Sydney sushi pizza restaurant Sash has announced it is going into liquidation, blaming its closure on “drastically over paid” hospitality workers. Others are blaming the fact that they sold sushi pizza.
According to a report published today by The Sydney Morning Herald, the Surry Hills restaurant has gone into liquidation just three months after opening. Co-foundered by directors Kyle Stagoll and Dave Nelson, Sash’s “new age Japanese Fusion” failed to attract enough diners to keep it afloat, ultimately accumulating debts of $436,000 during its short life.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Stagoll blamed Sash’s unsustainablity on high rent and the increasing tendency of customers to eat in, prompted by cold weather and UberEats. He also blamed having to pay their 52 workers a decent wage.
no idea why my 1 million dollar fitout sushi pizza restaurant with 53 staff didnt work out
— wheels (@wheelswordsmith) July 28, 2019
“Most of our competitors who have been successful over the past few years have been paying staff under the award rate, it seems the only way venues can stay ahead,” said Stagoll. “Does that mean hospo workers are drastically over paid for the value they produce for a business? Probably.”
Under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010, the current minimum wage for restaurant workers ranges from $19.49 to $24.77 per hour, depending upon their level of training and duties. The minimum wage across Australia is $19.49, having been increased by three per cent on July 1.
Online commentors have been tearing Stagoll’s statements apart, as well as wondering who on earth would want a sushi pizza.
– Actually illegal to pay under award minimums.
– not the workers fault if you didn’t account for paying award wages in your stupid fucking sushi pizza restaurant.
– white ppl fusion sucks.
– I hope the cops arrest your friends.— Kara Schlegl (@karaschlegl) July 28, 2019
sushi pizza restaurant is the result of men being told they’re aren’t any bad ideas
— andie (@anndeejam) July 28, 2019
If you start a business in an industry famous for wafer thin margins a cost structure made up mostly of wages, where all your competitors will be ripping their staff off, maybe you need a better dining concept than ‘sushi pizza’
— postsmaster general (@maxuthink) July 28, 2019
They closed the sushi place
They closed the pizza place
They closed the combination sushi-pizza place— chris (@garflyf) July 28, 2019
* would anyone miss sushi pizza if it ceased to exist
— Scott Ludlam (@Scottludlam) July 28, 2019
“Yes please, I would like one ‘sushi pizza’ with salmon *and* tuna *and* mozzarella *and* blue vein cheese on it please.” pic.twitter.com/Z8xVElOTaT
— Sam Twyford-Moore (@samtwyfordmoore) July 28, 2019
If you create a sushi-pizza restaurant then frankly it deserves to go bust
— reggaeton enthusiast (@mathaiaus) July 28, 2019
“Surry Hills sushi-pizza restaurant Sash has been placed into liquidation with debts of $436,000, three months after opening, with the founders blaming high wages, high rents, a slowdown in consumer spending, UberEats, and everything except themselves.”
— Colourful Local Identity (@GordyPls) July 28, 2019
Help. Our restaurant is not making money.
Here at the Restaurant Advisory Board we look at all the factors that impact profit, & we analyse your business in detail to identify any problems. What cuisine is your restaurant?
Sushi pizza.
We have identified your problem.
— 3GCT (@BarrysChins) July 28, 2019
good on the winklevoss twins for investing in sushi pizza
— Tiger Webb (@tfswebb) July 28, 2019
have the confidence of two white dudes in unbuttoned collared shirts who rewrite their narrative to blame their failure on paying award wages
in front of God and both their mothers
— new face radley (@angharadyeo) July 28, 2019
do need to bail out the surry hills sushi pizza industry
— Aus Gov Just Googled (@GovGoogles) July 28, 2019
Some have also noted the less than stellar branding on Sash’s menus, which are splattered with the kind of phrases that many Asian-Australian kids have heard yelled at them on the playground.
Yeppp.
“Miso hungry”
“Happy ending”
“Is that a chopstick in your pocket or are you just happy to sashimi” pic.twitter.com/80ctvuWf82— colourful racewar identity (@mnurkic) July 28, 2019
A quick Google search has informed me that sushi pizza is apparently a thing in Canada. This does not mean it is a good thing, but at least it’s some sort of explanation for this nightmare.
Sash’s first location in Windsor, Melbourne is still in operation, just in case you don’t find the mere concept of sushi pizza deeply unsettling.
