Diners told to put their money where mouth is

Two years ago it was a symbol of Sydney's booming restaurant scene.

But it now stands empty, the doors closed and liquidators pondering the fate of one of the jewels in the city's culinary crown.

The harbourfront Manly Pavilion restaurant was placed into liquidation this week, the owners forced to put the business into administration, and creditors left unpaid.

The high-profile closure rocked the Sydney food world, which has already been knocked by a series of blows, including the unexpected closure of the popular Montpellier Public House at Randwick last week.

Chefs and restaurateurs across Sydney have warned that trading conditions are so difficult they expect to see more casualties -- especially in the high-end fine dining market.

"Times are tough out there and people can't afford to spend $120 to $130 on a Tuesday or Wednesday night on fine dining," said Surry Hills chef Warren Turnbull, who is selling his high-profile Restaurant Assiette to concentrate on more casual restaurants, including District Dining, in Sydney and Auckland.

"In my view, there has been too many restaurant openings in the past one-and-a-half to two years in Sydney, and at the same time, trends have changed," he said.

"And anybody who hasn't moved with the times has been left behind."

Turnbull, who is keeping Assiette open while waiting for a buyer, says it has become less profitable to do high-end French food than to churn out tacos at his cheap and cheerful new Auckland restaurant, called Mexico.

"It's a bit depressing that after doing really good food or 20 years, to now be putting fish and mayo on tacos.

"But that's how it is," he said.

Fellow chef Jared Ingersoll, who closed his high-end restaurant Cotton Duck earlier this year, said he feared many more closures would happen during the winter period, when restaurant trading usually  falls sharply.

"It's just the beginning," he said. "There's going to be a lot more blood in the water."

He said he was forced to confront the reality Cotton Duck was not going to be as profitable as he hoped, and decided to concentrate on his other restaurant/cafe, Danks Street Depot, at Waterloo.

"If there had been a glimmer of hope, I would have kept Cotton Duck open, but I was going to be losing money and not being able to pay my bills," he said.

He agreed there were too many restaurants in Sydney.

"There's a massive oversupply issue -- there are so many restaurants," he said. "Everyone wants to go to the new restaurants and everyone wants to go and see what the new exciting restaurant is."

Liquidator Angus Gordon, from Macquarie Gordon, who is handling the liquidation of the Manly Pavilion assets said, like the retail market, the restaurant market was subject to increasing change.

"Those that keep ahead of change have a stronger prospect of survival in these tighter economic conditions," he said.

Mr Gordon said it was likely Manly Pavilion would reopen next month as it was being pursued by another buyer, who would not be responsible for the debts run up by the previous owner.

The Sunday Telegraph also spoke briefly to Manly Pavilion owner Denis Catelan, who was extremely upset about the collapse.

Mr Turnbull, meanwhile, urged customers who had a favourite restaurant to continue to support it.

"There are so many new places to go to, it's easy to forget about the older restaurants that have made Sydney what it is," he said.

Source: The Sunday Telegraph, 27 May 2012