Sour taste at the Cottage Point Inn

Orlando Bloom, Jerry Seinfeld and Cameron Diaz have all dined at its waterside tables but the machinations behind the scenes at Cottage Point Inn offer more than a little Hollywood-esque drama.

This Friday the majority of the kitchen team will depart the award-winning restaurant, head chef Ehren Ryan citing unpaid superannuation as the reason he’ll throw off the kitchen clogs.

Cottage Point Inn will be short four kitchen staff over Christmas, a week the restaurant’s long-time operator, Dan McKinnon, concedes is one of the busiest of the year. McKinnon says he’ll use agency staff to try to get over the hurdle.

The restaurateur claims the super will be paid, while the talented Ryan, who worked for Heston Blumenthal in England, says he’s tired of the delays and changes to the structure of the restaurant.

McKinnon, who has operated the restaurant for 22 years, concedes a recent shift has seen “a new owner step in and employ me as general manager”.