In St Kilda, local favourite Saigon Street Eats has bunked in with Trouper cafe. The corner premises now serves coffee in the morning, then morphs into a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and dinner. At 11.30am, the milk cartons are put away, teaspoons are replaced with chopsticks, and customers come for pho instead of a flat white.

“Hospitality is tough at the moment,” says Jackie Bega, who launched Trouper in 2023, after decades of experience running south-side institutions Galleon and Las Chicas.

“Producing lovely food is hard unless you charge a lot, and people are watching every dollar they spend.

“Electricity, gas, insurance, WorkCover, super, bread, milk, all the costs are crazy.” Bega was also working long hours and underpaying herself. “I was backing myself into a corner.”

In nearby Balaclava, Saigon Street Eats was bursting at the seams.

“It had always been a tight squeeze but we had outgrown the space,” says owner Kim Le Tet, of the 24-seat eatery her family had run on Carlisle Street for a decade. “When you walked to the toilet, you went past a tower of boxes. We were using every single nook and cranny.”

Bega, a regular customer, approached Le Tet with an idea. “I said, I know it’s crazy, but would you consider moving in with me and subletting?”

The question came at the right time. Saigon Street Eats was busy, but profits were slim. “We had queues, a constant churn of customers,” says Le Tet. “Yet when we look at the profit and loss, there’s not much left over. To keep the dream alive, you have to be creative.”

Two months ago, Saigon Street Eats made the move. “Rent is negotiated by the percentage of time, there’s a smart meter so we can work out electricity, we have separate payment systems, and our own liquor licenses,” says Le Tet.

“There are always teething issues but we’ve got open communication, respect for each other, patience and an attitude of give-and-take.” The new venue has 48 seats, which means increased sales and decent profit on the horizon. “You don’t want to be in this business just to survive, you want to thrive.”

Some morning regulars are upset there’s no big brekkie any more, but Bega is enjoying shorter shifts, a tighter focus and managing just two casual employees. “It’s a great little business when it’s just coffee,” she says. “I enjoy having a chat, trying to remember people’s orders, and being part of the community.”

Hospitality consultant Darran Smith sees sense in the sharing model. “You’re paying rent for a whole week, so if you can cut costs and get more money coming in, that’s a win,” he says. The key is trust. “It’s like sharing your house: not everyone will jump at it, but if people see some success stories, it could be one of the things that carries businesses forward from 2025 to 2030.”

In Kensington, Evette Quoibia runs Jollof Vibeat Chef Collective, a shared-use commercial kitchen with 27 spaces. Most tenants use their kitchens to service delivery app orders, but there are also dining areas.

“The concept is good,” she says. “You pay one price and everything is covered: bins, electricity, all the costs that make it hard to keep up if you are on your own.” Being close to other operators has multiple benefits. “People help each other. If I run out of spinach, I can grab it from someone. You learn other cuisines and talk to people about what’s working, what’s not. In one year, you get the same experience you’d normally get in five years.”

The scenario helps with building a profile too. “People come for my African food, then they see there’s also Malaysian and Indian so they try something new,” says Quoibia. “Everyone benefits.”

Not every situation works perfectly. Congolese restaurant Malewa popped up at Glass Merchants cafe in Balaclava for 15 months until mid-January. “One day, the owner told us they were going in a different direction and we didn’t have a say in staying on,” says owner Yvette Nyanguile. “In the beginning, it was better for us to share a space because we could see how our ideas went without injecting a huge amount of money.”

Nyanguile is carrying lessons into the search for a new venue. “We had issues with communication; we would be more careful next time.”

Meanwhile, Turkish dessert shop Cuppa Turca has just opened a kiosk alongside the popular Miksa Food Truck, which is set up on a corner lot in industrial Campbellfield. Miksa serves Turkish kebabs; now customers will be able to follow with dondurma (Turkish ice-cream) and kunefe (a sweet cheese pie).

“We’re creating a small food hub,” says owner Harun Yalcin. “If we are there by ourselves, our customers wouldn’t be enough, but with both businesses, the vibe will be good because [people] will have their whole night covered.”

Hospitality entrepreneur Dave Mackintosh says the pandemic encouraged operators to collaborate in new ways. In 2021, he rented the kitchen at locked-down restaurant Pope Joan to chef Mischa Tropp, who was looking for a space for a butter chicken hustle. That association turned into a friendship and the pair have now opened Kolkata Cricket Club at Crown.

“COVID opened people’s minds to more open-minded, creative solutions,” says Mackintosh. “You never know where partnerships can lead.”

Trouper and Saigon Street Eats, 141 Chapel Street, St Kilda

Chef Collective, 350/354 Arden Street, Kensington

Cuppa Turca and Miksa Food Truck, 78B Merola Way, Campbellfield