One of Melbourne’s most-beloved restaurant has bitten the dust after more than a decade in business.
Izakaya Den, the hidden CBD basement venue responsible for bringing Japan’s ‘Izakaya culture’ to the Victorian capital when it opened in 2009, will hold its final service next Saturday.
Owner Simon Denton told the Herald Sun he and co-owners Miyuki Nakahara and Takashi Omi “had been holding on for tooth and nail” since mid-2023, but resolved to place the 15-year-old business into voluntary administration.
“We were forced into this, the option to go on wasn’t an option,” Mr Denton told the paper.
“Looking forward into winter and with everything that’s happening in the city, we were facing a perfect storm of problems. We realised it was time to let go.”
An oversaturation of restaurants in the city also contributed to the decision, he said.
“There are too many restaurants, we are one of them. The city goes through these cycles, it’s like pruning a tree. You need to prune to let in new growth,” Mr Denton said.
“The end of the road has come for Izakaya Den,” an email to diners, sent out on Friday afternoon, read.
“We are grateful to have been able to bring our vision of a slice of Japan to Melbourne and be a part of the fabric of this wonderful city.”
It signed off: “We go out as we came in. Perhaps a little aged and jaded, but still a team, still together, still true to ourselves.”
The announcement came on the heels of Crown Melbourne’s Rosetta’s decision to shutter on May 18 after 12 years, and a fortnight after fellow CBD restaurant Gingerboy closed after 18 years, citing a “perfect storm” of problems including downturn in customers and income.
“It was a mixture of low-spending diners – if there were any at the restaurant – and rising cost of food and beverages,” the latter eatery’s chef and owner, Teage Ezard, 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.”
Mr Ezard warned diners to get comfortable spending more, saying restaurants shouldn’t be afraid to raise their prices to stay afloat.
“We have to raise our prices, but the public don’t want us to raise our prices,” he said.
“We need to and there needs to be a conversation around that. Restaurants will not survive charging what they are charging.
“That perception (of not spending $50 on main courses) needs to change. We should be charging $50 or more on mains.”
The Sydney hospitality scene has not been immune – on Friday, after only nine months of operation, Indian restaurant Raja announced its final service will be on May 4.
Despite widespread acclaim upon opening, owners Nick and Kirk Mathews-Boden told Good Food they’d struggled to make ends meet since January.
“This is the most challenging it’s been, in the two decades I’ve worked in hospitality,” Nick told the publication.
“We’re all sick of hearing about it, but it’s because of the cost of living. People who had the money to go out once a week might be going out once a month now, or not at all.
“And you can’t blame anyone for that, we all have to be mindful of how we spend the limited resources we have.”