Silvia Hart, formerly of The Seasonal Garden Cafe at Hahndorf, has registered a new skincare company

She was declared bankrupt after her cafe failed leaving staff, suppliers and even customers out of pocket – but an Adelaide Hills identity has a new venture.

Ex-The Seasonal Garden cafe owner and bankrupt businesswoman Silvia Hart has started a new skincare venture.

She was declared bankrupt after her cafe failed, leaving staff, suppliers and even customers out of pocket – but an Adelaide Hills identity has a new venture.

The Seasonal Garden Café’s Silvia Hart, whose popular Hahndorf eatery closed in September owning nearly $2 million, has branched out into skincare.

She has launched a Honey Herb Spice business, which according to its social media accounts, makes products using “organic raw honey … combined with organic natural herbs and spices”.

Ms Hart has started the business as a sole trader, which a bankrupt person is permitted to do.

She registered the company on November 30, a month after liquidators revealed the

scale of her café’s $1.87 million collapse – which included almost $500,000 in unpaid

superannuation.

Staff were also owed nearly $12,000 in wages and the ATO $900,000 in taxes.

In September The Advertiser revealed that couples had lost thousands of dollars in wedding deposits.

Some couples only found out the venue was to close after reading the paper.

Three of the brides told the paper on Tuesday that they are yet to receive any money from Ms Hart.

A month before the unexpected closure Ms Hart had sent a private message to staff telling them the cafe had been sold and that their jobs were secure.

Silvia Hart's message to Seasonal Garden Cafe staff on August 7 announcing their jobs and weddings were secure. A month later the venue closed.

Ms Hart told Today Tonight in an episode aired on September 11 that she would repay the wedding deposits “even if I have to pay it out of my own money”.

The Advertiser sought comment from Ms Hart about her new business.

Liquidator Timothy Mableson told creditors in October that it was unlikely they would receive any return.

He said in a report that Ms Hart’s business holding company Maerhuev Pty Ltd may have been trading insolvent as far back as August 2017 and that proceeds from the sale of her Norwood branch were not paid into company accounts.

He said Ms Hart had blamed company’s failure on her illness, theft at her cafes and others not making her aware of the company’s financial state.

In 2016 Ms Hart opened her larger, flagship Seasonal Garden store on Hahndorf’s Main Street and expanded to a second Hahndorf shop and branches at Norwood and Stirling.