They wanted it to be a quick sale, done on the same day.”Mr Bennett and Vue Group’s CEO, Andrew Skinner, confirmed the building that houses Iki-Jime and Benny Burger was for sale, and that the group would be “open to a commercial arrangement for a sale [for the restaurants] to go through as vacant tenancy”.However, Mr Bennett said suggestions the restaurants were for sale was “absolute rubbish” and that those who said otherwise were “f—ing liars”.Mr Bennett confirmed he had been speaking to prominent restaurant broker Tony Eldred, but did not disclose the nature of those conversations.
I would love to hear what you think of this website, if you found it useful or where it might be improved.We use cookies to help make this website better. The Staff are attentive, proud and know their stuff – the wines are proudly recommended, the region of origin explained . Where does Shannon Bennett have restaurants? Mr Eldred said he was familiar with matters at Vue Group, but declined to comment on them.“The restaurants are not for sale at all in any capacity whatsoever,” said Bennett, but “if someone comes and makes a great offer for Jardin Tan or something like that, then great, happy to talk about it.”Skinnersaid the company had been in conversations with potential buyers who had approached it, but strongly denied the restaurants were being actively shopped around.“The company is fully solvent and able to meet all its obligations … [and] Vue de monde is not for sale – it is the crown jewel in our suite of brands,” he said.A spokesperson for Far East Organisation said the company was “not in negotiations with any potential buyers”.Any sale is likely to be complicated by an ongoing Fair Work Ombudsman investigation into allegations of underpayment at Vue de monde, which if proven could lead to fines in the millions of dollars – a possible future financial liability likely to frighten buyers.It was reported last year that some chefs at the Rialto Tower restaurant, a favourite of Melbourne powerbrokers, allegedly worked 30 hours of unpaid overtime per week, leaving them hundreds of thousands of dollars short over the life of their employment.Mr Skinner said the ombudsman had been investigating for a year and had found “nothing”, adding that Vue Group had done “everything completely correctly” in staff payments.A spokeswoman for the ombudsman said the probe was ongoing, and urged any workers who believed they had been “underpaid or treated unfairly” to submit their complaints.One of the restaurant group owners who had been offered the chance to buy one of the venues said Vue’s financial woes were compounded by the fact that “they are probably paying proper wages for the first time ever”.“When you’re talking about high-end restaurants doing degustation menus where they have about 20 chefs working at one time and there’s 25 touches on every plate – there’s a lot of labour and a lot of high-cost items going on the plate.”Bennett’s cluster of restaurants has been hit hard by a slowdown in Melbourne’s high-end “experience” dining.The restaurant’s tasting menu starts at $250 per person, a price point that has struggled against a wave of venues offering fine dining at less extravagant prices.The Vue Group of restaurants includes flagship Vue de Monde, Iki-Jime, Jardin Tan, Lui Bar and Cafe Burnham.Bennett hoped to open a dozen burger restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney. Trained by some of the world’s great chefs including Albert Roux, John Burton-Race, Marco Pierre White and Alain Ducasse, Shannon is now one of the pre-eminent chefs in Australia and his restaurant, Vue de Monde, is globally recognised as one of the best restaurants in Australia. He trained classically yet is also influenced by the latest cooking trends, and has a deep interest in ingredients. Do foreigners think we have an identifiable culture translated in our food? From Michelin starred restaurants to local bistros and from luxury hotels to rooms with a view, this unique guide journeys through the unsurpassed culinary experiences in the great city of London.
I would love to hear what you think of this website, if you found it useful or where it might be improved.We use cookies to help make this website better. The Staff are attentive, proud and know their stuff – the wines are proudly recommended, the region of origin explained . Where does Shannon Bennett have restaurants? Mr Eldred said he was familiar with matters at Vue Group, but declined to comment on them.“The restaurants are not for sale at all in any capacity whatsoever,” said Bennett, but “if someone comes and makes a great offer for Jardin Tan or something like that, then great, happy to talk about it.”Skinnersaid the company had been in conversations with potential buyers who had approached it, but strongly denied the restaurants were being actively shopped around.“The company is fully solvent and able to meet all its obligations … [and] Vue de monde is not for sale – it is the crown jewel in our suite of brands,” he said.A spokesperson for Far East Organisation said the company was “not in negotiations with any potential buyers”.Any sale is likely to be complicated by an ongoing Fair Work Ombudsman investigation into allegations of underpayment at Vue de monde, which if proven could lead to fines in the millions of dollars – a possible future financial liability likely to frighten buyers.It was reported last year that some chefs at the Rialto Tower restaurant, a favourite of Melbourne powerbrokers, allegedly worked 30 hours of unpaid overtime per week, leaving them hundreds of thousands of dollars short over the life of their employment.Mr Skinner said the ombudsman had been investigating for a year and had found “nothing”, adding that Vue Group had done “everything completely correctly” in staff payments.A spokeswoman for the ombudsman said the probe was ongoing, and urged any workers who believed they had been “underpaid or treated unfairly” to submit their complaints.One of the restaurant group owners who had been offered the chance to buy one of the venues said Vue’s financial woes were compounded by the fact that “they are probably paying proper wages for the first time ever”.“When you’re talking about high-end restaurants doing degustation menus where they have about 20 chefs working at one time and there’s 25 touches on every plate – there’s a lot of labour and a lot of high-cost items going on the plate.”Bennett’s cluster of restaurants has been hit hard by a slowdown in Melbourne’s high-end “experience” dining.The restaurant’s tasting menu starts at $250 per person, a price point that has struggled against a wave of venues offering fine dining at less extravagant prices.The Vue Group of restaurants includes flagship Vue de Monde, Iki-Jime, Jardin Tan, Lui Bar and Cafe Burnham.Bennett hoped to open a dozen burger restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney. Trained by some of the world’s great chefs including Albert Roux, John Burton-Race, Marco Pierre White and Alain Ducasse, Shannon is now one of the pre-eminent chefs in Australia and his restaurant, Vue de Monde, is globally recognised as one of the best restaurants in Australia. He trained classically yet is also influenced by the latest cooking trends, and has a deep interest in ingredients. Do foreigners think we have an identifiable culture translated in our food? From Michelin starred restaurants to local bistros and from luxury hotels to rooms with a view, this unique guide journeys through the unsurpassed culinary experiences in the great city of London.