Drop in customer numbers has forced restaurateur TJ Peabody to close Nickel Kitchen & Bar

BRISBANE restaurateur TJ Peabody splashed out a huge sum on the lavish fitout of Nickel Kitchen & Bar but dwindling patronage is forcing him to close after the Melbourne Cup.

TJ Peabody at his restaurant Nickel Kitchen & Bar in Fortitude Valley.

TJ PEABODY sounded crushed yesterday. Just flat as a tack.

In a shock move, the prominent Brisbane restaurateur decided this week to close his most opulent eatery, Nickel Kitchen & Bar in Fortitude Valley.

Peabody splashed out a huge sum on the lavish fit out before throwing open the doors to the Ann Street establishment in May last year.

But his gamble to bring fine dining to an area better known for its nightclubs and bars fell victim to dwindling trade.

“The numbers just weren’t stacking up. As a businessman, I couldn’t keep it afloat,’’ a subdued Peabody told City Beat yesterday.

Illustration of TJ Peabody by Brett Lethbridge

“Things really started to go slow down in mid-August and it just deteriorated with a terrible September.

“I don’t know whether it was the offering. It’s quite upsetting. At the end of the day, I can’t blame anybody but myself.’’

The costly setback comes just five months after his NKB Group shut down the Nantucket Kitchen & Bar in Indooroopilly.

Peabody, the son of winemaking industrial tycoon Terry Peabody, plans to go out with a bang at Nickel, hosting a sold-out Melbourne Cup luncheon.

After that, he’ll take bookings for one-off special functions but won’t open for regular business.

In a bid to breathe new life in to the empty joint, Peabody plans to launch a nationwide hunt to find someone to take over the business, possibly a celebrity chef.

“The most important thing is not to destroy what I’ve done, which is to make a very special venue,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, Peabody still has plenty on his plate.

He just recently launched his Burnt Ends Kitchen & Bar at The Barracks on Petrie Terrace, where he also operates Nativo Kitchen & Bar.

In addition, Peabody’s group still runs the retro diner NKB Express in Indooroopilly.

TECH WIN

BRISBANE tech wizard Jamie Wilson claims to have scored a world-first in developing software to protect data floating around in the cloud from ransomware and other malicious bugs.

Wilson, who only launched his Your Digital File business in 2014, just snared valuable patents in the US last week and plans to roll out his product there next year.

“We’ve re-engineered the way files and data are stored and that’s where our patents are,’’ he told your diarist yesterday.

“I couldn’t believe there was no solution on the global stage.

“We secure all the data individually. We’re the first ones to have a digital signature to identify our users individually. Every time a user uploads a document, it has individual encryption.’’

Acquiring the US patents took five long years and cost several hundred thousand dollars but they promise to put a rocket up revenue, expected to swell to $8 million this year.

They will also give him a valuable point of difference with rivals such as Dropbox and DocuSign.

In addition to the US, Wilson’s outfit is already up and running in New Zealand and Hong Kong, with plans for a soft launch in the UK in March.

Back in Brisbane, he runs a lean operation with a 17-strong team who have just moved in to bigger digs in the CBD.

They’re throwing a grand opening party next month, complete with a rooftop bash, and will clearly have plenty to celebrate.

DETAIL MATTERS

ATTENTION to detail matters.

So it came as quite a surprise to City Beat this week when one of our spies pointed out an amazing slip-up by Indian mining giant Adani.

In the battle with ecowarriors and other critics of its $21 billion Carmichael mega-mine, the company posted a video on Facebook to debunk some of their claims.

Incredibly, it manages to misspell Abbot Point, the Queensland coal port essential to the whole operation.

Yes, the video repeatedly refers to the port as “Abott Point’’.

If you can’t get that right, what else could go wrong?