Popular Ponsonby Road restaurant and bar, Gigi, has closed its doors three months out from its first anniversary.
Gigi has closed on Auckland’s Ponsonby Road, less than a year since it opened in May 2025. According to an automatic email response sent by the restaurant, it has been sold and is currently closed.
“To everyone who supported us, our guests, suppliers, neighbours, and friends, thank you,” the email read.
“Your loyalty, laughter, and love of good food and great times meant everything to us.”
According to a statement made to media outlets, the owners, Thane Kirby and Luke Dallow, have handed the reins over to acclaimed New Zealand chef Matt Lambert.
Dallow described the sale as a positive step, and that there is a moment in hospitality when it is time to step back. He said this isn’t because he was tired, but because the story had been told honestly, and it was time for the next voice to take over.
“An opportunity came up to pass the baton to incredible hands, and we’re excited to see the next chapter unfold in this space,” said Dallow.
“Hospitality in 2026 looks very different to when I first started in 1989, rising costs, changing culture, tighter margins, but what hasn’t changed is the magic when great people gather in a room.”
This is just the latest closure in a string of shutdowns along Ponsonby Road in the past few years. Most notably, institutions of dining in the area like Sidart and SPQR, closed their doors.
The previous occupant of the Gigi restaurant space, the popular Ponsonby Road Bistro, also closed after 18 years in 2025.
“For me, I’m doubling down on real estate and continuing to write my book about the highs, the lows, and the raw truth of hospitality life. Thane continues on with the country bars, including Joelene, and the story keeps rolling,” Dallow said in a statement.
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