Celebrity chef Scott Pickett has found a new financier to back his restaurant empire as a report shows the estimated $14 million his venues received from collapsed investment scheme First Guardian will never be paid back.
Melbourne investment managers Salter Brothers, which run a series of funds including hotel and restaurant funds holding investments exceeding $5.4 billion in value, have signed on as Pickett’s new financier.
The deal is a welcome relief for the former MasterChef judge after the company that owned four of his venues – Smith St Bistrot, Chancery Lane, Matilda 159 and Longrain – and his catering business, Rogue Traders, collapsed last year owing creditors $27 million.
Rogue Traders ran into troubles after borrowing heavily – first $12.8 million from the CBA and later $14.1 million from the First Guardian Master Fund – to fund the rollout of a suite of new venues during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pickett’s financial troubles intensified after the collapse of the First Guardian fund in mid-2025 amid allegations the manager of the fund David Anderson, who was also Pickett’s business partner at Rogue Traders, had inappropriately spent investor money on his own pet projects including building a restaurant empire.
The collapse of First Guardian wiped out $500 million of super savings of nearly 6000 people.
Pickett welcomed the financing deal in his first comments about the collapse of Rogue Traders and its ties to First Guardian in a statement to this masthead on Saturday.
“The collapse of First Guardian cost my business its major financial backer and forced the appointment of administrators.
“I feel deeply for everyone affected, and I’m cooperating fully with the liquidators.
“This new financing secures the future of my restaurants and the livelihoods that depend on them.”
Pickett said that throughout the administration every venue kept trading, not a single staff member lost their job, wages and entitlements continued to be paid, and suppliers were paid throughout.
Anderson has denied the allegations, and there has never been any suggestion that Pickett had any knowledge of Anderson’s activity at the investment house. Anderson has been contacted for comment.
“Protecting those livelihoods was the whole point of the restructure.”
Pickett added that the commercial terms were confidential.
Under the deal with Salter Brothers, Pickett will effectively rescue his own venues from liquidation by buying the restaurants’ assets and rolling them into new entities he has set up. Salter Brothers did not respond to inquiries.
Liquor licences held by the venues have already been transferred from the Rogue Traders’ entities to the new companies Pickett has set up to operate the venues.
It is unclear how much cash Salter Brothers will provide to Pickett’s new business holding company.
The Commonwealth Bank, which is understood to be supportive of the deal, took possession of two properties linked to the Rogue Traders business – a $2 million apartment in Fitzroy and the Chancery Lane venue on Little Collins Street estimated to be worth between $5 million and $6 million.
Liquidators have warned creditors that there will be zero returns for any creditor apart from the CBA, which is still expected to nurse a large shortfall even after the property sales and the Salter Brothers’ funded deal.
“Since my last report to creditors, I have been advised that Mr Scott Pickett is the Director
of the purchasing entities, being funded by an associated entity of Salter Brothers,” said Romanis Cant director Manuel Hanna.
“As advised in my previous report to creditors, there will be a significant shortfall owing to the CBA from the company after the finalisation of the sale.”
As a result of the asset sale, Rogue Traders will own shares in several Pickett entities that no longer have their most valuable assets.
The report shows the restaurants owed large sums to Rogue Traders. This included Matilda 159 on Domain Road in South Yarra owing $5.6 million and Chancery Lane in the CBD owing $5.8 million.
According to the report, Pickett’s Collingwood French-inspired fine diner Smith St Bistrot was also due to pay $3.7 million, while modern Thai hotspot Longrain owes $2.1 million, and his food preparation business owes a further $1.8 million.
Liquidators believe Rogue Traders had been trading while insolvent for around 14 months before it collapsed. They also noted that accounts of the restaurants had not been properly reconciled since 2022.
Pickett’s flagship restaurant Estelle sits outside Rogue Traders, while Pickett’s fine-dining venture at the Continental Hotel in Sorrento, Audrey, was a joint venture between the chef and the Smorgon family office, which owns the property. Pickett exited the ownership of that venue late last year according to filings with the corporate regulator but remains an advisor to Audrey’s replacement, Ember.
The Salter Brothers operate a range of funds, including some that own hospitality businesses and hotels.
Its Salter Brothers Hospitality business oversees a large portfolio of hospitality brands across Queensland, NSW and South Australia, including 19 hotels and resorts and 29 restaurants, bars and day spas.
It is also unknown if the investment house has broader plans with the chef to supercharge that business or its other ventures, which include developing a portfolio of capital city hotels valued in excess of $2 billion.
Last year, Salter Brothers announced it had signed a major deal with IHG Hotels and Resorts to reposition several hotels, including the InterContinental in Melbourne, as Regent Hotels by 2030.
As well as his burgeoning relationship with one of the country’s top-level restaurant investors, Pickett is continuing to expand his own hospitality empire.
Just last week, Pickett announced he was pressing ahead with the transformation of Collingwood live music venue and pub the Gasometer, rebadging it as Smith St Hotel.
Pickett was upbeat about the reopening of the venue in a press release insisting it would continue to host live music.
“The question we’ve probably been asked most is whether Smith St Hotel will become a gastro pub,” says Pickett.
“Are we a gastro pub? F— no. We’re a live music venue, with great food and drinks.”
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Sarah Danckert is a senior reporter who specialises in investigations and corporate wrongdoing. She is a two-time Walkley Award winner, and has won six Quill Awards and two Kennedy Awards.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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