Neil Perry announces his retirement

In news that came as a surprise to the industry, Australian superstar chef Neil Perry announced that he is hanging up his chef’s whites this year. After a nearly 40-year career that saw the launch of a successful restaurant empire, Perry is “stepping away from the role of culinary director and ambassador within the Rockpool Dining Group but will remain a consultant and a major shareholder,” according to Good Food (AU).

While the chef had sold Rockpool Group to an investment firm about four years ago, he had recently been in negotiations to buy back the company. The pandemic put a damper on that plan, and Perry, age 63, decided that this was a good time to start on a new path. “It will never be easy to move on from the restaurants I founded, and I do so with a heavy heart, but as the business and the sector set their sights on new beginnings, it is the right time for the next generation to have the opportunity afforded to me over 40 years ago,” Perry said in a press release.

This news comes on the heels of a return to lockdown for Melbourne, meaning restaurants will only be able to do takeaway for another six weeks. Most restaurants had spent significant sums of money readying their dining rooms to comply with pandemic safety guidelines. Chefs have petitioned the government to consider a providing financial assistance to the beleaguered hospitality industry, worrying that many regional restaurants will not survive a second shutdown.