decision six months into an 18 month.
Michael Nitschke:
Awesome. And was FRED your first business venture or had you had any other experience?
Todd Langley:
No, this was our first business venture. We had looked after other people’s businesses and things like that, and I had been in hospitality up until about 20, I’d say 28 years. And we felt at that time after that experience, now I feel like if I’m going to do it, it’s going to be now and it’s all the pitfalls to avoid after that many years in the industry. So I thought, well, okay, now’s the time. And it was all about timing and what felt right at the time, and that’s how we went about it.
Michael Nitschke:
Amazing. Because your background is as a chef, isn’t it as well. So then starting obviously in 2015 then your best offer obviously won. Congratulations at that time. Thank you. How big was the team roughly back then?
Todd Langley:
Oh, it was one other chef.
Michael Nitschke:
Okay. Yeah, so quite an intimate..
Todd Langley:
Very much so, very much. And a very small team we inherited at that time. So we took it on and ran it as the Aldgate Providore and Cafe for about the first six months, six to nine months I think for memory. And we then changed it to FRED Eatery and we did a small renovation because we were waiting for the branding and for the particular coffee cups we had designed to come online. They did. We transitioned out of all Gate proper and cafe into FRED Eatery, and that was around I’d say September or October of 2015. And then 2016, around May and June, we did a complete renovation of the space.
Michael Nitschke:
I love that it was waiting for the perfect coffee cup before.
Todd Langley:
Yeah, it was the perfect coffee cup. It had to be the particular green, and from there we then built it from there.
Michael Nitschke:
And where did that idea come from, or was it just a natural flare that you both have, or was it just for the coffee cup and then the name as well?
Todd Langley:
Well, FRED was designed, the name FredFREDcame about because before corporate world, I was in real hospitality and coming back into it, in that period, social media had really kicked off and I was very, very aware of what could happen through social media. And so I said that we have to have a name for it. We have to have a name. So you need a brand. Yeah, the name has to be, it had to be a name, a FRED or a Barry or something along those lines. Because when you are responding on social media, FRED’s responding, we’re not responding. The character FRED or FRED Eatery is responding. So whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, the review you are responding to, which is basically what you’re responding to reviews, it’s the character FRED. So you can go down that rabbit hole if you choose to in regards to responding to reviews. And you can take some liberties. It can be a little bit sassy with a response.
Michael Nitschke:
It’s like a personality, isn’t it? We were chatting off air about almost like the persona of FRED, the vibe of FRED. Are you able to share a little bit about that energy, such a funky, cool vibe here? It’s awesome.
Todd Langley:
It’s just evolved, I would say naturally. I mean, when the place was renovated and the energy that it has, the light, the bright, that pretty much then played into sort of the personality that I perform. And then the other staff who are here day in, day out or pick up on that, and it’s like it’s an osmosis situation. And then they take on those sort of characteristics or in their own way and they know that it’s an upbeat, happy environment and they all need to be upbeat and happy, which they are. Because when you go through the selection process of taking on a staff person after all these years, you certainly do know which way the cards will fall with the individual. So you go, okay, you’ve got the right attitude and you’ve got the right person.
Michael Nitschke:
You’re a culture fit.
Todd Langley:
Yeah, we can work with you. They don’t need to know how to make coffee or carry three plates or whatever when they get here. That can all be taught. But if you don’t have that sort of open, happy, interesting in other people sort of like fit, it’s not going to, it won’t work.
Michael Nitschke:
Makes sense. So really in a way, you’re looking for cultural fit before technical fit. You can train them how to make a coffee. That’s quite straightforward, but the energy, the vibe of FRED, you either have it or you don’t.
Todd Langley:
Exactly.
Michael Nitschke:
What a great philosophy.
Todd Langley:
B it’s also it is, and you try and make that work, but it’s not as easy as people would think it would be when they come in here and they say, your staff are fantastic. Yes, they are. But that’s taken a lot of time and effort and a lot of patience well done to bring it up to that standard.
Michael Nitschke:
Definitely. And tell me about FRED Living another fantastic arm of the business.
Todd Langley:
Okay, so we were asked quite a lot when we were layering FRED with the glassware and the artwork and the plants and the plant pop plants and the lamps and the lamp shades and things like that, where we got it all from and can you help us out with names and websites for these pieces? And that was happening quite a bit.
Eventually straight after FRED was transformed, we thought, well, moving forward, would that be something we’d be interested in doing? And the store next to us became available and we thought, well, for two reasons, yes, we would like to do that. We’ve never been in retail before on that level. I’ve been very much a retail customer, but I’ve actually never been behind the counter on something like that.
