Beloved Melbourne restaurant Gauge closes

A beloved up-market eatery in a well-heeled suburb of Melbourne has closed for good, serving its final customer on Saturday night.

A popular Melbourne restaurant has closed its doors for good after 13 years amid the cost of living crisis.

Restaurateur Zeth Romanis served his final customer at up-market eatery Gauge, in Ormond, on Saturday after deciding to call time on his business.

The restaurant was a big hit with locals who adored its classy menu, which featured beef bone ragu, steak frites and chicken ballotine.

Mr Romanis appeared on The Project on Monday night to discuss the pressures facing the hospitality industry.

An up-market eatery in Melbourne has shut its doors for good. Restaurateur Zeth Romanis (right) spoke to The Project about his decision to close.

Asked how he was feeling he said: “It’s been an exciting week. Heaps of people have come in to say goodbye. I’m leaving the business in a bittersweet way with really fond memories of the final week.”

Mr Romanis said the fact he was closing Gauge after more than a decade only hit him when he served a regular on Saturday for the final time.

Asked how he came to the decision shut up shop Mr Romanis said: “The last couple of years have been very hard.

“There’s no one particular thing. Ultimately a business is driven by the bottom line. You can have awards and your customers can tell you your fantastic but if the bottom line isn’t working at some stage you have to say ‘enough is enough’.”

Gauge did a roaring coffee trade in the pandemic but then cost of living pressures became too much.

Mr Romanis said that Gauge had not been too badly affected by Covid because they did a roaring coffee trade and had around 400 customers a day.

However after the pandemic ended Mr Romanis said a perfect storm of difficulty in hiring staff and increased food costs had brought about Gauge’s demise.

Waleed Aly asked if the large number of restaurants closing meant that Australians’ eating habits had changed for good.

But Mr Romanis said that it wasn’t “all doom and gloom” for every restaurant.

He explained that he believed Gauge had been adversely effected by interest rates as it was located in an affluent area.

He finished by saying that he was “going to take more time for the family and reboot”.

Originally published as Beloved Melbourne restaurant Gauge closes