Lifesaver … there’s talk that chef James Kidman might revive the Manly Pavilion site. Photo: Sahlan Hayes

• Read more form Short Black

Sydney hospitality heavyweights Doltone House and the Dockside Group are believed to be frontrunners to snare Manly Pavilion, which closed last week with debts of $590,000.

Its restaurant operation will be liquidated.

Manly Pavilion was a former best new restaurant award winner in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

Doltone House has been in talks with former Otto chef James Kidman, a potential signing that would no doubt help put the Manly venue back on the dining radar.

One supplier owed tens of thousands of dollars by Manly Pavilion tells Short Black he anticipates a heavy cull of restaurants over winter.

“It’s only May and I’ve already had a record number of bad debts for a year.”

Design and wage costs, plus an oversupply of restaurants, have seen various venues, including Bruno’s at the Hunky Dory Social Club, and Milsons in Kirribilli, close.

Suppliers expect more significant restaurants, some with well-known chefs, to shut before the end of the financial year.