George Calombaris

George Dimitrios Calombaris is a Greek Australian chef and restaurateur and television personality. Calombaris was one of the judges of the Network 10 series MasterChef Australia from 2009 to 2019. Prior to his role on MasterChef Australia, Calombaris appeared regularly on the daytime Network Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook. He owned several restaurants in Melbourne. His flagship restaurant, The Press Club, was awarded The Age Good Food Guide "Best New Restaurant 2008" with Calombaris named "Chef of the Year 2008". Calombaris draws on his Greek, Cypriot and Italian heritage for inspiration. In 2019, Calombaris's company MAdE Establishment Group admitted to underpaying $7.83 million in wages to 515 employees, which was back-paid. MAdE agreed to pay $200,000 to the Australian Government and to undertake a number of other activities. In February 2020, MAdE went into voluntary administration with the majority of its venues closed immediately.