Karen Martini walks away from Better Homes and Gardens after 17 years to look at ‘new projects’

Adored Melbourne chef Karen Martini is leaving Better Homes and Gardens after almost two decades on our screens — but this isn’t the last you’ll see of her.

Karen Martini has called it quits after 17 years on Better Homes and Gardens to focus on her own projects. Picture: Supplied.

Celebrity chef Karen Martini is leaving Better Homes and Gardens to “look at new projects” after almost two decades on the popular lifestyle show.

The adored Melbourne chef says the sensational booting of her beloved ACMI restaurant Hero from Federation Square last year, influenced her decision to hang up her apron on telly.

“I think the shock of Hero made me reassess and reflect on what I wanted to achieve in the next five to ten years. I want a challenge, in both restaurants and the media,” she told the Herald Sun.

“I loved my time at Seven. It’s been a hard decision to make, from one angle, and exciting from the other. 2024 will be huge in the restaurant department and this is not by any means solely why I have stepped away from Better Homes and Gardens — it was time to hang up the apron and look at new projects.”

Martini said a new-found “creative energy” was another catalyst for the move.

Martini has been a part of the Better Homes and Gardens family for almost two decades.

“I saw another side of me that was growing, and I would like to express that in ways longer than minutes in a segment,” she said.

Since the October restaurant axing blindside, Martini has kept busy relaunching two Melbourne restaurants: Johnny’s Green Room in Carlton and St Kilda’s Saint George Tavern and Bar, set to open February 1.

But that won’t be all from Martini in 2024 — another Melbourne restaurant is on the cards and possibly a Sydney outpost in 2025.

For now, she’s putting her energy into the St Kilda pub revamp.
The Fitzroy St mainstay, formerly the Saint Hotel, is across the road from the venue she and husband Michael Sapountsis ran Melbourne Wine Room out of in the 90s.

“The Saint George is very close to our hearts, for both Michael and I. It’s our flagship,” she said.

Martini is teaming up with Sydney outfit Public Hospitality, who was behind chef Guy Grossi’s recent Clifton Hotel in Kew takeover.

Martini assumed the culinary director role, rejigging the pub’s food offering with her trademark Italian flair, while former Byron Bay chef Diana Desensi has been appointed executive chef to bring her vision to life.

Saint George will have two menus, a relaxed “tavern” and more formal “grill”.

The former will be “a bit 90s” with great schnitzels, fish and mushroom burgers (sorry, no beef), local beer and super chilled martinis, while the latter will revive a Melbourne Wine Room classic — a salt crusted rib-eye steak — alongside refined pastas and cool salads to “bring the bounce back” to St Kilda.

“The right hospitality can bring a certain energy and ...there have been mixed messages about St Kilda,” she said.

“But I think with the right people doing the right things, we can really enhance the spirit and culture.”

Martini’s pre-filmed Better Homes and Gardens episodes will continue to air on Channel 7 in 2024.