Melbourne stalwart restaurant Gingerboy closes after 18 years

The cost of living crisis has forced a Melbourne chef to close his stalwart restaurant for good, warning diners to pay up if they want to see their favourite venues survive.

Gingerboy restaurant has been forced to close its doors for good after 18 years in business. Picture: Tony Gough.

The owner of a Melbourne restaurant forced to close over financial woes has given diners an ultimatum: pay at least $50 for mains or watch more of their favourite venues close forever.

Modern-Asian stalwart Gingerboy closed after 18 years in the CBD on Tuesday.

Chef and owner Teage Ezard said the “perfect storm” of problems led to his heartfelt decision.

“It was a mixture of low spending diners— if there were any at the restaurant— and rising cost of food and beverages,” he said.

“Covid was good to us as we were actually making some coin. Ever since it’s finished, it’s gone down from there. It’s been a long and slow road and we’ve never recovered.”

Ezard said Melbourne restaurants shouldn’t be afraid to raise their prices to stay afloat, and warned diners to get comfortable spending more money for mains.

“We have to raise our prices, but the public don’t want us to raise our prices. We need to and there needs to be a conversation around that,” he said.

Restaurateur Teage Ezard said restaurants should be charging more for meals to stay afloat. Picture Rebecca Michael.

“Restaurants will not survive charging what they are charging.”

“That perception (of not spending $50 on mains) needs to change. We should be charging $50 or more on mains,” he said.

Ezard said February this year was particularly brutal, with revenue down 20-30 per cent

With the colder months even harder to turn profit, Ezard decided to cut ties before it got worse.

“It was a slow gradual build up over time. Revenue went down, costs went up and it got to the point we couldn’t go any further without jeopardising service and what we do,” he said.

The Melbourne chef also called on the government to provide additional support for restaurants during this difficult time.

“I know (Covid) funding has dried up, but that kept us alive,” he said.

Ezard and his restaurants have been a fixture of Melbourne’s dining scene for many years.

He was behind Flinders Lane fine diner Ezard, which closed in 2020.

Both Gingerboy and Ezard aso featured prominently on the annual best restaurants guide, delicious 100.