New chapter for iconic bayside landmark

ITS art deco architecture has made it a local icon but this building has had many tenants since the 1930s. Change is coming again with new owners to take over the restaurant that has called it home since 2015.

Pilpel by the Sea owner Adiel Ben-Karmona in the restaurant shortly after it opened in 2015. Picture: Josh Woning.

PILPEL By the Sea owner Adiel Ben-Karmona says it is time to do something different as he prepares to cook at the Redcliffe restaurant for the last time on February 14.

Mr Ben-Karmona has sold the business to three new owners – Oli Thomson, Sandra Duncan and Darren Eaton – who will officially take over the next day.

“I want to thank all the supporters from the (Redcliffe) Peninsula, and outside. It’s been an amazing journey for me and my family,” Mr Ben-Karmona said.

It was a journey that started nine years ago with a stall at the Redcliffe markets, before becoming a pizza shop and sushi bar at Peninsula Fair shopping centre and morphing into a catering business and restaurant at Margate, then opening as Pilpel By the Sea at Suttons Beach in June 2015.

“I want to say thank you for the amazing nine years I’ve had. I’m very proud of what we achieved here,” he said.

Mr Ben-Karmona said he wanted to thank mayor Allan Sutherland and Ann Moffatt, from Moreton Bay Regional Council, the business community and his team of 40 staff.

He said his team had worked hard to create a welcoming atmosphere.

“I want to thank each and every one that was part of the journey. I could not have achieved what I did or had a successful business without my staff,” Mr Ben Karmona said.

“We created a night out. They said on the TV it’s like coming to your mum’s house for dinner, very relaxed.”

One of the new owners Oli Thomson said the restaurant would remain opening during the transition and the present team would be retained.

He said they wanted to build on Mr Ben-Karmona’s success by reopening the takeaway fish and chip shop and a cafe.

Mr Thomson said they would embrace the heritage of the building and change the restaurant’s name to Suttons Beach Pavilion.

Mr Thomson said they would be in touch with local historians in search of pictures and milestones that could be featured in the restaurant.

Middle-Eastern/Meditteranean tapas will continue to be served upstairs and there will be subtle changes to the restaurant, he said.

The changes will be phased in rather than introduced in one “big bang” with a grand opening planned for early March.

The new owners’ plans will be displayed on the back wall of the restaurant so diners can have input.

“We want to engage with the community and the council,” he said.

Mr Ben-Karmona said he was looking forward to being a “regular” at the restaurant and others on the Peninsula.

He said he had plans in the pipeline, which he could not yet reveal, but he would not be opening another restaurant.