Auto-theme restaurant hits the wall owing $1m

An upmarket automotive-themed restaurant in Brisbane’s CBD has closed its doors owing creditors more than $1m.

Motorwagen in Adelaide St

An automotive-themed restaurant in Brisbane’s CBD has closed its doors owing creditors more than $1m, including a big chunk to the taxman.

Motorwagen Cafe and Restaurant, which operated out of a 100-seat venue in Adelaide St, closed after almost four-and-a-half years following the brutal impact of Covid-19.

Liquidators Jason Bettles and James Robba, of Worrells, have been appointed to Serveest Pty Ltd, the company operating Motorwagen, which featured vintage-inspired Mercedes-Benz murals painted by a local artist in its private dining room.

In a report lodged with ASIC, the liquidators say the company owes creditors just over $1m, including more than $532,000 to the ATO.

“The director has advised me that the company’s financial difficulties came about due to a general downturn in trade and as a result the company fell into arrears with the Australian Taxation Office,” the liquidators said in the report “Consequently, the company was unable to meet its liabilities as and when they fell due.”

Before the pandemic lockdowns emptied the CBD, we hear Motorwagen was a hit with city workers offering a seasonal menu that included pan-fried scallops with pea puree and crisp chorizo, soy ginger braised pork belly with Asian greens, confit duck and kipfler terrine, and warm pumpkin salad with quinoa, almond and coconut cream.

Capsicum and white chocolate dessert at Motorwagen

Latte lessons

Coffee king Phil Di Bella has witnessed some ups and downs in his decades in business. He’s now using that experience in a new book written in collaboration with well-known brand strategist Allan Bonsall.

The 17 Rules of Game Changer Thinking examines why some businesses go from strength-to- strength while others crash and burn. The authors are convinced one reason stands head and shoulders above the rest – a willingness by business owners to embrace change.

Di Bella and Bonsall call these entrepreneurs the “game changers,” a new breed that is not content to sit on their hands and watch the world change around them, but who will grab the opportunity and make it happen.

It’s nearly seven years since the men last collaborated on another project Entrepreneurial Intelligence, a well- thumbed book that explored the formula of entrepreneurial success, based largely on Di Bella’s journey with Di Bella Coffee and Bonsall’s skills as a strategist and writer. In some ways, 17 Rules of Game Changer Thinking is the logical extension of that story, shaped by recent events such as Covid-19.

The men argue that the entrepreneur of pre-Covid times needs to adapt to the modern era and that to survive in this new world business owners must be prepared to embrace change and lead the way. Di Bella’s first venture Di Bella Coffee, became Australia’s largest specialty coffee company before he sold it to Retail Food Group for $47m. His latest venture is the Coffee Commune, a rapidly growing member organisation supporting the hospitality business.

Phillip Di Bella

Sand castles

Diatreme’s Far North Queensland silica sand resource just keeps on getting bigger. The Brisbane-based miner, which is chaired by former treasurer Wayne Swan, has announced a near doubling of the estimated silica sand resource at its Si2 deposit, near Cape Flattery Port. The company has a strategic partnership with global material solutions provider Sibelco, which is set to speed the development of this resource for the booming solar PV industry. And with Prime Minister Albanese calling for the development of solar panel manufacturing in Australia, this is an increasingly strategic resource. Diatreme chief executive Neil McIntyre says the ongoing successful exploration of the Si2 dune complex continues to provide outstanding results. “Diatreme has an exciting year ahead as we move towards development of a critical minerals project that will advance global decarbonisation,” says McIntrye.

Wayne Swan