Who are you and what is your connection with our Port Phillip community? 
I am Paul Dimattina. Proprietor of Lamaro’s Hotel, proud Elwood resident and supporter of the local community and sporting clubs.

We sponsor Middle Park Primary school and Kindergarten, St Kilda City Junior Football Club, St Kilda Cricket Club, South Melbourne Park Primary school, Elwood Primary School market and many more local coomunity groups.

Why do you choose to live in Port Phillip? 
I chose to live here as I have always loved the eclectic cosmopolitan feel of Elwood. It has a very relaxed vibe and we have so many liked minded friends that live in the area. We also have easy access to the beach, lots of parks and gardens and plenty of great cafes and restaurants.

What is your passion? 
My passion is family, food, football and friends!! I am really lucky that I have been able to live my childhood dreams of owning my own restaurant/pub and playing AFL football. Hospitality is in my blood and I just love the social aspect of what we do. I really love my food and wine and being in hospitality I get to enjoy these every day!!

Tell us about the impact in these challenging times.
The last 18 months have been the toughest and most challenging of my business life.

The uncertainty and restraints put on us are a great strain.

The tears from the staff every time we get sent into another Lockdown are heart wrenching.

Total days the hospitality has been shut in Melbourne is 232 days and counting.

Total days all of us have been locked in our homes is 206 days. There were a further 26 days when lockdown had ended but we were not permitted to open.

When we have been allowed to trade, we have been working with severe capacity restrictions for another 300 days, and counting. We first got hit with capacity restrictions on 18/03/20.

230+ days of forced closure.

302+ days of capacity limits and restrictions.

It is not easy trying to run a business with a maximum capacity of 50% but still incurring full operational costs!!!

The greatest challenge has been staff retention and to provide leadership, inspiration and hope for them.

We treat our staff like family here at Lamaro’s and I feel a great sense of obligation to assist them through these tough times.

It is particularly hard for the casual workforce?
We have provided assistance in the form of food and personal loans where needed.

The mental toll has been debilitating not only to the staff but also to us in leadership and management roles.

A great leader inspires, a great leader cares, a great leader shows empathy and compassion and a great leader leads from the front and does everything possible to keep up morale and hope.

I have been doing my utmost to be the best leader I can be and to instill hope and positivity into the wonderful team that works with me.

Tough times don’t last, tough people do!!

We pride ourselves on being a community hub and knowing our customers personally.

We love tending to their needs and seeing the smiles we can put on people’s faces.

We love to surprise and delight our customers.

We look forward to welcoming you with open arms when we get to open again.