Dinner by Heston Will Close at the End of the Week

Last week, Broadsheet reported that Crown Melbourne had terminated the lease of high-profile fine diner Dinner by Heston, located at Crown Casino.

At the time it was unclear how much longer Dinner by Heston would remain operational. Now, a spokesperson for the restaurant has confirmed its final service will be Friday February 14.

The restaurant, helmed by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal and owned by Tipsy Cake Pty Limited (which is operated by the same parent company as The Fat Duck Group, behind renowned UK restaurant The Fat Duck), has been under investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman since large-scale staff underpayments were reported in 2018.

The deadline for Tipsy Cake to calculate wages owed and back pay workers was December 20, 2019. But instead, according to a Fair Work statement, provisional liquidators were brought in – a measure to protect the assets of a company that is insolvent, or unable to pay its debts prior to liquidation.

On February 2, a Crown Melbourne spokesperson told Broadsheet that as Tipsy Cake had applied for a provisional liquidator to be appointed due to its insolvency, Crown would be terminating the restaurant’s lease.

“Crown is working to provide assistance to Tipsy Cake employees looking for employment within Crown,” said the spokesperson. “The provisional liquidator of Tipsy Cake, however, will need to deal with employee matters at the first instance.”

Customers who have bought Dinner by Heston gift cards will be able to exchange them for Crown gift cards.