Restaurant Orana to close for good

Masterchef judge and celebrity chef Jock Zonfrillo, has confirmed via social media that Restaurant Orana will not re-open.

The statement was posted on Tuesday to Facebook, Instagram and Orana’s website saying, “with our lease ending in a couple of months and the current restrictions meaning we can’t break even, our closure has become permanent. 

“With the uncertainty of tourism and hospitality, it’s not the right time for Orana 2.0 so the plans we had started discussing have been put on ice.”

On 21 March, the restaurant was temporarily closed just days before the South Australian Hospitality industry was hit with harsh COVID-19 restrictions. At the time, it wasn’t clear if the closure would be temporary or permanent. 

Jock said the restaurant’s closure would not be the end of his attempts to create change in the food industry.

“My journey doesn’t stop here – I’ll continue trying to make a difference through food projects outside of the restaurant. And while these may be uncertain times they need to be a time of understanding, tolerance, and positivity for our industry and I’ll do whatever I can to help.” 

Restaurant Orana was open for 7 years, during which it received many accolades from the national hospitality industry. 

And in 2018, Jock was awarded the Basque Culinary World Prize for his work promoting the use of indigenous Australian ingredients.

Jock also founded The Orana Foundation. This foundation created an Indigenous Food Database that has catalogued 1443 ingredients. The Final Milestone Report was delivered to the South Australian Government last week.