Frenchies Brasserie Noosa in voluntary administration

A high-end French restaurant in Noosa is the latest company owned by a well-known wine retailer and restaurateur to be placed in administration.

David Singer outside Frenchies Rotisserie Manly.

A well-known wine retailer and restaurant owner has placed his high-end Noosa venue into administration months after a liquidator claimed he may have been trading another company while insolvent.

The Sydney-based company, Frenchies Brasserie Noosa Pty Ltd appointed administrator, Nicarson Natkunarajah, from Roger and Carson on March 28, 2024.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents state the director and secretary of the company is Sydney man, David Edward Myer Singer.

According to the ASIC documents the company which operates the French restaurant on Gympie Terrace in Noosaville was established in 2019.

Frenchies Brasserie Noosa is located on Gympie Terrace.

Mr Singer previously owned a wholesale wine business, Brasserie Wine Australia Pty Ltd, which appointed a liquidator to the company on May 8, last year.

The liquidator’s report to creditors, which was filed with the corporate regulator ASIC in August last year, regarding Brasserie Wine Australia, indicated a debt in excess of $300,00 owed to more than 30 creditors.

The ASIC documents involving Brasserie Wine also revealed Mr Singer is listed as the director of Frenchies Brasserie Australia Pty Ltd (in liquidation), Fitzroy Nominees Pty Limited and JD’S Chicken Co Pty Ltd.

Mr Natkunarajah, who acted as liquidator in the Brasserie Wine company, stated in the filed statutory report Mr Singer had been unable to pay the statutory debts owed to the ATO, failed to pay employee entitlements and superannuation and failed to satisfy trade creditors in the “relatively short time” the company had been trading.

“I have formed the preliminary view that the director may have allowed the company to trade while insolvent,” the documents stated.

An example provided by the liquidator was the amount of debt incurred by the company in less than a year of trading, with a net loss of $315,163 recorded between July 2022 and May 2023.

Mr Natkunarajah listed poor strategic management, lack of records and inadequate cash flow as other factors that contributed to failure of the wholesale wine business.

In the report to creditors, Mr Natkunarajah states due to there being no recoverable assets of Brasserie Wine Australia it was unlikely unsecured creditors would receive a dividend.

Mr Singer and Frenchies Brasserie Noosa have been contacted for comment.