‘They went to war with each other’: The rise and fall of a Sydney restaurant revolutionary

The first thing colleagues tell you about Barry McDonald is he knows how to transform a restaurant. The second is he should be nowhere near managing one.

In response to questions, McDonald said he was receiving treatment for cancer and denied he owed investors any money, describing the allegations as “incorrect and untrue”.on Saturday that he would pay $50,000 back to staff and suppliers once he was healthy. But it floundered during the coronavirus pandemic and racked up superannuation debts of more than $1 million to employees, according to an insolvency report by PCI Partners. When it closed in mid-2022, it owed another $59,000 in insurance payments and $12,328 to wine wholesaler Single Vineyard Sellers.

Bar Grazie business partner Oliver Blades-Moore, a former executive director with JP Morgan, said McDonald was like “dealing with a rock star”.Blades-Moore said McDonald’s flair and an impressive contact list made the restaurant an attractive investment opportunity. Bar Grazie was full when it opened in October 2022.“The first week’s trading was absolutely phenomenal,” he said. “Barry has a knack for opening these places up and swooning well-paying guests.

“He would just literally dump the money into his private account and then just pay what he saw fit,” he said. “It was insane.” Two of the original investors in Fratelli Fresh: Les Schirato, the founder of the $250 million Vittoria Coffee empire, and his brother Jamie have watched on in shock as McDonald added another half-a-dozen restaurants to his portfolio after Fratelli Fresh was sold in 2016. Fratelli Fresh is now owned by Quadrant Private Equity and has no relationship with its former owners.

One bartender said Bar Grazie looked amazing. “But he ran it like a Roman bathhouse,” they said. “He used to drink all the profit himself. Then he blamed me for having to buy more gin to make Negroni mix.″ “The tables are out in the street, the place’s front doors are open and Barry’s walking around like a dog with two dicks,” said Blades-Moore. “I was flabbergasted.”

Magree said McDonald approached him to take over the lease from the investors and that the restaurant paid rent to him through the EFTPOS machine.Barry McDonald in his 2015 cookbook Alla Fratelli: How to eat Italian.

Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Sydney house prices: Sydney’s median house price to hit $2m, Perth $1m by 2027Sustained housing shortage and strong demand from surging population would kickstart the next growth spurt, according to Oxford Economics.
Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »

Sydney bishop among multiple people allegedly stabbed at church in Sydney's south-westThe attack occurred on Monday evening at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley, with graphic video showing the stabbing during a live steaming of the mass.
Source: abcnews - 🏆 5. / 83 Read more »

Sydney stabbings: ‘Violence is coming from the edge’: Sydney’s horror weekThe local playing out of foreign conflicts and tensions is also behind a national mood of alarm following 50 hours of horror in Sydney.
Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »

Ridiculous 9am pic proves Sydney is insaneJust when you thought Sydney had hit peak Sydney, it does the most Sydney thing possible and out-Sydneys itself in a fresh blaze of glory.
Source: newscomauHQ - 🏆 9. / 77 Read more »

Barry gets collaredBut doesn’t get shirty.
Source: smh - 🏆 6. / 80 Read more »

The Hearing Test by Eliza Barry Callahan review – a delightful debut about deafnessA promising first novel takes a jazzy, improvised journey with a young woman who has a sudden loss of hearing
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »