George Calombaris’ former Hellenic Hotel in Williamstown is set to “return to its Australian pub roots” after the signing of a new lease.
Rustica Sourdough founder Brenton Lang has leased the site for 10 years, with three five-year options to extend.
“The building has been operating as a pub since the early 1900s and I think Williamstown is lacking in quality options for the affluence of the area in comparison with other parts of the city,” Mr Lang said.
“We want to bring it back to public bar, dining area, and rooftop.
“We will finish the job the Calombaris group started with the rooftop, turn the ground floor into mostly a dining area and split the public bar across two levels.”
The failed Hellenic Hotel, which reopened last November as Hotel Argentina, had been the first western suburbs foray for the then-lauded MasterChef star chef in mid-2016.
As reported by Star Weekly in February, KordaMentha liquidators said they had run out of time to sell the site after Calombaris’ wage scandal.
Calombaris’ Made Establishment restaurant group had been ordered to make a $200,000 “contrition payment” under a deal with the Fair Work Ombudsman, for underpaying staff by $7.8 million.
