Matt Moran’s hospitality empire looks set to give Merivale a run for its money following news that the celebrity chef and business partner Bruce Solomon have purchased Newtown’s Marlborough Hotel.

The pub joins the duo’s of other iconic eateries around the nation – including Opera Bar, Aria, The Paddington Inn, The Sheaf and Chiswick – which is operated under the Solotel Group. “Solotel is delighted to add to the Marlborough Hotel to the existing four hotels we manage in the Newtown area,” says Solomon on the purchase of the pub. 

The acquisition follows the recent purchase of the Clovelly Hotel and takes the group’s offerings to a total of 30. Known as ‘the Marly’, the Marlborough Hotel was sold to Solotel by business partners Geoff Dixon of Qantas and advertising guru John Singleton. The sale itself was rumoured by the Australian Pub Fund to be around $34 million, which is a noticeable profit from its former purchase in 2012 at $12.17 million.

For recipes by Matt Moran, see here.