End of an era as Chesser closes

THE Adelaide institution that epitomised the leisurely business lunch has been placed in administration.

THE Adelaide institution that epitomised the leisurely business lunch has been placed in administration.

Chesser Cellars prided itself on its historic links to SA's business and government communities but this week closed its doors.

Restaurant and Catering SA chief executive Sally Neville said the closure of Primo Caon's business was "a travesty".

"It was a cutting-edge business in its formative years. The business community wheeled and dealed and created a society of people who lunched," Ms Neville said. place where many important deals were done."

The closure was partly driven by the introduction of the fringe benefits tax, she said, but also by the delay of Adelaide's "laneways" policy to transform Chesser St, Coromandel Pl and French St.

Chesser Cellars opened in 1964 to develop "the civilised art of the private luncheon party".

Mr Caon bought it in 1990 and was awarded an industry lifetime achievement award in 2008.

He said the street closure would have given the restaurant a new lease on life - allowing it to continue the dining traditions that now rested only with the Adelaide Club. He said he would simply "walk out" at the end of the month "and that will be the end of it".