“There’s only so much we can do”: Restaurant closes down after Kitchen Nightmares

A restaurant which was given a makeover by Colin Fassnidge in Kitchen Nightmares Australia has been forced to shut down after filming was completed, due to piling debts.

Araucaria, located in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, was $140,000 in debt, with owner Anthony selling his car but only receiving $8,000.

A refresh of pub classics on the menu and a décor makeover led to more customers but wasn’t enough to save the venue.

Colin Fassnidge recently told TV Tonight, “The guy sold his car to pay the wages. I know a lot of people in this industry who who are no longer with us. They committed suicide… there’s drink. drugs, divorce, suicide.”

He added, “There’s only so long you can go if you’re remortgaging your house, and you’ve put in your 300 grand in the hole. We come in and do a refurb but we can’t pay a 300 grand bill. We’re not Jesus. There’s only so much we can do.

“Basically they’re in the sea and they’re drowning, and you throw them a life raft. But for some people it’s just got so bad and they owe so much money, you can’t save them.”

Meanwhile Virginia Cheong, the owner of Cafe de Vie in Homebush also told news.com.au she has lost thousands of dollars in business after the program rebranded and renovated her cafe to Cafe Tabouli. She claimed while the business wasn’t going great before filming 5 months ago it was still experiencing a good turnover, but she wasn’t drawing a salary due to a number of problems and inefficiencies.

“The turnover was there and that’s why it didn’t make sense. We were hoping to get some kind of clarity on how we do things and streamlining (the process),” she said.

Colin Fassnidge said, “It was a Chinese owned cafe serving terrible Middle Eastern bread and Italian food. It was also losing.”

Ms. Cheong also pointed to the period between filming and airing which she thought would help them turn a corner. She claims the show was initially meant to air in July, after filming finished in late May.

“So May to July wasn’t a huge gap and we thought we thought when the show goes to air it will all make sense,” Ms Cheong said.

“But in fact it didn’t. It didn’t make sense at all. We were left with this for six months before the show went to air.”

A Seven spokesperson said, “Kitchen Nightmares Australia has given six struggling business owners on the brink of collapse access to industry expertise, advice and solutions to help put them back on their feet.”

The show returns in 2023.

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