Sebastian Pasinetti

Weekend brunch plans? I’ve got you. My crispy Mediterranean fried chicken sandwich - with oregano and garlic running through it. Topped with hot honey, pickles & a soft egg. All held together by Abbott’s Bakery sourdough. My recipe in collaboration with @broadsheet_melb & @abbottsbakery . Serves: 2 Preparation time: 15 minutes, plus 2 hours marinating Cooking time: 15 minutes Ingredients 250ml buttermilk 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder ½ tsp chilli flakes 2 boneless chicken thighs 150g plain flour Black pepper, to season Vegetable oil, for frying 4 slices Abbott’s Bakery Sourdough White 2 eggs Butter, for toasting bread Cucumber pickles 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 1 tsp sugar Pinch salt Hot honey 2 tbsp honey 1 tsp chilli flakes To serve 2 tbsp mayonnaise Handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped Lemon, to taste (optional; see note) Method Combine buttermilk, oregano, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and chilli flakes in a bowl. Season with pepper. Add chicken and coat well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. For the pickles, combine cucumber, vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl. Toss to coat and set aside. Combine flour with a pinch of pepper and a little extra of the spice mix. Remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip off. Coat in flour mixture, pressing firmly so it adheres well. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry chicken for 5–6 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through. Drain on paper towel. Meanwhile, for the hot honey, combine honey and chilli flakes in a small bowl and set aside. Toast sourdough slices in butter until golden. In a separate pan, fry eggs to your preference. To assemble, spread mayonnaise over the face of each sourdough slice. Top with fried chicken, drizzle with hot honey, then add fried egg. Finish with cucumber pickles, parsley, then close with a second sourdough slice. Notes 1: You can marinate the chicken overnight for deeper flavour. 2: For extra brightness, add a squeeze of lemon juice over the chicken before assembling the sandwich. 📸 @photobychege

Spending time with the family behind T. Cavallaro & Sons @tcavallarosons felt like stepping into something much bigger than a pastry shop. There’s history in those walls - not just in years, but in the way stories, recipes and values get passed down, protected, and reshaped over time. Sitting with Tony and his family, you feel that immediately. It’s not performative, it’s lived. What stayed with me most is how much care sits behind what they do. Not just in the food, but in the people, the relationships, and the quiet responsibility of carrying something forward. In a time where everything moves fast and trends even faster, spaces like this remind you what it means to build something that lasts, and the kind of commitment that takes. Hospitality from the heart will never be a trend or lose the real essence of why we do what we do. I’m so grateful to have been invited into that conversation, into the kitchen, into the sharing of recipes and be given the platform to celebrate 70 years of T. Cavallaro & Sons! ❤️❤️❤️ 🎥 @harrisonmossphoto

A celebration of @madein_kin ’s launch with our Melbourne-based Creative Directory – a collective of creatives of colour with migration stories, pushing the needle in Australian media. Growing up, many of us were the only brown or black kids at school. That’s not something we’re willing to accept in our industries as adults. Many more tables to come – pull up a plastic chair and join us. 🤎

It’s Face Equality Week, and this year’s theme is Seen and Served — making sure people with facial differences are treated with dignity and respect in retail and hospitality settings. Today I’m focusing on hospitality: restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels and live music venues. I’ve had staff seat me facing away from windows or other diners — as though my face might “put people off” their meal. (Though sometimes I choose quieter seating myself to avoid stares and comments.) Staff have spoken to the person I’m with instead of asking for my order, assuming I can’t communicate. I’ve also experienced ableism and appearance-based discrimination from other patrons while venue staff didn’t know how to respond — perhaps because appearance discrimination isn’t recognised in the same way as other forms of harassment. Here are some ways hospitality staff can create more welcoming spaces for people with facial differences: - Say hello. - Look at us, smile, don’t look away. - Don’t ignore us or pretend we aren’t there. - Don’t deliberately seat us facing away from other diners. - Don’t be afraid to touch our hands when exchanging money or items. - Don’t ask intrusive questions like “what happened to you?” or offer unsolicited treatment advice. - Ask about dietary requirements or access needs — but don’t make assumptions based on appearance. - Treat us like any other customer: speak directly to us and take our order. - Don’t whisper or snigger behind our backs. - Respond respectfully if we raise concerns about discrimination. - Recognise what discrimination looks like by following people with facial differences on social media. Please check out the Face Equality International resources and consider signing the Seen and Served pledge. faceequalityinternational.org/seen-and-served-pledge/ Your job in hospitality is to serve us — not interrogate our diagnoses, medical history or appearance. I’m pictured here at my favourite Melbourne restaurant, Chocolate Buddha. I’m always treated with kindness and respect there, and it’s accessible for disabled diners too. They’ve signed the Face Equality pledge, which makes me so happy 💛 ID in comments.

