Favourites say farewell

• Opinion: Why our hospitality industry is doing it tough

Two more Melbourne restaurants are facing drastic measures. Mercy Bar+Eatery has gone into voluntary liquidation, while the Aylesbury is shutting to reopen as Bomba.

The Aylesbury is the second business from Jesse and Vanessa Gerner, a rooftop bar and restaurant that opened in September 2011 at 103 Lonsdale Street as a sibling to the couple's Gertrude Street eatery, Anada. While the bar has been buzzing along quite nicely, the dining room has not been performing as well. ''Winter hurts us,'' Jesse Gerner says. ''The kind of food we do takes up to six chefs to do well; the figures aren't adding up.''

The Aylesbury's chef, Seth James, is moving on but will give a farewell dinner of some favourite dishes. He will be replaced by Anada head chef Andrew Fisk, with Gerner also getting back into the kitchen. ''I want to get back in there. Bomba will be my version of a Spanish workers' bar,'' Gerner says, describing it as ''a notch down'' from Anada - simple food with a more casual, bar setting.

Gerner is also selling his share of cafe St Ali North in Brunswick, which he bought with coffee entrepreneur Salvatore Malatesta at the end of last year. ''It's been pulling me away from what I really want to be doing,'' he says. Gerner is planning on starting an import business, Ananda Imports, ''to supply a lot of the drinks we'll be selling in Bomba'', he says.

The last dinner for the Aylesbury will be August 24, with the farewell dinner planned for August 26. Bomba will open late September.

Then, in what must be one of the most short-lived revamps ever, the Mercy Bar+Eatery officially closed last week, with a sign put in the front door simply stating: ''Closed until further notice.''

The venue, at 31 Flinders Lane, formerly known as Virginia Plain, has gone into voluntary liquidation. This was confirmed by Wayne Benton of Sellers Muldoon Benton, the city-based administrators who are now managing the business's situation ''as it was not reaching the turnover it required to make it viable'', Benton said.

Mercy's last service was Saturday night with staff informed of the closure on Sunday. The space, owned by restaurateur Marco Santucci, relaunched as Mercy Bar + Eatery on June 19 after closing Virginia Plain on June 15 for a small refurb. Santucci was unable to be contacted for comment.