Crime concerns shut down hatted Darwin restaurant
An iconic Darwin restaurant could shut its door permanently due to soaring crime waves levels and anti-social behaviour.
Char at Admiralty House will close its doors from September 2, with the award-winning restaurant’s owners fed up with the dealing with the consequences of crimes against staff members.
The owners pointed to the assault of a staff member who approached an intruder at the restaurant as the last straw.
While the closure is intended to be temporary, the owners are yet to set a reopening date.
Co-owner Hamish Brett said, “We’ve had enough of it.”
Several windows were smashed after the latest incident and bloodstains had to be cleaned off the floor.
The owners have been forced to fork out $8000 to replace the restaurant front door every time it is smashed.
The risk to customers, staff and management is currently untenable.
Char opened in 2007 and quickly became famous for its steaks. In 2022, it was awarded two chefs hats.
Co-owner Georgia Brett said the family would focus on the couple’s Waterloo and Willeroo Station cattle properties.
“We’ve gone through Covid, interest rates and high inflation and were pushing through focused on keeping our staff employed, but last month when the spate of break-ins started and our staff were assaulted, we were just gutted,” Brett said.
“We gave notice to our team at the start of the month.
“It was hard and we feel terrible but when the safety of the people working there comes into play – it’s just time to say enough.
“It’s really about having a break for us, it’s not our main business and we want to focus on the family and focus on cattle.
“We are working with our team at Admiralty House to ensure they can find employment, which is why we wanted to give them four weeks’ notice for that reason.”
Approximately 40 people will be looking for work.
According to Hospitality NT chief executive Alex Bruce the cost of crime is taking a heavy toll on the sector.
“It’s a mixed bag for us with some in our industry reporting good numbers while others it’s the opposite,” he said.
“One thing that is common for all are the increased input costs, labour, produce and the cost of crime.”
Jonathan Jackson, 17th August 2023
