Mounting debts and the closure of a string of restaurants has restaurateur and chef George Calombaris desperate to balance the books.

The Masterchef star’s restaurant group, Made Establishment is selling off the East Brunswick Hellenic Republic, and has closed Le Grand Cirque, Calombaris’ new venture with My Kitchen Rules chef Manu Feidel.

The restaurant was plagued by poor reviews and lack of patronage, that eventually had the group fall on their swords.

The Italian-Greek fusion restaurant Mama Baba also fell on hard times and closed within two years.

The building that houses Hellenic Republic in Brunswick is set to go under the hammer this month with an asking price of $1.9 million, but the restaurant will still continue to function as the group extended the lease for another 10 years.

St Katherine’s was also sold off in 2012 for $4.31 million and reopened as another Hellenic Republic.

The Group also closed and rebranded The Press Club restaurant, and turned it into a more informal dining area called Gazi, while keeping a much smaller area for fine dining to make it more financially viable and cater to different tastes.

‘‘There’s only so much debt a business can afford to carry. But we’ve also bought three locations for new restaurants too,’’ Calombaris said to The Sunday Age.

The Made Establishments business model was highly reliant on borrowing heavily to buy properties to house restaurants, spending thousands to renovate and expecting high returns.

For the first five restaurants the group bought, it spent $8.9 million.

The Group is now looking to overhaul its business model and minimise its debts buy quickly selling off businesses flat-lining and investing in more casual eateries.

The new venture, souvlaki eatery Jimmy Grants has been a shining light for the Group, with two restaurants opening, and more on the pipeline.

The group says the days when couples would spend $300 on dinner were gone and the company had to adjust accordingly.

The Made Establishment is jointly owned by George Calombaris, restaurant heavyweight George Skyiotis and steel industry businessmen Joe Calleja and Tony Lachimea.

Source: The Sunday Age