Deal done for celeb chef George Calombaris’ Jimmy Grants outlets

Two Jimmy Grants outlets have been sold by administrators of George Calombaris’s collapsed hospitality empire.

One of the Jimmy Grants restaurants in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. Picture: David Geraghty/The Australian.

Two Jimmy Grants outlets have been sold by administrators of George Calombaris’s collapsed hospitality empire.

News of the Thursday night deal came as businesses and individuals owed money by Calombaris’s defunct operations met for the first time in Melbourne to lodge claims for unpaid bills. About 40 people attended the meeting.

Several hours after the meeting, the sale of Jimmy Grants outlets to an unnamed Melbourne food identity was confirmed.

The Australian understands the closed-door meeting of creditors was mainly a procedural affair, with a short statement from Made director and major investor Radek Sali read to the group.

George Calombaris. Picture: ABC/7.30

The businessman, who has burned millions on his investment in the Calombaris food dream, is believed to have told creditors of his deep sadness at Made’s collapse and that his friend Calom­baris had carried much of the burden of the corporate failure.

Mr Sali is believed to have apologised for the group’s lack of success.

The meeting was run by Korda­Metha’s Craig Shepard and Leanne Chesser and held at the firm’s Rialto Tower offices.

Made, which collapsed on February 10, controlled 12 food ven­ues. The Commonwealth Bank, the group’s single largest creditor, is owed in the order of $10m.

Made also owes money to the Australian Taxation Office and a range of suppliers of goods and services to the operations.

Mr Sali, who was not at the meeting, has also registered two of his private vehicles as creditors.

About 400 staff have been paid all outstanding wages and superannuation, but may still be owed other entitlements, including holiday and long service leave, and are therefore expected to also emerge as creditors.

Calombaris, who has not made any public comment since the collapse, was also a no-show at the meeting of creditors.

George Calombaris’ mansion is up for sale in Toorak. Picture: Supplied