It will be rump caps at ten paces if the rumours are right and Matt Moran has indeed been kicking the tyres of Sydney steakhouse Chophouse, on the market after the demise of the Keystone Hospitality Group.
Chophouse is across the street from Global HQ (aka Rockpool Bar & Grill), Neil Perry's flagship m-eatery in Bligh St, setting the scene for what may be an epic meat-off for the ages.
Chophouse is part of the Keystone Hospitality Group, that rag-tag collection of 17 bars and restaurants, including Jamie's Italian chain, Bungalow 8, Cargo Bar, Gazebo and the Kingsleys steakhouses in Brisbane and Sydney (the latter made famous when Singo went postal one lunchtime last year and got all up in the grill of his mate, Jack Cowin. But we digress.) Keystone famously went to the wall in June after failing to renegotiate lending arrangements with financiers KKR and Olympus Capital.
In a deal finalised at the start of the month, Dixon Hospitality took possession of a handful of the Keystone properties. Notably, Chophouse in Sydney wasn't one of them.
When contacted, Moran denied he had any designs on Chophouse. Or rather, he said something to the effect there were not any contracts in the offing and, anyway, he never commented on deals until they were done.
"We get a lot of deals come our way, most of which we say no to," he added, cryptically. "There's nothing in Chophouse for us right now, but that may change." And, of course, should it come to pass, there's nothing to say he won't steer the existing establishment away from its meaty fare.
The shiny-pated one – overseer of the Aria and Chiswick restaurants – added all his focus right now was on his brand-spanking new Barangaroo offering (coming next year) and "a new development in Brisbane which we'll be announcing next week". Such a tease.
The Chophouse news comes amid restaurant rumblings that the original owner of Kingsleys, Kingsley Smith, may be interested in buying back one of his restaurants from what remains of the Keystone empire. So much steak, so much speculation.
