Jamie Oliver proclaims return of his Italian chain after collapse that noticed 22 eating places shut and 1,000 folks lose their jobs in what TV chef labelled ‘a minor blip’ (and he is providing free pasta to attract in diners once more!)

His sprawling restaurant empire crashed into administration in 2019, but Jamie Oliver is officially making a comeback.

The celebrity chef, 50, is reopening the doors of Jamie’s Italian with a 140-seater branch in London‘s West End on Monday – and is offering free pasta for walk-in guests on opening day.

It’s an impressive return, given that Jamie’s Italian teetered on the edge of administration for more than a year, with millions of pounds in debt, before finally going bust in 2019, shutting down 22 restaurants and resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs.  

Three years later, the celebrity chef insisted the humiliating collapse of his restaurant chain, which left his company owing around £83million, was just a ‘minor blip’.

Speaking on Jamie Oliver: The Naked Chef Bares All about the crushing collapse of his beloved restaurant chain, the TV personality said: ‘It happens, and I would call it a minor blip really, in the vision and the dream. A very painful one. But definitely, I’m better for it.

‘We had 13 amazing years and learned loads. I was a young man when I started, I’m much older and wiser now.’

Asked whether or not he had learned from the closure of his Italian restaurant chain, the TV personality said: ‘Yeah, for sure, and every other failure that I’ve had – which is about 50 per cent. But I’ve never been more rounded, I’ve never been more experienced.’

When Jamie was asked about the restaurant chain’s demise again last year, he admitted he got the ‘basics’ wrong because he is ‘conceptually thick’.

Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain – Jamie’s Italian – is set to reopen in London on Monday next week (pictured in 2015)

During an appearance on Davina McCall‘s Begin Again podcast, Jamie opened up about navigating failure, admitting he struggled with his inability to understand maths.

He mused: ‘Sometimes I’ve failed, and I got all the hard bits right and I got the basics wrong because I spent a lifetime refusing to accept any responsibility around numbers and maths… I didn’t pass maths at school.

‘Conceptually within that, yeah, I’m thick. I have a negative view of myself when it comes to maths.

‘So when I lost my restaurants, you know, all the hard stuff we got right – all the stuff that most people struggle getting right, we got right. We were really good at the hard stuff – and it was really the basics.’

Poor online reviews are also believed to have contributed to the worsening reputation of Jamie’s Italian, as food delivery apps such as Uber Eats conquered the market, leaving the chef unable to save his struggling brand.

Josh Singh, who previously worked at Jamie’s Italian at the Bullring in Birmingham said: ‘In the early years it was a destination restaurant but I think over time the message got lost. The company started giving things away and turned into your average high street restaurant instead of a celebrity restaurant.

‘They opened restaurants all over the place and in places where you wouldn’t expect celebrity restaurants to be like villages and very small towns.’

An anonymous member of staff added: ‘It was getting too commercial and I felt under pressure to get customers seated and ordered and then out too quickly.

‘On busy nights it felt like a conveyor belt. Why pay £100 plus for a meal when you feel under pressure to eat it quickly? You might as well go to McDonalds.’

Jamie Oliver spoke about the loss of his restaurant empire during a 2025 podcast, admitting he got the ‘basics’ wrong because he is ‘conceptually thick’

Jamie opened his first Jamie’s Italian in Oxford in 2008, growing it to more than 60 restaurants worldwide.

In 2017, the restaurant chain lost almost £20million and was forced to close several of its branches.

It came close to bankruptcy in 2018, before the chef injected £12.7million of his savings into the business.

That year, he closed the last of his Union Jacks eateries and scrapped his magazine Jamie, which had been in print for almost 10 years. The father-of-five went on to describe that year as the worst of his life.

By 2018, Jamie’s Italian was struggling with debts of £71.5million. More than 600 people had lost their jobs earlier that year, when the chain said it would close 12 sites.

Now, the new branch of Jamie’s Italian, which is aiming to sell classic pasta dishes at accessible prices, is opening in partnership with Brava Hospitality Group, the team behind Prezzo Italian.

Jamie said of the opening: ‘I’m beyond excited to be opening Jamie’s Italian doors once again – it’s been quite the journey, but I’m truly humbled by the support you’ve shown us over the years. 

‘And for those of you still holding onto a cheeky ‘borrowed’ napkin or an old-school gold card, bring it down and we’ll treat you to a free bowl of pasta or Ravioli Fritti – no questions asked. And the free pasta? It’s my way of saying a massive thanks for sticking with us.’