Hospitality king Maurice Terzini resigns as Bondi Icebergs director

Warning: This story contains graphic content.

Icebergs Dining Room and Bar founder Maurice Terzini has resigned from the iconic restaurant group after allegations that he protected his son Sylvester Terzini following multiple sexual assault claims.

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed last week that one of the most powerful figures in Australian hospitality was aware of multiple women who wanted to press charges against Sylvester but continued to employ him in at least seven of his restaurants as he expanded his restaurant empire.

Sylvester Terzini (left) and his father Maurice at their former venue, Snack Kitchen.

“Maurice Terzini has agreed to resign as a director of the Icebergs Dining room and Bar business and has stood down from any involvement in the business as we conduct an independent review of the issues raised in the SMH reports,” a spokesman for Icebergs group said in a statement.

“That review is under way.”

Following the initial allegations published in this masthead on March 14, Maurice rushed to reassure investors that he was aware of only one allegation against his son – a sexual touching without consent charge that was dismissed in 2021.

But in the days that followed, text messages emerged that revealed Maurice knew of at least three more women who wanted to press charges against his son.

Maurice Terzini is standing down from Bondi Icebergs Dining Room and Bar.Credit: James Brickwood

The revelations have also sent Maurice’s other investment partners scrambling to distance themselves from the two hat-winning restaurateur.

“I really don’t want anything to do with these people,” said Joe Jones, one of Maurice’s Melbourne partners.

Maurice Terzini, 60, and Sylvester Terzini, 32, have both denied the allegations against them.

There are at least nine alleged victims of Sylvester’s sexual and violent misconduct between 2016 and 2023, which shattered decades-old relationships in the tight-knit restaurant industry.

Two women alleged the sex started consensually but turned into anal rape, with one woman describing her neck being held into a mattress face-first while she said, “Stop”.

Another woman said she woke up in the middle of the night to Sylvester choking her and masturbating and feeling like she was “about to die”. This account echoed those described by two other women.

Another person said they were sexually assaulted by Sylvester in the bathroom of a popular nightclub before being pushed onto a brick wall and told to lick the dirt. Another woman said she was threatened and attacked in a Sydney apartment and made to feel at Sylvester’s mercy to do anything.

None of the alleged sexual incidents occurred inside Maurice’s venues, but several of his alleged victims first met Sylvester at one of the hospitality veteran’s restaurants or connected businesses.

Sylvester Terzini at this month’s opening of the Billy the Pig venue in Bondi Junction.

Alongside those claims, Sylvester has also been accused of violent rages involving pulling knives out towards colleagues while working at restaurants.

While Maurice carved out a glowing reputation as the “King of Bondi” and the “Lazarus of Australian dining”, behind closed doors, he allegedly knew of several disturbing allegations against his son and continued to shift him between his venues in Sydney and Melbourne.

In a March 2022 text message, Maurice allegedly wrote that he knew of at least three women who wanted to press charges against Sylvester, after saying one “sexual case” had already cost him tens of thousands of dollars.

“Cost me 60k in fees last one sexual case where he was out every night. And I lost a year of my life,” Maurice wrote.

“There are three girls that still want to press charges that I know.”

“Sylvester will have [a] woman charging him out of the blue,” Maurice said in another text.

Another read: “Sylvester is done for me. [I’ve] lost my best friends of 20 years to support him and his sexual assaults.” But he gave Sylvester a fresh start in Sydney a year later.

The text messages also reveal Maurice acknowledged his son had “no control” and was a “dangerous threat” to those in his personal life.

Sylvester and Maurice Terzini have denied the allegations against them.Credit: Steven Siewert

But Maurice has continued to support Sylvester despite these claims, employing him in at least seven of his more than two dozen restaurants, including The Dolphin Hotel, Bistro George and CicciaBella.

As recently as January last year – after the majority of allegations were made against Sylvester – Maurice and his son opened Snack Kitchen, a minimalist diner in Potts Point. The restaurant was open for less than six months.

Earlier this month, Sylvester hosted the opening night of their latest venue, Billy the Big, in Bondi Junction.

Most of the alleged sexual victims were reluctant to go to the police due to fear for their safety and careers.

However, in 2020, a childhood friend who first met Sylvester at one of Maurice’s restaurants pressed charges after allegedly being choked by him while she was sleeping.

The charges of choking without consent and sexual touching went through the courts but were dismissed, with the woman saying that was because they flirted before the incident and because she pretended she enjoyed it in the last moments of the alleged attack so that she could survive it.

In messages with Maurice in 2020, the woman described feeling torn about making a police report because of her relationship with the Terzini family and the impact it would have on their reputation.

Maurice responded it was “getting serious” and would be “happy to sort a time to talk with both legal parties to put this to bed”.

“I really just wanted to say, as a family, we are devastated that we find ourselves in this position coming up to Xmas; it has been incredibly hard and emotional,” Maurice said to the woman at the time.

Through his lawyers, Maurice said he had not engaged in any inappropriate conduct by employing his son at his venues.

“As far as our client is aware, our client’s businesses have no record of any allegation of sexual misconduct having been made against any of its employees or managers arising out of its venues,” his lawyers said.

Sylvester declined to answer a series of specific questions from this masthead but broadly denied any sexual misconduct or allegations of violence.

“The email contains a number of allegations, misrepresentations and false statements,” his lawyer said in a statement.

“Our client has no criminal history for violence or sexual misconduct”.

Sylvester has also been accused of keeping albums full of photos of naked or semi-naked women and storing the albums at Maurice’s house. Maurice and Sylvester deny the allegations.

On Saturday night, Maurice sparked outrage among his former business associates and alleged victims when he posted a statement on Instagram saying that the claims against Sylvester were devastating while arguing he was a victim of damaging attacks on his reputation.

“Allegations that have been made about one of my family members are devastating claims that have no place in our venues, industry or society,” Maurice wrote.

“There are private health matters concerning one of my family members where professional counsel has been sought.”

Maurice claimed there were “false references and damaging questions” in the reporting but did not state what these were.

“For those who know me, they know that under no circumstances would I ever intentionally ignore violent behaviour or cover up issues within any of my businesses,” Maurice wrote. “The allegations are not ones against me directly, yet the inferences have been hurtful and damaging to my reputation.”

“As a father, my priority has always been my children. In this storm, my mother reminded me that sometimes as parents we act with the best intentions, but sometimes we are challenged,” he added.

In response to the statement, one of Maurice’s former business associates, who asked not to be identified due to their position within the industry, said Maurice had painted himself as the victim.

Maurice’s 475-word Instagram statement did not mention the alleged victims once.

“The alleged victims are the ones who were raped or threatened, not Maurice,” the former business associate said.

“That’s the game he plays, always makes out he is the victim ... He knew, he protected [Sylvester],” he said. “He never put any consequences or punishment for Sylvester. Just exit him through the back door.”

One alleged victim said: “The minute he started [protecting] his son is the minute Sylvester thought he could get away with it. Daddy with big bucks no f---s to the rescue.”