At Club Menangle in Sydney’s southwest, Garrard’s Miracle Mile is more than just a race day. It is one of the biggest weekends of the year on the club’s event calendar, drawing crowds of around 10,000 people and more than 1,200 catered guests. For head chef Jasmin Billitteri, catering for that number is just part of the role. “It sounds a bit over the top,” she said, “but I feel like I was born to do this job.”
Billitteri oversees three kitchens at Club Menangle, including the main club kitchen and its trackside venue. The trackside kitchen operates primarily around race days, where a single night can involve multiple functions, buffets, and plated services all running simultaneously.
“It’s a juggling act,” she said. “You can have eight different functions happening at once. They’re really big days, and they take months of preparation. But I love the thrill of being busy. There’s never a dull moment in this job.”
In contrast, servicing the main club is a constant. “It’s seven days a week, with multiple dining areas – it never really stops.” Just when running two kitchens wasn’t enough, Billitteri introduced a third to the mix. She launched La Terrazza last November, a wood-fired pizza bar featuring hand-made dough that has become both a commercial and operational success. “It’s great for families, and it also helps take pressure off the main kitchen during busy periods,” she said.
Working up the ranks
Billitteri was promoted to the head chef role just over a year ago, after spending four years working her way up the ranks in the kitchen at Club Menangle. While the progression may appear straightforward, she said it has been built on years of hard work, experience, and a willingness to take on new challenges.
Billitteri left school at 15 to begin her apprenticeship at Campbelltown Catholic Club after realising the classroom was not for her. By the time her peers were finishing year 12, Billitteri was already a qualified chef. “I did hospitality at school in year 10, just like most chefs, and I just knew school wasn’t for me,” she said. “It was a chance for me to get out of school.”
A big influence was her older cousin, a chef she admired growing up. “I just thought he was the coolest person ever,” she said. “I wanted to be him.” From the outset, she gravitated towards the club sector because of the scale of opportunities it offered. “I’ve always loved working in clubs,” she said. “You’ve got big teams, lots of moving parts, and so much room to grow. You can start as a kitchen hand and work your way all the way up.”
That trajectory accelerated early. In the first year of her apprenticeship, she won a cooking competition that caught the attention of a Wests Macarthur executive chef in the crowd. “He asked, ‘Do you want to come work for me instead?’” she said.
The move to Wests fast-tracked her to becoming a function chef at 18 and a junior sous chef by 20. After starting a family, she returned to the industry, joining Club Menangle less than a year after it opened. Within six months, Billitteri stepped into the sous chef role and from there became closely involved in the kitchen’s growth. “[Club Menangle] said it was a chance to build something from the ground up,” she recalled.
Leading by example
In an industry often defined by hierarchy and gender imbalance, Billitteri has taken a more people-focused approach. “I’m a people person,” she said. Billitteri thrives in team environments and takes pride in mentoring apprentices, ensuring they receive the same hands-on, supportive training she did. “I want them to have the best opportunity possible,” she said. “You can’t treat everyone the same. Everyone’s different, so you have to learn how to communicate with each individual.”
She admitted that, while managing people has been the trickiest part of stepping into the head chef role, it has helped shape a strong and cohesive team. “I’ve got a very solid team, and we all know how to communicate with each other now, which is good. It makes a huge difference,” she said.
That commitment to training staff is already evident within her team. Billitteri recently appointed an in-house pastry chef who has risen through the ranks at the club, completing her apprenticeship on site before returning to study and specialise in pastry. “Luckily for me, I got first dibs,” she said.
Billitteri explained how supporting the next generation of chefs, especially young women entering the industry, is important, as she is often met with surprise from others in the industry. “I get a lot of comments from chefs I meet, especially head chefs who are twice my age, asking, ‘How are you doing this?’”
For Billitteri, it’s about shifting perceptions of who belongs in the kitchen. “I genuinely think it’s because I’m trying to change the demographic by bringing through younger chefs and showing people that nothing should stand in your way. If you really want something, you go for it,” she said.
“I want the younger generation to know that you don’t have to be male in this industry, and that working in a male-dominated environment shouldn’t stand in the way of what you want.”
Elevating the menu
Billitteri’s determination to change the conversation isn’t just evident in the kitchen; it’s also clear in the food she’s putting out. She’s bringing restaurant-quality food into a club setting. While there are still schnitzels and Scotch fillet on the menu, other dishes include pan-fried duck breasts with sweet potato gratin, spiced pumpkin puree, Brussels sprouts, and orange sauce.
“I love being wined and dined, getting things that are fresh from the farm,” she said. “I think bringing that to a club and being able to give our patrons that without the price tag is nice. “When you go out dining, you can expect to pay $300, but if you go out to a club, it’s maybe only $150, and you can get the same quality. The chefs are of the same quality.”
Dining and Cooking