Romain Bapst’s company owes $100,000 in unpaid superannuation to staff after Brisbane restaurant closed

A famous French chef’s company owes $100,000 in unpaid superannuation to staff after its Brisbane restaurant closed.

Romain Bapst during his time as Drift Brookwater executive chef.

A famous French chef’s company owes $100,000 in unpaid superannuation to “shattered” staff after its Brisbane restaurant closed more than two years ago.

Romain Bapst, the sole director and secretary of Bapst Restaurant Consulting Pty Ltd (trading as Lutece Bistro & Wine Bar), said he needed time to pay back the money after a bitter divorce and a court case in which he sued two motorists and their insurance company for almost $2 million, receiving his settlement last month.

Mr Bapst said his former staff were “impatient” and his lawyer would be liaising with the Australian Tax Office over the outstanding super, which in one case dates to 2013.

Lutece’s former maitre d’, a 73-old pensioner from Redcliffe, is owed the most money, determined by the ATO to be $32,259.61 for the period of October 2013 to December 2016.

Romain Bapst. Picture: Sarah Marshall

The man has declined to be named because he says after a 49-year career in hospitality, including in some of Queensland’s finest restaurants, he is “embarrassed and humiliated”.

“Romain and I were like brothers; this has left me shattered,” said the man, once described by Mr Bapst as his “greatest asset”.

“I have tried to talk to Romain and ask why he won’t pay, but he has blocked me,” he said.

The man said he noticed the unpaid super in 2017 and raised it with Mr Bapst, who he claims told him not to worry, that he would repay him after he sold Lutece.

After the popular Bardon bistro – patronised by high profile surgeons and judges – finally sold three years later, the man said he had “no choice” but to file a claim, in August 2020, with the ATO.

On September 12 this year, the ATO wrote to him, in a letter seen by The Courier-Mail, advising it had closed its inquiry because Bapst Restaurant Consulting Pty Ltd had gone into liquidation.

“The liquidator must look into whether your employer has enough money to pay the super guarantee contributions they owe,” the ATO said.

“If the liquidator gives us a super payment for you, we will let you know in writing that we have paid it to your super fund,” it stated.

McLeod & Partners was appointed liquidator on July 7, 2022.

Romain Bapst at his former Bardon restaurant Mariosarti Italian.

In its statutory report to creditors, dated August 4, 2022, the firm said Mr Bapst’s company sold Lutece in July 2020 for $70,000 – and its BMW X5 vehicle was sold to Mr Bapst for $55,000 in February this year.

The aggrieved former maitre d’ said Mr Bapst was still working, and from September 26 to October 6 this year led a $30,000-a-head food and wine tour around France.

Since closing Lutece, Mr Bapst has also been a guest chef in other restaurants, including Moda, Michael’s Oriental, Barolo, Haig Road Bistro, Nota and Il Posto, cooking lunches and dinners priced at up to $160 per head.

In late 2020, Mr Bapst sued two Brisbane motorists and their insurer, Allianz, for almost $2m, claiming they were at fault for two car smashes – in July 2017 and August 2018 – that cut short his career and triggered “angry outbursts”.

The case settled in July this year.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show Bapst Restaurant Consulting Pty Ltd (trading as Lutece Bistro & Wine Bar) is still registered and due for renewal in 2024.

Romain Bapst.

The former maitre d’ said that on top of the $32,259.61, plus interest, in super he was owed, $654 of JobKeeper payments were also outstanding.

“I was his only full-time staff member for eight years; I was his confidante,” the man said.

In a signed reference on Lutece letterhead following its closure, Mr Bapst described his maitre d’ as his “greatest asset”.

The letter also states the man had “proved himself a trustworthy, flexible, caring and hardworking man who developed a superb relationship with customers and staff”.

When contacted by The Courier-Mail, Mr Bapst said he had stopped taking calls from the man because he was “would not listen” and was “impatient”.

Mr Bapst said he planned to pay the superannuation within the next few weeks.

“I needed to wait for the divorce and the court case to settle and receive the funds,” he said.

“I don’t owe any money to anyone, just the superannuation, which is about $100,000 altogether, but I can’t pay it directly because it is overdue, so it must go through the ATO or I will be fined and have to pay it twice.”

Mr Bapst said the lapse in super payments was due to an “administration error” and any complaints against him were “proof that people hate the French”.

“I am happy to meet with [the former maitre d’], no problem, he is welcome to come to my lawyer’s office.

“But it is just a matter of a few weeks and they will be paid.”

Mr Bapst, originally from Strasbourg, moved to Australia in 1990 and has done stints at award-winning restaurants including Il Centro, Drift and at Hayman Island Resort.

He is a recipient of the French Order of Agricultural Merit and a former president of Bocuse D’or Australia.