16 April 2018

Jamie's Italian Canberra closes doors

| Ian Bushnell
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Jamie’s Italian Canberra has not been able to escape the downturn in fortunes for Jamie Oliver’s restaurant empire. Photo: Jamie’s Italian.

Jamie’s Italian Canberra has closed suddenly, with the Canberra Centre restaurant not opening on Monday and the phone disconnected.

Both Fairfax and the ABC reported that a statement from the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group had confirmed the closure ‘with immediate effect’.

They also announced that Brisbane-based Hallmark Group would take over operating the Australian franchise of the Italian chain.

Jamie’s Italian restaurants in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Parramatta and Adelaide will now operate under Hallmark Group, and the Canberra restaurant is the only Australian Jamie’s Italian franchise to close.

The ABC reported that the closure meant 41 people had lost their jobs – 13 full-time and 28 casual. The establishment has said that all workers will be compensated.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver took control of his Australian holdings a little over 12 months ago, buying his six Jamie’s Italian restaurants from the receivers of the failed Keystone Group, but since then, Oliver’s UK interests have run into trouble.

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Capital Retro11:32 am 17 Apr 18

I walked past this place about 8.30pm last Wednesday night after seeing a great doco about stolen works of art at Dendy.

The staff had already closed it down for the night in contrast to other nearby Asian theme restaurants which were full with patrons waiting for a seat.
I think Jamie’s original clientele have moved on to the hipster precinct in Braddon. I never had the urge to try Jamies (Italian) although I love Italian food.
Somehow I can’t associate a grotty looking “bangers & mash” heavy English accent person with the finesse of Italian food.

I didn’t know there was a Jamie’s in Canberra. I cannot believe they thought the Canberra Centre would be a good location!

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