Goodbye Aylesbury, hello Bomba

The Aylesbury, the second business from Jesse and Vanessa Gerner, which opened in September 2011 is closing at the end of the month to reopen as Bomba. The venue at 103 Lonsdale Street in the city opened as a sibling to the couple’s Gertrude Street eatery, Anada and while the rooftop bar has been buzzing along quite nicely, the dining room has not been performing as well. “Winter hurts us,” Gerner says, “the kind of food we do takes up to six chefs to do well, the figures aren’t adding up.”

The current chef, Seth James is moving on but will give a farewell dinner of some favourite dishes and 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,” he says.

Bomba will be “my version of a Spanish workers bar,” says Gerner, describing it as “a notch-down” from Anada, he says the food will be very simple with more bar seating and a more casual setting.

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