Lobster Cave faces collapse: Famous Melbourne restaurant gets bankruptcy notice as owner Bill Ferg is pursued over $11 million debt linked to other failed business ventures
The well-known Lobster Cave restaurant in an upmarket Melbourne suburb is in danger of closing after its owner was left with $11 million in debt linked to his other failed business ventures.
The seafood restaurant in the coastal town of Beaumaris, in Melbourne’s south-east, reportedly went into administration last week.
The restaurant, which made headlines in 2017 when then-Victoria Opposition Leader Matthew Guy was spotted dining with an alleged Melbourne mob boss, with tabloids dubbing the incident “lobster with a gangster.” Head chef Vasilios Fergadiotis, aka Bill Ferg, runs the restaurant.
Flexicommercial, a commercial lender that focuses on the ‘buy now, pay later’ principle, last week filed for bankruptcy proceedings against Mr Ferg’s 37-year-old business, according to a notice from ASIC.
A hearing will be held in the New South Wales Supreme Court on September 16.
A number of Mr Ferg’s wholesale food companies have also gone bankrupt.
He is the sole director of Extramile Trading, which went bankrupt earlier this year with debts of $8.6 million, it reported news.com.au.
Extramile, which employed five people, was a wholesaler of dairy, meat and fish to the hospitality and foodservice industries based in Braeside in Melbourne’s south-east.
Lobster Cave, in Beaumaris, southeast of Melbourne, reportedly received a bankruptcy notice last week
The restaurant, which made headlines in 2017 when then-Victoria Opposition Leader Matthew Guy was spotted dining with an alleged Melbourne mafia boss in an incident described by tabloids as “lobster with a gangster”, is run by chef Vasilios Fergadiotis, who also goes by Bill Ferg (pictured).
There are 64 unprotected creditors owed $7.225 million, according to a regulatory report filed with the regulator last month by appointed liquidator Stephen Dixon of the Hamilton Murphy bankruptcy office.
Another of Mr. Ferg’s dairy and produce wholesalers, Green Earth Industries, went bankrupt with debts of $856,000.
Mr. Ferg took over the two-decade-old business in February of this year, but the business went bankrupt three months later.
Fonterra Brands, the company behind Bega cheese, Perfect Italiano cheese and Western Star butter, is the largest creditor, $493,000.
Mr. Ferg was also recently appointed sole director of Marsh Dairy Products, a company specializing in the distribution and packaging of dairy products.
The company is now in bankruptcy and owes about $2.5 million, but is still trading.
The trustee said he had been able to repay $273,000 to creditors and had negotiated a sale of the company.
“We can only make limited comments at this time due to ongoing litigation and negotiations while we deal with the challenges,” Ferg told news.com.au.
