Simon Gloftis sells out of iconic Gold Coast restaurant The Fish House

HE built his beachside Burleigh dream into one of Australia’s favourite restaurants, a mecca for food lovers and celebrities — but now Simon Gloftis has left The Fish House.

Simon Gloftis has sold The Fish House at Burleigh Beach. Photo: Richard Gosling

HE built his beachside Burleigh dream into one of Australia’s favourite restaurants, a mecca for food lovers and celebrities — but now Simon Gloftis has left The Fish House.

The well-known restaurateur sold the iconic beachfront eatery, a firm favourite of locals and visitors, to a Brisbane unit developer on Monday.

Mr Gloftis broke the news to his treasured staff — who have been assured they will keep their jobs — on Saturday night.

“It was hard,” he said.

“I’m near them every day, I see them every day, I look after them, so ...”

A rooftop deck and a possible Lebanese addition to the menu are the only changes in the restaurant’s future planned so far by its new owner, who has been a long-time regular customer.

Company records show Ronald Carabay, who also uses the name Ronnie Tarabay, formed

Fish House Group on July 1, ahead of the settlement on Monday.

“I love the food, obviously, the view and the service,” he said yesterday.

“We’re here to strive to make it better. Simon’s done a massive job on it but we’re here to make it better, increase it.

“It’s already in that direction anyway.”

Although neither party would reveal a price range for the sale, an “Icon — Gold Coast Seafood” was advertised online with an asking price of $2.4 million — potentially the highest price ever paid for a restaurant business on the Gold Coast.

The Goodwin Tce building is not included in the sale, but will be leased from its existing owners.

The Fish House is ranked second in Trip Advisor’s top 10 restaurants across Australia and has earned two coveted Good Food Guide hats.

Mr Tarabay said “everyone’s staying”, including head chef Kelvin Andrews.

The restaurant’s list of clientele reads like a Hollywood movie cast, with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kelly Slater, Cate Blanchett, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kylie Minogue, Hugh Jackman, Orlando Bloom, Ronnie Wood, Margot Robbie, Geoffrey Rush, Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, Zara Phillips, Francesca Cumani and countless more big names into its warm brick walls.

One of the last suppers for the relationship of Depp with now ex-wife Amber Heard took place at the front corner of Fish House last year.

“We get a lot of the Australian celebs and a few of the international celebs but when Johnny Depp walked through the door, the whole place just went quiet,” Mr Gloftis said.

“No one was taking a photo, everyone just sat there. It was a different level of celeb I guess.

“The celebrities are just part of it. To build an iconic restaurant and to work with Australia’s best produce has been the best part. For me that's the proudest thing.”

Mr Gloftis will concentrate on his popular Nobby Beach Greek restaurant Hellenika, before embarking on a mystery new project in coming months.

“It is definitely emotional for me. With all my businesses, I put everything that I have — mentally, financially and physically into them,” he said.

“It is something that is like walking away from my family.”

Mr Tarabay, whose other current projects include a 190-apartment tower in Brisbane’s Newstead, has worked as a consultant for pubs and clubs including Gerard’s Bistro, Laruche nightclub and the APO.

He said Brisbanites may soon enjoy their own Fish House and is already eyeing off a well-placed restaurant up there for a possible transformation.

“I love the Fish House ... I didn’t just want a business, I wanted something iconic, something with a view and something with good cash flow,” he said.

“To have another purpose in life, somewhere to hang out, when I’m bored in Brisbane I know I can just drive down and sit here.

“Burleigh is our Bondi Beach.”

New owner

THE buyer of renowned Gold Coast restaurant The Fish House has played down business dealings which saw him investigated by ASIC for providing unlicensed credit in Western Australia two years ago.

Ronald Carabay, also known as Ronnie Tarabay, entered an enforceable undertaking with the corporate watchdog and four companies associated with him and two other men — Teddy and Daniel Tarabay — in February 2014.

ASIC found the businesses were involved in the hire and sale of first aid kits and water coolers using about 16,000 “rent-to-own” agreements, marketed door-to-door “in many cases to vulnerable consumers”.

They agreed to pay $250,000 to two indigenous community organisations towards financial education programs.

Mr Carabay yesterday said the group disagreed with ASIC’s finding that they were providing credit, but opted to accept the undertaking to avoid hefty court costs.

“We thought it was better to do that then to pay $200,000 and have to fight them in court,” he said. “It’s such a small thing.”

Mr Carabay said his birth name was Tarabay but his name had been changed when his family emigrated to Australia from Lebanon so the businesses were registered under the surname Carabay.

His property development business, Bekaa Group, has built several residential apartment buildings in the state capital since 2001.