George Calombaris’ empire shrinks after Hellenic Republic closes

George Calombaris is shutting his renowned restaurant Hellenic Republic at the end a tumultuous year.

It was revealed earlier this year that the company controlling Calombaris’ restaurant empire owed 515 workers $7.83m in underpayments. Picture: ABC

Celebrity chef George Calombaris is shutting his renowned Brunswick restaurant Hellenic Republic at the end of a tumultuous year which has seen him dumped from MasterChef Australia and his iconic Melbourne base the Press Club close.

From mid-January Hellenic Republic will be replaced by Crofter Dining Room and Bar, a joint venture with Matt Wilkinson, chef and owner of Pope Joan.

“Matt and I have been peers and friends for almost 20 years,” Calombaris said on Instagram.

“He is the unofficial Mayor of the North as far as I’m concerned and the venue could not be in better hands. Not just because of his food, which is the kind of food people want to eat, but because he is an absolute riot of a human — fun, energetic, brave but above all a beautiful person.”

Wilkinson said Crofter will be “a veg/seasonal first focused” night-time restaurant and bar.

The Australian’s restaurant critic John Lethlean said the change was an interesting move, with the joint venture representing the first business MAde Establishment has done which doesn’t leverage the Calombaris reputation and persona.

“When Hellenic opened, it was almost another era, pre-MasterChef,” Lethlean said.

“George was hands-on, on the tools, and really celebrating his Hellenic roots. The food was great, so was the concept, and it spawned a number of spin-offs.”

It was revealed earlier this year that MAde Establishment, the company controlling Calombaris’ restaurant empire, owed 515 workers $7.83 million in underpayments.

Calombaris resigned as a director of MAde Establishment during the investigation.

As part of an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman, Calombaris agreed to pay a $200,000 “contrition payment”.

Lethlean said he was unsure what the impact of the underpayment scandal had been on Hellenic Republic’s takings.

“I’m not privy to what’s been happening at the restaurant dollars wise, obviously, but if the Hellenic thing is no longer working as well, or the Calombaris reputational backwash is hurting a lot, bringing an outsider into the fold, who already has a strong local reputation and plenty of experience, seems shrewd to me,” he said.

Calombaris and his MasterChef co-hosts Matt Preston and Gary ­Mehigan left the program in July after failing to land a significant pay rise.

Next year’s season will be presented by Three Blue Ducks co-owner and chef Andy Allen, travel writer Melissa Leong and celebrity chef and TV presenter Jock Zonfrillo.