Melbourne restaurants forced to close because of Covid lockdowns
Some of Melbourne’s most-loved restaurants, cafes and bars have fallen victim to lockdowns, especially in the CBD. These are the venues that closed for good in 2020 and 2021.
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Some of Melbourne’s beloved restaurants, bars and cafes have been forced to close for good after almost two years of crippling lockdowns and Covid restrictions.
These are the venues that served their final meals in 2020 and 2021.
BAR SARACEN
Melbourne CBD
Popular Middle Eastern eatery Bar Saracen hosted its last dinner service this January, after three years of trade.
Owner Joseph Abboud made the tough call to close after being crippled by financial hardship from two lockdowns and ongoing restrictions.
Mr Abboud said his once-thriving Punch Lane venue, in the city’s theatre district, wasn’t getting the foot traffic it needed to survive.
“You don’t realise how busy the CBD needs to be for people to fill all those nooks and crannies,” Mr Abboud told the Herald Sun.
“These decisions are always very tough. I felt like (the restaurant) was less of a reward and more of an effort and … in the end I could not see this panning out.”
Mr Abboud would have closed the beloved venue much sooner if it weren’t for federal government support through its Job Keeper and Job Seeker programs.
“The effect that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on trade in our pocket of the Melbourne CBD especially, with the loss of international guests, city workers and passing foot-traffic, leaves us in a precarious financial situation,” Abboud wrote on Instagram at the time.
When restrictions eased after the second lockdown, Bar Saracen could only seat 16 people instead of its usual 50.
DANDELION
Elwood
Chef and restaurateur Geoff Lindsay called time on his mod-Vietnamese restaurant Dandelion after ten years of service this June.
Lindsay sold the Elwood venue and delicious. 100 ranking restaurant to Rosalin and Oliver Virnik of Brighton’s Curly Whiskers.
The duo plan to open Anchor in the weeks after this lockdown ends, serving modern Australian and Mediterranean food.
At the time, Lindsay cited personal reasons for the sale and said he had enjoyed a beautiful ten years cooking at the venue.
MADAME BRUSSELS
Melbourne CBD
Much-loved rooftop bar Madame Brussels abruptly closed its doors in July, just days before the state’s sixth lockdown.
Co-founder and managing director Paula Scholes, known as Miss Pearls was “devastated” to shut after more than 15 years of service.
“Fifteen and a half years – don’t you forget that half,” she said.
“I love (our customers) with all my heart. Our patronage over the years has been so special to make Madame Brussels what she was.”
Scholes said she couldn’t afford to stay open, with her business partner making the painful call to close.
Melbourne was thrust into its current lockdown before the bar’s final drinks on July 25.
Ms Scholes was set to start a new job at the Kelvin Club.
CHARCOAL LANE
Fitzroy
Charcoal Lane, Melbourne’s fine dining restaurant with training programs for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, closed on September 16.
The establishment had been running since 2009, and had provided work for more than 300 First Nations people.
The Gertrude St space will now be occupied by Victorian Aboriginal Health Service (VAHS).
KINFOLK
Melbourne CBD
Another Melbourne social enterprise cafe Kinfolk closed in July after 11 years.
The Bourke St business struggled to cope financially after several long and snap lockdowns.
Chief executive and co-founder Jarrod Briffa had held off closing for as long as possible.
Sister venue Sibling remains open in Carlton North.
EZARD
Melbourne CBD
Chef Teage Ezard’s famed Flinders Lane fine diner closed after 20 years last June.
When the pandemic hit last March, Ezard realised it was time to move in a new direction but insists coronavirus wasn’t the sole reason for the restaurant’s closure.
Instead the chef said at the time he wanted to try a more casual concept, mirrored off his successful southeast Asian hawker-style venue Gingerboy.
Earlier this year, the concept was realised in Gingergirl at Sorrento’s Ocean Beach Pavillion over summer.
Ocean Beach Pavillion is co-owned by Australian snowboarding champion Scotty James and Melbourne bar tsar Jerome Borazio.
IKI-JIME
Melbourne CBD
Restaurateur and chef Scott Pickett took over the lease of Iki-Jime last August.
The takeover of the space occupied by the Vue Group venue (owned by Shannon Bennett) had been on the cards pre-Covid, but the pandemic put the wheels in motion.
In January, Pickett opened his new CBD French bistro Chancery Lane in the spot. By May, he had also opened a new deli, Le Shoppe.
Last July, Pickett also saved CBD restaurant Longrain from the brink, and announced he was opening a new venue, Sorrento’s Continental Hotel.
DON CAMILLO
North Melbourne
Landmark Melbourne cafe Don Camillo fell victim to Covid lockdowns last week.
The venue had been trading for decades and was a meeting place for sporting figures, boxing identities, Queen Victoria Market traders and an assortment of colourful old-school characters.
Its owner, respected fight game figure Sam Greco, was heartbroken to close the space after 66 years in business.
“Without a word of a lie, it was the hardest decision and thing to do to date,” he said.
“I must admit, I did shed tears as this was a place that I’d been coming to for the last 30 years and owned it for 15 years of that time.
“It was such a unique place. A place where pretty much you could see or meet anyone from any walk of life. It was a place to be seen but most importantly a place where people called home.”
… BACK FROM THE BRINK
RED SPICE ROAD
Melbourne CBD
Popular restaurant Red Spice Road has revealed on Instagram it will return after Melbourne’s current lockdown. It’s been a turbulent time for the venue, which announced last February it would be closing for good. In May the company went into liquidation and staff lost their jobs.
This August, after a 15-month hiatus, Red Spice Road announced it was reopening and was hoping to give some staff their jobs back, as well as hunting for new employees.
LONGRAIN
Melbourne CBD
Longrain was given a last-minute lifeline when Scott Pickett bought the business from hospo veterans John and Lisa Van Haandel last year.
The popular South East Asian restaurant closed its doors last March after announcing it would not reopen when lockdown lifted.
Longrain, along with its upstairs sibling Longsong, adds to the chef-restaurateur’s stable of restaurants that includes Estelle, Matilda 159 and Pastore at the Chadstone Hotel.
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