The troubles that have beset Sydney’s Public Hospitality group this week have impacted its two Melbourne venues, the hatted Saint George in St Kilda and Hotel Clifton in Kew. Both venues are trading this weekend but face an uncertain future following the appointment of receivers and external managers at five Public Hospitality hotels in Sydney. Both restaurants’ websites are down.
Saint George has high-profile chef Karen Martini leading the kitchen, while Hotel Clifton is stewarded by the Grossi family, with Guy Grossi overseeing the food direction in the bar and the associated Puttanesca restaurant. “We don’t know a lot,” says Elizabeth Grossi-Rodriguez of Grossi Restaurants. “We are waiting to see what’s happening and trying to work through everything.
We are in the same boat as everyone else and trying to understand what it means for us. Hopefully it all gets sorted out. We wish we knew more.
” The family is a supplier of services to Public Hospitality. “We are not involved in the business side of things,” says Grossi-Rodriguez. The pub has been trading strongly, she says.
“I feel like it’s still going well which makes it even more of a shame.” Karen Martini, meanwhile, is awaiting confirmation of a new ownership entity for the large St Kilda venue she oversees, hoping the process will be completed within days. “Public Hospitality is no longer,” she says.
“The Melbourne venues are being separated from the Sydney ones that went into voluntary .
