Jamie’s Italian restaurant in Adelaide to be put up for sale after owner goes bust
STAFF at celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Adelaide-branded restaurant will be facing a “difficult” period after it emerged the popular eatery could be sold within months.
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STAFF at celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s Adelaide-branded restaurant will be facing a “difficult” period after it emerged the popular eatery could be sold within months.
Jamie’s Italian restaurant, which opened on King William St to huge fanfare less than two years ago, will be put to market after its Sydney-based owner, Keystone Hospitality Group, fell into receivership on Tuesday.
The company owns 16 restaurants and cafes across Australia – including all six Jamie’s Italian eateries.
Receiver Morgan Kelly, of Ferrier Hodgson, said the Adelaide venue would continue to trade as usual while a review of all Keystone’s assets is completed.
“Subject to the review of the businesses, the sale of the assets, as a whole, or on an individual basis is expected to commence within the next three months,” he said.
“The businesses are operating as business as usual and the receivers are liaising with the venue managers and suppliers to ensure venue operations continue to run smoothly.
“Given the current buoyant hospitality market we anticipate a lot of interest in the sale of the venues. The sale of the group represents a unique opportunity for the right operator and is particularly suited to hospitality specialists interested in expansion.”
He said the venues could be sold as a group or individually. The venues would be sold with the Jamie’s Italian brand.
But it is unclear if future owners will maintain that.
Keystone, which bought the master franchise for Jamie’s Italian in 2014, was placed into receivership by a syndicate of lenders after a disagreement with the board on the company’s finances.
Restaurant and Catering SA chief executive officer, Sally Neville, said yesterday’s announcement would be “disappointing” for staff.
“It will be a difficult environment to be working in,” she said.
She said her organisation did not have enough information to know if Jamie’s is sustainable in Adelaide.
“I don’t think you can measure the success of Jamie’s Adelaide by the issues the entire group has,” she said, of Keystone’s situation
“It’s (Keystone) a big operation with a number of businesses that would have impacted on the decision by the board.”
Jamie Oliver visited the Adelaide restaurant for the first and only time in March – six months after it opened – to praise his “lovely, smiley” team.
He had reportedly refused to be present in the opening stages of the Adelaide arm of his global Italian chain in September 2014 insisting the hurrah should be about the new restaurant rather than his celebrity status.
Keystone – which employs around 1300 staff – operates 16 restaurants across Aus-tralia, but Jamie’s Italian is its only Adelaide hospitality investment.
Keystone also has the Aus-tralasian master franchise for Jamie’s Italian in partnership with Jamie Oliver International.
Jamie’s Italian anchors the bottom floor of the former Bank of NSW building on the corner of King William St and North Tce.
Keystone bought the Australian arm of Jamie’s Italian when it acquired Pacific Restaurant Group in 2014.
The building which houses Jamie’s Italian would not be part of any sale.
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