Neil Perry’s big plans
Neil Perry is on the move. This guy doesn’t stand still.
The news over the weekend that his Rockpool Group has been sold to the Quadrant Private Equity-backed Urban Purveyor Group for an undisclosed sum is just the beginning of a new chapter in the celebrity chef’s career.
The merger creates the Rockpool Dining Group featuring more than 40 new restaurants opening nationwide over the next year with the company increasing its stable of 47 venues to more than 80.
And not surprisingly, half of these new restaurants will be in Victoria. Plans are already underway for The Bavarian and Fratelli Famous at Westfield Knox; Burger Project, Sake Jr and Fratelli Famous at Melbourne Central Shopping Centre; and Sake Jr at St Collins Lane Shopping Centre.
In addition to that, Perry is targeting Sydney’s breakfast market with his seventh Burger Project site in Bondi Junction. Sitting in Oxford Street, it offers a breakfast menu featuring egg & bacon and egg & sausage burgers alongside hash browns, orange juice and iced tea and coffee. And after 10am, it switches to burgers - 13 different varieties of them. Add to that the fries, ice cream desserts, shakes and thick shakes and beers.
He is also bringing Rockpool to Brisbane with plans to open ten Queensland venues in the next 12 months. Burger Project, Spice Temple and Rockpool Bar & Grill are all in the pipeline.
Perry has also targeted Adelaide for “fast casual” food after getting through his expansion plans for the east coast.
“Adelaide has certainly come a long way in terms of its various dining precincts and the availability of different styles of food,” Perry told the Adelaide Advertiser.
“There’s a lot going on here and I think there’s great potential in Adelaide.
“While we hope to start rolling out new venues by the end of 2017, we want to continue growing the business in 2018 to 2020.”
by Leon Gettler, November 9th 2016
