Gigibaba feels the heat

GIGIBABA, ONCE THE hottest little restaurant on Smith Street, Collingwood, has closed. The restaurant's licensee, Baba Holdings, has been placed into liquidation after an application from the Australian Taxation Office. Court-appointed liquidator Laurence Fitzgerald of accountancy firm Grant Thornton said the sum owed was about $300,000. The bijou 30-seater was one of the late-noughties trailblazers, with long queues of eager diners awaiting its no-bookings perches, getting us used to share plates, and taking Turkish food to a new and glamorous level. Owner and chef Ismail Tosun could not be contacted and the restaurant has two signs in the front window. One states the locks have been changed ''pursuant to liquidation proceedings and rent arrears'', and the other, dated February 27, states the landlord has ''re-entered the premises''. A message on the restaurant's phone says Gigibaba has closed temporarily.

Hilary McNevin