Chris Lucas stands as one of Australia’s most daring and influential hospitality entrepreneurs — a creator of culture as much as a creator of restaurants. Over the past two decades, he has built a portfolio of iconic venues that consistently reset the benchmark for what dining in Australia can feel like: energetic, design-led, culturally fluent and unapologetically ambitious.
As the founder and driving force behind the Lucas Restaurants group, Lucas transformed venues like Chin Chin, Kisumé, Yakimono and Grill Americano into institutions that shape the way people eat, socialise and experience their city. His signature is unmistakable: theatrical concepts, world-class interiors, deep respect for global cuisines, and a relentless focus on service and atmosphere.
Lucas is widely regarded as a master of brand-building — each restaurant crafted not just as a place to dine, but as a sensory, high-voltage experience that blends food, music, art, design and cultural storytelling. His influence extends beyond hospitality; he has helped define Melbourne’s identity as one of the world’s great dining capitals while continually pushing the industry forward with scale, innovation and vision.
Bold, instinctive and fiercely committed to excellence, Chris Lucas has become a symbol of what modern entrepreneurial hospitality looks like: ambitious, experiential, culturally connected and impossible to ignore.
In this exclusive feature profile by Rob Langton & Ready Media Group, Chris takes us on journey inside his World, from what drives his success to how he thinks about his legacy & everything in between.
The Interview - Australia's most watched business program, featuring exclusive profiles of the Nation's most successful individuals.
Founder & Host - Rob Langton
Proudly produced, licensed & distributed by Ready Media Group.
Further Information:
https://readymedia.com.au/
https://lucascollective.com/
#ausbiz #businessnews #chrislucas #lucascollective #readymediagroup #readymedia #selfmade #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #sydney #melbourne #hospitality
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Chris Lucas stands as one of Australia’s most daring and influential hospitality entrepreneurs — a creator of culture as much as a creator of restaurants. Over the past two decades, he has built a portfolio of iconic venues that consistently reset the benchmark for what dining in Australia can feel like: energetic, design-led, culturally fluent and unapologetically ambitious.
As the founder and driving force behind the Lucas Restaurants group, Lucas transformed venues like Chin Chin, Kisumé, Yakimono and Grill Americano into institutions that shape the way people eat, socialise and experience their city. His signature is unmistakable: theatrical concepts, world-class interiors, deep respect for global cuisines, and a relentless focus on service and atmosphere.
Lucas is widely regarded as a master of brand-building — each restaurant crafted not just as a place to dine, but as a sensory, high-voltage experience that blends food, music, art, design and cultural storytelling. His influence extends beyond hospitality; he has helped define Melbourne’s identity as one of the world’s great dining capitals while continually pushing the industry forward with scale, innovation and vision.
Bold, instinctive and fiercely committed to excellence, Chris Lucas has become a symbol of what modern entrepreneurial hospitality looks like: ambitious, experiential, culturally connected and impossible to ignore.
In this exclusive feature profile by Rob Langton & Ready Media Group, Chris takes us on journey inside his World, from what drives his success to how he thinks about his legacy & everything in between.
The Interview - Australia's most watched business program, featuring exclusive profiles of the Nation's most successful individuals.
Founder & Host - Rob Langton
Proudly produced, licensed & distributed by Ready Media Group.
Further Information:
https://readymedia.com.au/
https://lucascollective.com/
#ausbiz #businessnews #chrislucas #lucascollective #readymediagroup #readymedia #selfmade #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #sydney #melbourne #hospitality
Our guest on today’s episode is investment legend, Morry Waked - the low profile but high-achieving Founding Principal & Managing Director of Vinva Investment Management.
Vinva Investment Management is an independent, global investment firm that specialises in managing active equity strategies across Australian & global equity markets, with a remarkable $25bn of funds under management - in 2024, Magellan acquired a minority equity stake in Vinva for a reported $138.5m.
Prior to founding Vinva in 2010, Morry’s career encapsulated a diverse range of positions including Global Head & Chief Investment Officer of Barclays Global Investors – BGI for short - (Global Active Equities), Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Global Investors (Australia & New Zealand), Head of Australian Equities at BGI and Head of Quantitative Research at Rothschild Asset Management.
In 2023, Morry was inducted into the Australian Fund Manager Hall of Fame as one of only twenty-two fund managers since its inception.
He is a Graduate of Macquarie University, having completed both a Masters degree and a Bachelors degree in Economics, majoring in actuarial science and statistics.
In this exclusive feature-length profile, Morry shares his journey, from the son of a taxi driver to the pinnacle of financial markets, along the way charting the challenges he encountered, the opportunities he pursued and the lessons he’s learnt from a lifetime in one of the most competitive industries in the World.
Founder & Host - Rob Langton
https://readymedia.com.au/
https://vinva.com/
The Interview Australia
Chris Lucas stands as one of Australia’s most daring and influential hospitality entrepreneurs — a creator of culture as much as a creator of restaurants. Over the past two decades, he has built a portfolio of iconic venues that consistently reset the benchmark for what dining in Australia can feel like: energetic, design-led, culturally fluent and unapologetically ambitious.
As the founder and driving force behind the Lucas Restaurants group, Lucas transformed venues like Chin Chin, Kisumé, Yakimono and Grill Americano into institutions that shape the way people eat, socialise and experience their city. His signature is unmistakable: theatrical concepts, world-class interiors, deep respect for global cuisines, and a relentless focus on service and atmosphere.
Lucas is widely regarded as a master of brand-building — each restaurant crafted not just as a place to dine, but as a sensory, high-voltage experience that blends food, music, art, design and cultural storytelling. His influence extends beyond hospitality; he has helped define Melbourne’s identity as one of the world’s great dining capitals while continually pushing the industry forward with scale, innovation and vision.
Bold, instinctive and fiercely committed to excellence, Chris Lucas has become a symbol of what modern entrepreneurial hospitality looks like: ambitious, experiential, culturally connected and impossible to ignore.
In this exclusive feature profile by Rob Langton & Ready Media Group, Chris takes us on journey inside his World, from what drives his success to how he thinks about his legacy & everything in between.
The Interview - Australia's most watched business program, featuring exclusive profiles of the Nation's most successful individuals.
Founder & Host - Rob Langton
Proudly produced, licensed & distributed by Ready Media Group.
Further Information:
https://readymedia.com.au/
https://lucascollective.com/
#ausbiz #businessnews #chrislucas #lucascollective #readymediagroup #readymedia #selfmade #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #sydney #melbourne #hospitality
