The economy has claimed yet another culinary scalp with the announcement that Ondine European Brasserie will close by the end of the year.
In an email sent to supporters earlier this week, restaurant management announced the time had come to call it a day, just five years after opening, rather ominously, in the midst of the first COVID lockdown.
"While this was a hard decision to make, we have decided not the reopen the doors at the end of the year," the email said.
"It has been a real rollercoaster since the very beginning and our well documented opening on the first day of lockdown. We have persevered until now, but it is well known: all good things must come to an end."
Speaking to The Canberra Times, co-owner Daniel Geordani said he and his team had decided to quit while they were ahead.
"It's not a sad story - the state of the industry is well-documented," he said.
"As far as I am concerned, we have shifted to running a catering company alongside the restaurant. I've got an escape opportunity and I'm taking it.
"But if things were all shiny rainbows out there, we would stay."
A longtime Canberra culinary figure, Mr Giordani was behind the mega-successful Pulp Kitchen in Ainslie, which he sold in 2017.
He then set his sights on a traditional French brasserie, and brought along Keaton McDonnell, who had worked at Aubergine and The Ottoman, and Abel Barriler from Les Bistronomes, for the ride.
With these three mighty culinary figures, the tiny location at Deakin was the finishing touch to ensure the restaurant's elevated status.
The only problem, then, turned out to be the restaurant's opening date - April 2020.
Unsure of what would come next, the energetic trio adjusted the menu to provide chic takeaway options until it finally opened for real later that year.
Since then, it has taken its place among Canberra's eclectic fancy dining scene, although it had never aspired to the top echelons of some of its owners' earlier workplaces. It was, in the words of one early reviewer, "measured, comfortable and sophisticated".
Reviewing it in 2022, Amy Martin described its menu as having "balance at its heart".
"There are stars - the beef bourguignon and the salt cod mousse - but nothing is out of place," she wrote.
"It's clear the chef has thought about it as an entire experience, rather than just a highlights reel that other restaurants opt for. There's a feeling of balance when you leave for the night. And that's the entire Ondine experience. Everything is intentionally curated, making it one of Deakin's not-so-hidden gems."
Ondine's closure comes less than two weeks after another beloved eaterie, Miss Van's in Civic, announced its closure, although more restaurants are popping up around town.
Aubergine and Temporada may have gone, but Carlotta and Lunetta are now open for business, while longtime Turkish food institution The Ottoman reopened this week after a three-year hiatus.
But Mr Giordani, who also runs Vesta Catering, warned there would be more closures to come.
"The model is broken, but the industry will find its feet again in due course," he said.
"When people have money to spend again, they will come back."
And what about his own future - would he be tempted to return to the restaurant scene any time soon?
"Never say never," he said.
- Ondine will be open regular hours with its usual menu until its last service on Saturday, December 21.
