Wayne Parfitt: Memorial planned for famous restaurant owner following his death

Details have been announced of a memorial ceremony for a popular Gold Coast restaurateur who is being mourned as a “beautiful, generous and warm-hearted human being”.

A MEMORIAL will be held on Monday for Gold Coast-born restaurateur Wayne Parfitt.

Tributes have been pouring in for Mr Parfitt, the founder of the Castelo Concepts restaurant group, after he passed away in Hong Kong last month following a battle with cancer.

Restaurateur Wayne Parfitt outside Jaspas, one of his signature Hong Kong eateries in 2006.

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Friends and colleagues at the group were fulsome in their tributes to the hugely popular figure.

“What a legend,” wrote Sandy Burns. “Hong Kong and Australia will miss this man so much.”

The sentiment was echoed by Sarah Clarke, who described Mr Parfitt as “a beautiful, generous and warm-hearted human being” and a “true success story.”

“He had it all,” she added. “Such a loss”.

Wayne Parfitt in 2010 at Lolas Restaurant at Broadbeach.

Mr Parfitt, who lived in Sai Kung in the Hong Kong New Territories, was a well-known figure in the hospitality industry.

After moving to Asia in the late 1980s he soon became a business success.

He owned more than 60 restaurants in Vietnam and 22 in Hong Kong.

Among the eateries in his restaurant empire were Pepperoni’s, Jaspas and Wagyu.

In 2009 he opened Lolas at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast along with business partner Mark McLeod.

A memorial service will be held at The Southport School (TSS) on Monday from 10.30am.