"We wouldn't stay in business if you had to spend that kind of money! The restaurant business is tough enough," Puck said.

Minds and Machines CEO Antony Van Couvering, who is assisting Puck's bid, said the operating cost is "much less than half" of the reported TLD operating cost, but stopped short of naming a figure.

He said the registration infrastructure is already in place and should not add excessive costs on top of ICANN's assessment fees.

Puck and an entourage of LA chefs will host a dinner tomorrow night in Sydney on the back of the ICANN conference which runs this week, and visit local celebrity chef and friend Neil Perry.

He said he is not aware of other contenders for the .food domain.