GROW Assembly comes to Sydney

Hospitality professionals, assemble: Neil Perry, Acme's Mitch Orr and winemaker Dr Irina Santiago-Brown are among the speakers on board for the inaugural GROW Assembly Sydney at Balmain Town Hall on May 6.

GROW is a not-for-profit event run by hospitality professionals, for hospitality professionals. "We aim to educate and inspire the next group of leaders in our industry by introducing them to established role models and presenting ideas and stories of challenge and success," says co-founder and sommelier Banjo Harris Plane.

The line-up of nine speakers also includes Palisa Anderson (Chat Thai), Women in Hospitality chair Julia Campbell, and Paige Aubort, founder of Coleman's Academy, the first national mentoring program for female bartenders in Australia. Talks will be focused around the topic of "change".

"We have felt really good about the GROW events we've done in Melbourne, and always wanted to do it elsewhere," says Harris Plane. "Kylie Javier-Ashton from Momofuku had flagged the idea of Sydney a couple of years ago, and we felt this year was just right for us.

"I lived in Sydney for five years and know that the hospitality community is as strong as Melbourne. I hope we can inspire a few more people in our industry to aim higher and push further."

Tickets for the event are $130 and available from growassembly.com.au.