Scott Pickett solo after Ryan Flaherty leaves Estelle

It has been a big year for Melbourne chef and restaurateur Scott Pickett, who opened Collingwood's Saint Crispin to One Direction-like screaming adulation from the critics and hordes of eastern suburbs matrons venturing into the darklands of Smith Street to rub shoulders with bearded young men and tattooed women.

Change continues with news Pickett's partner at his other restaurant, Estelle, has left. Ryan Flaherty put in nearly three years at the Northcote hot spot, his first real gig back home after an extended tour of Europe's most respected kitchens. Now he's flown the coop, with plans for his own place. We understand Flaherty has backers and is looking at sites. Pickett tells us he has moved a few chefs from Saint Crispin up the hill and that he will spend more time at Estelle henceforth. "It's been a great three years," he says. "Ryan gave me plenty of indication and time ... It's that time in his life to do something of his own."

Chef Scott Pickett's partner Ryan Flaherty has left to start his own restaurant. "It's been a great three years," Pickett says.

SYDNEY: Bondi's The Bucket List team is putting the finishing touches on its new northern beaches outpost. The former Beach Road restaurant, in Palm Beach, is getting a makeover ready for a November 20 launch; chef Tom Walton will preside over a "beach shack" style menu of fish tacos and the like. Surf artist Gerry Wedd (ex-Mambo) will contribute works to augment the look of Bucket List Palm Beach.

NATIONAL: The company behind Australia's 10 Wagamama franchises has gone into voluntary administration. CLB No 1 Pty Ltd has put its affairs in the hands of KPMG, which promptly shut one of the British brand's outlets, at Melbourne's Southgate.

MELBOURNE: Anyone anticipating the launch of Andrew McConnell's next project, SuperNormal (that's just about any sane food-lover in Australia), will get a taste of the Flinders Lane restaurant at Cutler & Co, in Fitzroy, for a few months. McConnell will use an unused corner of his Gertrude Street site as the SuperNormal test kitchen with several of the planned dishes, a few Golden Fields favourites, and a raw bar. McConnell says delays at Flinders Lane are out of his control. As for the future of St Kilda's Golden Fields: "Still no decision." We think it's unlikely the restaurant will continue in its present location next year.

VICTORIA: McConnell alumnus (see above) Damien Jones - one-time chef at Carlton's Mrs Jones - has an instant hit on his hands in Ballarat, where Catfish may just vie for the title of one of Victoria's best Thai restaurants. The funky but small restaurant sees Jones - whose Thai inspiration goes back to David Thompson's Darley Street restaurant in Sydney, and then on to Nahm in London - doing the kind of ground-up, mature Thai cooking most regional centres could only dream of. First Bite ate there twice last week.

MELBOURNE: in the wake of controversy surrounding his involvement with the now defunct Little Hunter, celebrity chef Pete Evans is wasting no time moving on at Collins Square, the commercial development by Sydney property developer Lang Walker in Melbourne's Docklands. Having launched Bar Nacional recently, with partner/chef Gavin Baker at the helm, the trio - with Walker's backing - is moving forward with a cafe (Long Shot), an Italian restaurant (Chiara, perhaps named after Mrs Cadel Evans) and a micro-brewery/distillery, all at Collins Square. Down the track there will be an Asian restaurant, we hear. Early reports on the food at Bar Nacional are very encouraging.

MEANTIME, the intriguing connections between the failed Little Hunter and a series of other Melbourne restaurants continue to present problems for suppliers and restaurant industry staff. Read an examination of the situation here.

Source: The Australian, 5 November 2013