‘Singing Chef’: owner of The Vault Bar and Tapas in Surfer’s Paradise at war with neighbour

The ‘Singing Chef’ delights his customers by belting out impromptu performances on the restaurant floor – but not everyone is so enamoured with his classically-trained tones.

The owner of the eatery next door has complained bitterly that David De Vito, who runs the The Vault Bar and Tapas in Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast, is driving away diners with his constant singing.

Sushil Sharma, who runs the Unicorn Greek seafood restaurant, claims Mr De Vito’s extravagant performances – often involving an electric guitar, saxophone or grand piano – discourage people from eating with him. 

‘The music is good but not for ten hours a day and when I’m losing money because of it,’ he told A Current Affair. 

‘People don’t want to come here. It’s an every day story. They tell us that its too loud, the would love to be here but it’s too loud.’

Mr Sharma said the noise was ‘inhuman’ and fears it will lead to him losing his business. 

‘There’s no way a fine dining restaurant can survive next to loud music because it’s a totally different concept,’ he said.  

Tensions boiled over between the pair when Mr De Vito was filmed flicking the bird at one of Mr Sharma’s staff members. 

The Singing Chef has been fined for surpassing his noise limit of 75 decibels in the past and is applying to have it raised to 90. 

Mr Sharma has started monitoring the noise levels with his own decibel metre and claims that Mr De Vito regularly exceeds 100 decibels. 

Mr De Vito has been fined for reaching his 75-decibel limit in the past and is applying to have it raised to 90

But Mr De Vito, who came runner-up in Australia’s got talent in 2011, hit back, dismissing the claim as ‘silly’.

‘My customers are the same age as his customers. They’re all 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s so if it’s too loud there (next door) nobody would be able to handle that volume in here.’ 

‘At any given time you’ll see this place is buzzing with energy, love and positivity but next door is just not so busy.’

He claims business in the area has increased since he took over the restaurant in October last year and says he has the support of other establishments. 

Mr De Vito also has the support of AFL legend Mark ‘Jacko’ Jackson who suggested the complaints were driven by envy.

Sushil Sharma, owner of the Unicorn Greek seafood restaurant

‘I don’t know what the guy is complaining about, really,’ he said. 

‘People get jealous, when you’re going really well, everybody is jealous.’

Mr Sharma has been complaining about the noise to Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) for the last eight months. 

The OLGR said they were ‘continuing to investigate’ the noise complaints.

‘This involves working with the licensee to ensure the noise levels from the venue are not unreasonable and do not unduly impact the surrounding amenity. 

Both business owners agreed they would be happy with a partition separating their two restaurants. 

But the idea had been rejected by the building’s body corporate before for safety reasons.