Providoor returns – but not as you know it

Chef and restaurateur Shane Delia’s Providoor was a lifeline for many hospitality businesses during one of the biggest obstacles the industry has ever faced.

The restaurant-to-your-door concept gave people a small sense of normalcy during the pandemic, but the business collapsed in April this year, with Delia confirming it had been “formally placed into liquidation” after less than three years in operation.

Unused gift cards were valued at a staggering $4.4 million, with liquidators RSM Australia Partners stating there was “insufficient money to pay a dividend to creditors or provide refunds to customers, including gift card holders”.

But Providoor has been given a new lease of life by investor Sam Benjamin (Seventh Street Ventures), who acquired the business in April and re-launched it today.

While the original Providoor model saw restaurants prepare and cook meals that were delivered to customers, the current version is split into two concepts: Providoor Local and Providoor Frozen.

Customers can now place centralised orders for dishes designed by former MasterChef Australia judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris, and Gary Mehigan as well as My Kitchen Rules‘ Manu Fiedel and chef Anna Polyviou, with more collaborators yet to be announced.

Benjamin says the new Providoor has “worked with famous chefs and leading food technologists to disrupt” the status quo, with the business developing “processes that allow us to prepare, store, and finish restaurant-quality food in a way that has never been done before.”

The meals are prepared in Providoor kitchens under the Kaspa banner located across Sydney, with additional locations set to open in Melbourne and Brisbane in the future.

“It is an absolute game-changer to have this any chefs and personalised menus under one banner,” says Benjamin.

However, it seems the issue of unused gift cards is still up in the air, with Good Food reporting Benjamin had “invited voucher holders to get in touch”.

“In due time, we’ll understand how to best serve everybody,” he told Good Food. “We’ll find a way to make it right.”

Orders will go live on the platform later today, with launch dishes including a mushroom burger by Preston, coq au vin by Fiedel, and a white chocolate cheesecake with strawberry basil salad by Polvyiou.

Providoor Local will also be available on Uber Eats from 24 October, with frozen orders placed by midday delivered in Sydney the following day. Orders placed in Melbourne and Brisbane will be delivered twice a week and require a three-day lead time.

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