The Maybe Group splits from Jon Adgemis’s embattled Public Hospitality

Jon Adgemis’s Public Hospitality has suffered another loss, after another industry heavyweight announced it has cut ties with the embattled business.

Jon Adgemis’s Public Hospitality has been dealt another blow, after the owners of award-winning cocktail bar Maybe Sammy announced it has cut ties with the embattled business.

Co-founded by Vince Lombardo and Stefano Catino, The Maybe Group runs the Sydney CBD venue – a fixture on the World’s 50 Best Bars list since 2019 as the best in Australasia, as well as Randwick pizzeria Maybe Frank.

Both were opened and operated solely by the Maybe team until last April, when the group was acquired by Adgemis’s Public.

Together, they collaborated on El Primo Sanchez, a Mexican-inspired tequila and taco joint on Paddington’s Oxford Street – a partnership that ended on Friday, Lombardo said in a statement, first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food.

“Stef and I believe we can best serve our venues by bringing them back under The Maybe Group’s wing, and Jon has supported us in this decision,” he said.

Stefano Catino and Vince Lombardo with Jon Adgemis and Martin Hudak last April. Picture: Richard Dobson

Catino said punters wouldn’t notice a difference, despite the split.

“Although Maybe Sammy and Maybe Frank have been under the Public umbrella for the last year or so, we have continued to operate them as our own so there will be no change to the guest experience in those venues or El Primo Sanchez,” he said.

Lombardo told Good Food the running of the latter venue will “transition” from Public to The Maybe Group through a licence agreement – a move somewhat complicated by the pub in which it operates being listed for sale this week.

Award-winning cocktail bar Maybe Sammy. Picture: Supplied

The Maybe Group and Public Hospitality partnered on Mexican-inspired Paddington eatery, El Primo Sanchez. Picture: Steven Woodburn

The Maybe Group’s decision to step away is the latest in a litany of issues for Adgemis and Public.

After meteoric growth to its portfolio in recent years, including the openings of Sydney’s Oxford House, and Saint George (helmed by Karen Martini) and Puttanesca at The Clifton Hotel (in partnership with Guy Grossi) in Melbourne, cracks started to appear just over 12 months ago.

The Australian Financial Reviewreported last May that Adgemis was “burning cash”, “groaning under the weight of more than $500 million of short-term debt”. The AFR went on to report a $450 million debt-refinancing mission via KPMG and plans to carve the group up.

Embattled property mogul Jon Adgemis. Picture: NCA NewsWire/David Swift

In November, Public’s business partnership with the Love Tilly Group (which operates a number of beloved Sydney venues) abruptly collapsed, prompted by an ongoing dispute over more than $300,000 in wages, supplier invoices and management fees, Good Food reported.

“For the benefit of the staff and the suppliers, we can no longer, in good faith, continue to run our venues together with Public Hospitality,” Love Tilly director Matt Swieboda said in a statement at the time.

This was followed by Public’s creative culinary director Clayton Wells quiet departure in May, when Adgemis was also reportedly raided by the ATO. Sydney CBD Greek restaurant Alpha ceased operations in June, just six months after the troubled group took over.

Lombardo told Good Food these events “obviously had an impact” on his and Catino’s choice to part ways, but that Adgemis ultimately supported their decision.

Originally published as The Maybe Group splits from Jon Adgemis’s embattled Public Hospitality