A Michelin star might get you a TV deal, but it won’t pay the rent.
Despite million-dollar budgets and prime-time fame, the biggest culinary heavyweights have left a trail of debt and “kitchen nightmares” across Australia.
Here is a look back at the celebrity chef restaurants that couldn’t make the cut Down Under.
Jamie Oliver
The Naked Chef stripped his Aussie presence to nothing after his last restaurant closed in 2023.
Jamie Oliver Pizzeria at Pacific Fair in Queensland collapsed into voluntary administration owing $1 million.
The company which managed the restaurant, Hallmark Hospitality Group’s director Matt Heanen, told administrators the restaurant had just $7336 in the bank.
It followed the 2020 closure of Jamie’s Italian across four cities and the 2012 collapse of Fifteen Melbourne, which was plagued by financial strain and a 2008 arson attack.
The restaurants were located in Sydney CBD, Parramatta, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra.
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Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
Jamie’s Italian in Perth. Picture: Jordan Shields
Neil Perry
In 2025, Neil Perry closed his Double Bay Cantonese site Song Bird after less than a year. It followed the closure of his basement bar, Bobbie’s, just a month prior.
Perry admitted the cost of the ventures blew out to $12 million, forcing a rushed opening.
“The first three months were the worst of my life,” Perry said.
“Even after this many years in business, you can still make monumental mistakes.”
Neil Perry.
George Calombaris
George Calombaris’ hospitality empire once established him one of Melbourne’s most powerful restaurateurs.
At its peak, the MAdE Establishment group controlled more than 20 venues.
The company collapsed into voluntary administration in February 2020 after years of losses and the $7.8m underpayment scandal that poisoned the brand.
The collapse led to the closure of 12 restaurants and eateries including 7 Jimmy Grants souvlaki outlets, Gazi, Elektra (formerly The Press Club), and several Hellenic Republic locations (which had been rebranded as Crofter Dining Room, Hotel Argentina, and Vita).
The former MasterChef Australia judge was forced to pay a $200,000 “contrition payment” and admitted “deep sadness and regret” over the failure.
George Calombaris. Picture: Jason Edwards
Jimmy Grants was George Calombaris’ fast-casual souvlaki chain, launched in 2014 and later shut as MAdE Establishment collapsed in 2020. Picture: David Geraghty/The Australian
Heston Blumenthal
Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner By Heston at Crown Melbourne was a five-star flop.
The eatery was placed into administration in 2015 after failing to meet a Fair Work deadline to back-pay staff $4.5 million in entitlements.
According to records, the company made a loss of $492,004 in 2018 and a loss of $308,526 in 2017.
Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal.
Dinner by Heston in Melbourne. Picture: Supplied
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay suffered his own kitchen nightmare when Maze and Maze Grill at Crown Melbourne closed in 2011.
The sites lasted little more than a year before being put into liquidation.
Ramsay’s team claimed the business was “not sustainable,” despite Crown’s insistence that the restaurant was one of the “highest-grossing” in the country.
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay’s Melbourne restaurant Maze.
Manu Feildel
The My Kitchen Rules judge has seen a string of restaurant failures, most notably Le Grand Cirque in Melbourne.
A partnership with Calombaris, the eatery lasted just four months.
Feildel also closed Duck In Duck Out in Sydney after one year, and his long-running French bistro L’Étoile in 2014.
“It’s still a negative experience, so it will always hurt,” Feildel said.
The French chef was a co-owner in Aperitif, a tapas bar in Kings Cross with Miguel Maestre, which shuttered in 2011 after less than 12 months of operation.
Manu Feildel also closed Duck In Duck Out in Sydney after one year. Picture: Dylan Robinson
Shannon Bennett
In 2019, Shannon Bennett’s Benny Burger collapsed, leaving $170,000 in unpaid debt.
The “ethical” burger chain, which spanned Sydney International Airport and prime Melbourne CBD spots, struggled to win over diners who baulked at paying nearly $18 for a single burger.
That same year, the celebrity chef’s live music venture, Geddes Lane Ballroom, also folded less than 12 months after its high-profile launch.
Shannon Bennett at his former burger shop Benny Burger. Picture: Norm Oorloff
Pete Evans
The former My Kitchen Rules judge’s foray into the Melbourne steakhouse scene, Little Hunter, turned into a mess within just 12 months.
When the 150-seat eatery collapsed in 2013, it left more than 100 creditors high and dry, owing a total of $769,000. The debt pile included a $122,000 hit to the Australian Taxation Office.
Despite holding a 10 per cent stake in the failed venture, Evans personally launched a claim for more than $50,000 from the disaster.
Pete Evans. Picture: Pan MacMillan Australia
Karen Martini at ACMI’s Hero. Picture: Pete Tarasiuk
Karen Martini
TV chef Karen Martini’s Federation Square flagship, Hero, came to a screeching halt in 2023 after ACMI abruptly terminated her contract.
In a brutal eviction, staff were reportedly given just six hours to vacate the museum.
ACMI claimed the high-profile restaurant was axed over “significant unpaid debt” and a breach of contract by Martini’s company, HospitalityM.
The former Better Homes and Gardens star hit back, declaring herself “devastated” by the lack of support for a struggling city.
“In this climate, it is hard to believe that ACMI couldn’t match our passion and enthusiasm for good things,” Martini said.
— Additional reporting by David Bonaddio
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