A beloved restaurant in NSW has collapsed after racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
On Tuesday, Hungry Wolf’s Italian Pizza Restaurant appointed Christopher Darin of insolvency firm Worrells as its liquidator.
The pizza and pasta restaurant operated in Terrigal, in the Central Coast, north of Sydney.
For 30 years the hearty Italian food had been a staple along Terrigal’s esplanade parallel to the beach, but like many hospitality venues in recent times, behind the scenes, debt was accumulating.
A spokeswoman from Worrells told news.com.au it owed three creditors $280,000.
Of that, $130,000 is owed to the tax office while $150,000 is owed to two utilities-based companies.
The spokeswoman said the decision to close down Hungry Wolf’s was “related to the debt”.
Around eight or nine people have lost their jobs as a result of the collapse.
The restaurant has not been operating since May but has now officially closed down.
Just before noon on Wednesday, the restaurant put out a post on social media letting their customers know.
But bizarrely, they made no mention of the restaurant shutting down.
Instead, the post said Dominic and Pina Maisano, who have run the restaurant for 30 years, had handed the reins of the business over to someone else.
The company’s post insisted that Hungry Wolf’s “legacy” was being kept “alive” and that they were passing the “mantle” onto three new owners.
When news.com.au contacted Worrells about this, the spokeswoman said she was not aware of this.
She did mention that the restaurant’s website had been sold prior to going into liquidation.
Investigations are ongoing, she added.
There are several other Hungry Wolf’s Italian restaurants in the Central Coast, including in Wyong, Tascott and Kincumber, but these are separate companies and have not been impacted by the liquidation.
It comes as a number of restaurants across Australia have succumbed to the tough economic times in recent weeks and months.
Earlier this month, news.com.au reported that one restaurant in a Sydney food chain called Flipp Burgers had gone into liquidation.
Just a week earlier, Sydney restaurant, called Little Viet Kitchen, based in Manly in the city’s northern beaches, was court-ordered to close down after failing to pay an energy bill.
Controversial restaurant chain Karen’s Diner – which prided itself on having rude staff – shut down all its pop-up stores.
Two Hog’s Breath cafes in NSW also entered into liquidation at the beginning of June.
national restaurant chain Sushi Bay also collapsed, with its last remaining Sydney, Darwin and Canberra branches ordered to shut down, amid allegations that workers had been underpaid $650,000 over a number of years.
In March, a popular bar and burger joint in Melbourne’s inner city, The Beer & Burger Bar, went into voluntary liquidation owing around $500,000 to 10 unsecured creditors.
Also in March, Sydney’s Jellyfish Cafe, in the northern beaches, which specialised in seafood dishes and brunch favourites, went into liquidation after nearly two decades of operation.