Ricardo Calderini
Business and finance graduate, twenty years in professional kitchens, five hospitality businesses owned and run. Author of The Business Minded Chef and founder of Chef’s Office Academy.
Two worlds, one kitchen
I studied business administration and finance at PUC-Campinas in Brazil, then started again from the bottom in London: cleaner, dishwasher, cook. In Australia I worked my way through high-volume kitchens into head chef, venue operations and ownership, building the stock, roster, menu and P&L systems that kept those businesses running.
Across every kitchen I saw the same thing. Talented, hardworking chefs judged on numbers nobody had ever explained to them. Food cost, labour, menu margins and the P&L were treated as the office’s problem, until they became the chef’s.
That gap is what I work on now. I teach working chefs the business side of the kitchen, in the language of the trade, so they can run better kitchens and build careers that pay.
- 20 yearsin professional kitchens, from dishwasher to owner
- 5 businessesin hospitality, owned and operated in Western Australia
- BBAbusiness administration and finance, PUC-Campinas, Brazil
The Business Minded Chef
Mastering the Business Behind the Pass. A practical guide for working chefs: food cost, yield, labour, menu engineering, the P&L and how to prove what you are worth. Written from twenty years on the pass, with the tools to use it the week you read it.
Paperback and Kindle. Published by Chef’s Office Publishing, 2026.
Business education for chefs
Chef’s Office Academy teaches the numbers and leadership behind a profitable kitchen: financial foundations, menu engineering, operational systems, leading a team and growing a career. Self-paced, built for chefs who are still working the line.
Get in touch
I speak to culinary students, apprentices and hospitality teams, and I am available for podcast and media interviews. Bookshops and schools can stock the book on consignment or wholesale terms.
Contact: talita@chefsoffice.com.au · academy@chefsoffice.com.au