The sale of a popular Italian restaurant in Alexandria has prompted a stoush over the use of its moniker.
Pino isn’t at the top of popular baby name lists, but the battle for the moniker at a Sydney restaurant has turned ugly, with lawyers lined up in a fight over the use of the name.
When Pino’s Vino e Cucina closed last month, after a near decade-long run in Alexandria, owner Matteo Margiotta told the Herald uncertainty around securing a long-term lease made it difficult to plan for the future in the suburb. The restaurateur would shift his focus to his new spin-off restaurant in Cronulla, Pino’s Vino e Cucina al Mare.
Regulars were confused when the original Alexandria site reopened last week with a new owner, some of its old staff and a slightly tweaked name, Pino’s Vino e Cucina Alexandria. The drama over the name and launch spilled over to the pages of Reddit, where users weighed into the “custody battle” over the continued use of Pino.
It turned out Margiotta had sold the restaurant but he expected it to be rebranded. “It’s been a massive problem … they can’t call it Pino’s,” Margiotta said. With “lawyers involved”, the restaurateur declined to offer further comment.
The Alexandria restaurant’s new operator, Manish Agrawal, disagreed: “It’s part of the sale contract [that] we can use the name … we agreed we would put Alexandria on the end.”
Agrawal claimed he took over the restaurant as a going concern, so he’s kept the bones of the old menu and added a few twists. The restaurateur cited the maccheroncini alla vodka with tomato sauce and spanner crab as the Alexandria eatery’s most popular dish on a menu that sweeps grilled swordfish, roasted bullhorn peppers and wagyu tartare.
“I’m working with the chef on a new menu,” Agrawal said. The seasonally focused list will launch in a few weeks. The restaurateur said he had to start from scratch with the wine list.
Sydney isn’t short of stoushes over hospitality names. British celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal famously took action in the Federal Court, successfully making a modest Darling Quarter restaurant change its name from The Fat Duck, which also happens to be the name of Blumenthal’s famed fine-dining restaurant in Berkshire.
Even a different name can run into problems, as Sydney burger joint Down N’ Out discovered when it sailed too close to US burger behemoth, In-N-Out Burger. The Sydney outfit changed its name after a four-year legal battle with the California-based fast-food giant.
“We encourage restaurants to be unique and have their own identity,” said Wes Lambert, chief executive at the Australian Restaurant & Cafe Association.
“We discourage using similar brands to promote your business because consumers will be confused.”
Finding a definitive answer to name ownership is tricky. There can be trademark issues at play or allowances given for similarly named businesses operating in different markets or industries. Even registering a business name will not prevent others from registering a similar name, perhaps with as little as a single different word.
Agrawal believes he purchased the Pino name as part of the sale. A local resident with 15 years of hospitality experience, he said he cares about his community and wants his restaurant to reflect that ethos.
As for the disagreement over something as seemingly straightforward as the use of the name, Agrawal said: “I think you should ask him [Margiotta] this question.”
“I wish the whole thing would go away,” Agrawal said.
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