So we thought, well, we’ll create FRED Living. And so it’s a homeware store that we have things from the Jam Factory and Miy Lights and Cam Flatware and Cedar Glassware and stuff like that. So unusual pieces from bespoke supplies, whether predominantly Australian and some pieces, obviously we get that thesis from New Zealand, so we have an eclectic array of pieces that sort of represent what people were asking about when they were coming through Fred.
So that if you like what you see here, there’s pieces of that next door in living. And that was just to be able to create basically also to control the narrative with what’s happening in all gate and on the street. And it’s great exposure having Living there. And it’s also when people either are waiting to come into FRED, they can go through living and when they’re exiting, if they’ve seen the flatware or the glassware or light or a vase, they’re actually, all those pieces are available in living.
Michael Nitschke:
ISo you have the mugs available in there
Todd Langley:
Yes, we do.
Michael Nitschke:
You haven’t trademarked them?
Todd Langley:
No, not quite. Not yet. But it’s all available as well in there as well. Yeah, there you go.
Michael Nitschke:
Congratulations. So you touched on the team being an intimate crew when you began. How big’s the team roughly now?
Todd Langley:
Oh, it’s grown. It’s grown. It’s grown quite a lot. So we have, I would say there would be not including Aaron and myself, there would be 15 of us. Awesome. 15 plus plus. Yeah.
Michael Nitschke:
And it’s a busy crew. I mean this place is always pumping.
Todd Langley:
It is always pumping. Yeah. It’s busy. And we’re very happy with that, thankful with that great support from the local community. And it’s all about maintaining. Aaron and myself are here every day and at the coalface with the staff, we don’t stand back and take on that, what would you call it, hands-off approach. We’re very much, we wouldn’t do anything or ask the staff to do anything we haven’t done, wouldn’t do or they don’t see us doing. So that’s how we create a culture where they’ll see us at the end of the day, I’m on my hands and knees, just cleaning the skirt, skirts in. We’re in it to make sure that you maintain a standard.
Michael Nitschke:
Well, even as a longtime customer of yours too, just seeing how hands-on you are with customers coming in, greeting them. You’re often the first person that people meet and that tone and vibe of FRED is set straight away. It’s awesome.
Todd Langley:
It is. It is a performance. It’s a hyper performance to what I am normally, but coffee probably helps.
But yeah, you get in there and you get people wanting to come and have a coffee, greet them with a happy face, and you get to know a lot of people and you get to know the ins and outs to a certain extent. And so it’s quite the community. And so it’s what I would like had if it was my local. So that’s how we base it on what would we like if we could do something that we’d be happy to come to. And so that’s how FRED’s growing to this point.
Michael Nitschke:
Love it. That’s fantastic. And something that I really liked that you shared before when you were referring to FRED, living is a layer of FRED, so you’ve got a few layers to FRED already. Do you and Aaron have other layers that you’ve got planned or where do you see the future of FRED as far as you’d be comfortable sharing today?
Todd Langley:
Look, there’s been a few. We’ve looked at a few. Look, there’s always something else. Of course you are always looking, what can we do? But what can we do that’s not going to jeopardise or diminish what we’ve currently got? Many people have one business, go to two, go to a third or what. And it starts to become a little bit, not what it was because your attention’s been diverted and things like that. So we are very mindful of if we do do something else, what could it be and where would it be and what haven’t we done? We’ve looked at a few things to be, we’ve looked at a few things, but the fit’s never been right, not like this has been the right fit, not like knowing living would be the right fit, but it’s not to say never.
Michael Nitschke:
There’s always opportunity somewhere.
Todd Langley:
You just never know. You just never know. There’s always something. There’s always something. And things have changed dramatically in hospitality are due obviously during and after covid, and it’s just a question of where things are going to land. And so things I think are calming down now to a certain extent. We will just see, I would say give it another six months and once you’ve caught your breath with a lot of things, for us it’s staffing and as it is for a lot of people in a lot of industries, not just, but that we just need to settle that down a little bit and we might then start to go, okay, what’s next? What could we do that could enhance what we’ve already got but not detract from it?
Michael Nitschke:
Awesome.
Todd, an incredible story. Congratulations on everything you and your team, you and Aaron have achieved here is amazing. Thanks for being a guest on the Nitschke podcast today.
Todd Langley:
Not a problem. Thank you.
Michael Nitschke:
Pleasure.