The coming festive season looms as being a frustrating one for those eager to enjoy an overdue party and particularly for the hospitality venues that desperately need their business.
Despite a return to relative normality after the long lockdowns in NSW and Victoria, severe staff shortages mean restaurants and pubs simply cannot meet the pent-up demand and are being forced to turn down bookings.
Many of the top chefs and restaurateurs in Melbourne and Sydney say they have been forced to slash services - some by half - due to lack of staff.
Celebrity chef Neil Perry told Daily Mail Australia his lavish new eatery Margaret in Double Bay is booked out until February 2022 and he does not have enough staff to expand the limited sittings.
Christmas party bookings have also reached capacity in many of the nation's top restaurants which are no longer accepting large groups over the festive period.
'We would normally be accepting 'book-outs' (booking out the entire restaurant) for Christmas parties at this time of the year but I just don't have the staff to accommodate them,' says Perry, whose is no longer taking Friday night or weekend bookings until February next year.
'Everyone is killing themselves to make it work as it is.
'I'm currently paying staff $30,000 a week in overtime and I'm at the point that I just cannot whip them any harder.'
Celebrity chef Neil Perry says staff shortages are hurting hospitality businesses
After months of lockdown, there is massive pent up demand for fine dining
The problem is so bad that many venues are being forced to knock back Christmas bookings
International Covid border restrictions has seen Australia's steady stream of working holiday visa holders - which account for about 300,000 workers in Sydney and Melbourne annually - abruptly cut off.
Those visa holders, along with overseas students and backpackers, are the 'nuts and bolts' of the hospitality industry, says Perry, who is urging the government to begin allowing people back into Australia 'immediately'.
'You've got kids sitting overseas who broke their visas... we need them back on a plane and without the the reams of paperwork,' he said.
Executive chef Jacqui Challinor this week opened the doors of high-end Flinders Lane newcomer Nomad in Melbourne - a sister to a venue in Sydney's Surry Hills - and says Friday and weekend bookings are already 'out of the question'.
New eatery has opened in Flinders Lane Melbourne but already Christmas bookings are full
Existing staff are working overtime at restaurants such as Neil Perry's Margaret at Double Bay
