Page 8 - Food Service Magazine March 2019
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STARTERS
Sydney’s Billy Kwong to close after 19 years
Chef and restaurateur Kylie Kwong has announced that she will close her lauded modern Chinese diner Billy Kwong later this year to open something new.
“This year I turn 50 and to mark this milestone Billy Kwong as we know it will close so I can make way for an exciting new venture. This new chapter will also facilitate the opportunity for me to further collaborate with inspiring partners both locally and abroad,” Kwong said in a statement. The new, yet-to-be-named concept will be a smaller, more casual diner.
“In the meantime, Billy Kwong is still very much open,” says Kwong.
Huge redevelopment confirmed for Marrickville Metro, including new food precinct
Works have begun on a $142 million upgrade to Marrickville Metro shopping centre in Syndey’s inner west.
Once complete in late 2020, the centre will encompass 33,000 square metres, including indoor and outdoor dining precincts, a fresh food space, three major supermarkets and 44 retail outlets. Up to 600 jobs will be created as part of this redevelopment.
The expansion will take over an old, disused warehouse across the street (whose original facade will remain in tact) for the new food hub. It will be connected to the original centre by a pedestrian walkway.
Mike McEnearney’s No.1 Bent Street to close
After Mike McEnearney’s Sydney restaurant No.1 Bent Street was handed to administrators in December, it was announced this year that the restaurant will close in April and reopen as something new.
McEnearney said construction in the Barangaroo area was partly to blame for the restaurant’s financial hardship.
“It will totally change in April,” McEnearney said in an interview with Broadsheet. “People have until the end of April to come here for the last time before it’s given a refresh. It’s a fast-moving landscape, the city has changed and we all need to keep up with it. People’s spending habits have changed, which is something we need to react to. People are eating out more [often] but spending less [each time].”
Melbourne cafe fined $257,000
for underpaying staff
Cafe Baci, a 24-hour cafe located in Melbourne’s Crown Casino, has be fined $257,000 for underpaying 54 workers between 2015 and 2016. This is not the first time the cafe has been ordered to backpay underpaid staff.
Cafe Baci was found to have undercut entitlements, including the minimum rates for ordinary hours, overtime rates, casual loadings, and penalty rates for weekend, public holiday, late night and early morning work, which are owed under industry award. The 54 workers were underpaid a total of $73,347, and the largest individual underpayment was $5433 for a food and beverage attendant between June and September 2016.


































































































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