It’s International Face Equality Week. These stats on discrimination, unwanted comments and staring are from the UK, but I suspect they’d be very similar here in Australia, and possibly higher in countries where facial difference is even more feared and stigmatised. 18% of adults with a facial difference have avoided restaurants, bars, pubs, cafes, hotels, or nightclubs. 10% of adults with a facial difference have been subjected to unwelcome behaviour about their appearance in an eating/drinking establishments. 12% have experienced unwelcome comments or questions in a shop, some of these comments are from retail staff. 94% of people with a visible difference say it affects their confidence. Going out to eat and shop are two of my favourite things to do, but unfortunately retail and hospitality spaces haven’t always been safe for me. And so I’m encouraging retail stores and hospo venues to take the pledge to ensure customers with facial differences are treated with dignity in restaurants, cafes, bars, and shops. Let’s reclaim public spaces and ensure everyone has a seat at the table. Pledge: faceequalityinternational.org/seen-and-served-pledge/ (Note - all of the restaurants, cafes and shops I featured here have been safe spaces for me!) 💛 Video: a series of photos of Carly, a woman with red skin and short curly hair, at various cafes, restaurants and shops, always smiling and wearing colourful clothes. The last pic is a Face Equality image for #SeenAndServed. Carly’s voice is speaking over the photos, captions are on the video, transcript above.

Is there anything better than pizza and your bestmate? The new @sunnysidesliced opened last week in the docklands and it slapped! 🍕❤️ C/O @consumer.creative

Written by cook and writer @sebpas , this essay reflects on the quiet negotiations that shape how we move through the world – the instinct to adjust, to read a room, to make ourselves easier to understand, and what it takes to begin unlearning that. To read the full story, head to our bio link. 🤎

One last Paella Party tomorrow night @fenton.farmhouse This one’s going to be a total vibe ❤️ As always, drinks and snacks from 5pm - Paella from 6pm Can’t wait to see you all there xxx 📸 @fuegochego

Yesterday, we hosted an intimate lunch to mark the official launch of @madein_kin in our empty apartment – the end of an era, and the beginning of another. Over the past few months, I’ve been reaching out to migrant creatives of colour across Australia to join MADE IN KIN’s Creative Directory. On a sunny Sunday afternoon, 20 of our Melbourne-based creatives gathered with one purpose – to come closer as a collective and celebrate our culture, stories and work. A big shoutout to our creatives who prepared dishes for the day. @yusuke_sato_photography served his Japanese heritage through a California roll starter. @sebpas brought together his West African-Italian heritage in a spicy chicken and jollof rice main. And @sweet.cora.cakes shared her Filipino heritage through turon and a glorious cinnamon spiced carrot cake with a calamansi cheesecake filling and rice paper peonies. A big thank you as well to @strangegrapes for donating the wine (which was delicious!) and to @bespokepress for our gorgeous Wildflowers Linen Tablecloths. Instead of traditional gift bags, each guest received a mini balikbayan box – a gesture deeply rooted in my Filipino culture. Traditionally large and sent by OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), these boxes travel across oceans to families back home, filled with everyday goods and small comforts. More than that, they carry care, sacrifice and a way of tending to homesickness – for both those who send them and those who receive them. A big thank you to those who contributed to our boxes – @akasya.kape for Philippine-origin coffee, @sweet.cora.cakes for homemade polvoron, @jonesandco_ for the capiz shell trays and @bespokepress for the mini jotter notepads. My biggest thanks goes to my two favourites: my sister @jasskewes , who, fresh off the plane from Sydney, rolled up her sleeves and helped any way she can, and to @kieranmorrissey , whose support during the building of MADE IN KIN has only amplified his soulmate status. My heart is full. 🤎

Third (& 2nd last) Paella party tonight!!! Drinks & snacks from 5pm Paella & DJ @yo.rivi from 6pm See y’all there 🥘

A few weeks ago, I had the honour of cooking for ILBIJERRI @ilbijerri_theatre - Australia’s leading First Peoples theatre company. The lunch brought together donors and philanthropists for an intimate introduction to their new Artistic Director, a proud Yorta Yorta and Gunaikurnai woman. In honour of the occasion, I worked with native ingredients, my small way to respect the stories, culture and land that held us. I’m constantly reminded how meaningful it is to cook, create and gather on this land, and I don’t take that lightly. There’s a quiet weight to a table like this. Not loud, not performative - just thoughtful, intentional and grounded in purpose. And of course, the food doing what it does best: holding space for conversation, connection, and what comes next. 🖤❤️💛

Melbourne, you’re doing a lot right! Here’s last week’s greatest hits … Best dish at @beautifuljimkey - the Steak Sandwich special (I added anchovies to mine) Best dish at @elios.place - tuna tartare with bonito cream, shallots, chilli and crisps - genuinely the one Best drink at @curious_melbourne at @whotels - Jungle Negroni Beefeater Gin, Shiraz Gin, tomato, Campari, Martini Rosso and umeshu - Dangerous in the best way Best dish at @studio.amaro - BBQ Half-Chicken with green olives and black garlic salmoriglio. Smoky, sharp, deeply satisfying A very strong week to be me - I love my job ❤️