Legal dispute between Hugos restaurateur and the Sydney Opera House Trust settles
After a decade-long legal dispute between Hugos restaurateur David Evans and the Sydney Opera House Trust regarding the 2014 Opera Bar tender, the issue has finally been settled.
The matter was closed just as the latest bid for the venue has reached its first deadline.
Expressions of interest closed last week for operating Opera Bar and its neighbour, House Canteen, over the next ten years.
With its prime location at the base of the Sydney Opera House, this venue offers harbour views and high commercial returns, making it one of Sydney's most prized hospitality sites.
Solotel, in partnership with chef Matt Moran, has run Opera Bar as a joint venture for 20 years and confirmed they plan to bid again. Meanwhile, speculation has been growing about other potential bidders.
The Boathouse Group has confirmed its interest, while hospitality heavyweights Merivale and Laundy Hotels are also rumoured to be in the mix.
However, some expected contenders have opted out. Sunday Co., which operates Morrison’s Oyster Bar & Grill and nearby Whalebridge, has confirmed it is not bidding.
The Point Group, focused on its new venue The International at Martin Place and its long-term waterside project Fort Denison, is also out. Etymon, the team behind Loulou Bistro, Poetica, and The Charles Grand Brasserie, has likewise stepped back.
The tender process is rigorous, and by late 2025, either a new operator will take over, or the current team will remain in place.
It was a closely fought race the last time the Opera Bar came up for tender, in 2014 and it turned into a legal dispute after Evans accused an architect of leaking his plans. Evans also took aim at the Sydney Opera House Trust, which controlled the tender, and gave Solotel an unfair advantage by allowing it to make a second submission after the deadline.
Both parties denied the accusations. In 2018, a judge ordered the parties to go to mediation.
Evans did not sue Solotel or Moran.
The matter was settled in July of this year, but the details remain confidential.
Jonathan Jackson, 5th November 2024
