An Italian restaurant that has been a fixture along the main street of a ritzy beachside suburb for 16 years has closed its doors.
Fratellini Ristorante Italiano closed on February 4 with the owner describing his time running the business as a “labour of love”.
Andrew Powell decided not to renew the lease to his Sunshine Beach restaurant, instead closing the doors to the Duke Street eatery after years of patronage from “loyal customers”.
With plans to transition into semi-retirement, Mr Powell said the time was right.
Previously working in the fashion industry in charge of menswear for Country Road, Mr Powell spent a great deal of time in Italy where he fell in love with the culture.
He said when the opportunity presented itself to purchase an existing Italian restaurant 13 years ago in his “favourite place in the world”, he couldn’t resist.
“We established a loyal following amongst the locals,” he said.
“For a long while we were the go-to restaurant in Sunshine Beach and built up a very successful business.
“We worked hard at it. We opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. The only day we used to close was Christmas Day.”
Mr Powell said over the years the restaurant had experienced its fair share of celebrity guests including Greg Norman, Kerry O’Brien and Karl Stefanovic.
“Kevin Rudd and Therese Rein and their family were perhaps our best customers over the years.
“Gina Rinehart booked the restaurant out for an evening when she sponsored the swimming team at the Olympics. She brought along all the parents.
“We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of well-known clientele, which has added to the charm of Fratellini.”
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Mr Powell said that while the restaurant was able to pivot and adjust to a takeaway format during the pandemic, the recent cost-of-living crisis was making it difficult to run a viable business.
He said business challenges coupled with his plans to retire created the “perfect storm” to not renew the lease.
“My lease was up. I could have extended it but ultimately the cost-of-living increases we’ve had to endure make it not so viable,” he said.
“Everybody has been effected by it, which means discretionary income for holidays or eating out is gone.
“That’s what we rely on and we’ve seen the amount of customers coming to (Sunshine Beach) decrease substantially.
“It’s become very hard.”
The closure of Fratellini comes just weeks after Noosa Council approved a development application for 36 and 38 Duke Street, which encompasses the restaurant site.
On January 12, the council approved for the site to be redeveloped into a set of four “boutique” short-stay apartments that would include two hospitality tenancies on the ground floor.
Mr Powell said he had not been informed when the building owners planned to start redeveloping the site and that despite the approval he did have the option to renew his lease.
Maroochydore-based JFP Urban Consultants, which submitted the development application on behalf of its client, Cambooya Pty Ltd, have been contacted for comment on the future of the site.
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