Moran buys up a tasty slice of North Bondi

Celebrity chef Matt Moran has expanded his empire, buying the site of North Bondi Italian Food. The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Moran and his business partners, Bruce Solomon and Peter Sullivan, are waiting on the settlement of the property before unveiling their plans for the wellknown waterfront venue.

Matt Moran is expanding his restaurant empire.

The Sunday Telegraph columnist Moran, who refused to confirm the sale, and his team already owns Aria in the CBD, Woollahra’s Chiswick as well as the Opera Bar at the Opera House forecourt.

North Bondi Italian Food was the hottest haunt in Sydney when it opened in 2006.

With the celebrity restaurateur duo of Robert Marchetti and Maurice Terzini behind it, the glamour restaurant attracted both sun-seekers and publicity seekers alike. But this week the doors of the venue on the shore of Bondi Beach closed, with owner Marchetti hiding out in Bali with debts of $1.6 million.

It has been a humiliating come down for Marchetti, who split from business partner Terzini last year. Terzini still owns another of the pair’s former collaborations, Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, across the bay at South Bondi.

Marchetti’s four venues have all closed, including the muchhyped Neild Avenue at Paddington, which folded in July.

Source: The Sunday Telegraph, 22 September 2013