Luke Dallow and Thane Kirby have sold their Ponsonby Rd restaurant Gigi, less than a year after opening it.

“There’s a moment in hospitality when you know when to step back,” Dallow tells Society Insider.

“Not because you tried — but because the story has been told honestly, and it’s time for the next voice to take over.”

Thane Kirby and Luke Dallow at Gigi’s opening night in May.

Dallow says they have sold the business to Matt Lambert, a Kiwi chef who formerly owned New York restaurant the Musket Room, which held a Michelin star from 2013 to 2020.

Lambert became Executive Chef at Rodd and Gunn’s The Lodge bar in Queenstown in 2016, and later, its Auckland outpost, the Lodge Bar and Dining in Commercial Bay, splitting his time between the US and NZ. It’s understood he returned to New Zealand permanently in 2021 to be more hands on.

Lambert is yet to comment on what he is planning for GiGi, which has already closed its doors.

Society Insider reported last March that Lambert was working as Executive Chef for The Lodge’s Breast Cancer Cure fundraising dinner at Geoff and Justine Ross’s Hawea Station.

Matt Lambert.

A spokesperson for Rodd & Gunn confirmed to Society Insider that Lambert had finished up with The Lodge at the end of last year and the company wishes him well on his next venture.

It is understood that the Ponsonby Road restaurant will be Lambert’s own passion project.

Dallow says it’s a positive thing that he and Kirby have sold GiGi to Lambert and not gone under.

“I think it’s wonderful that Matt is taking over the establishment. He is the right fit for the building.

“Ponsonby Road is very lucky to have New Zealand’s best chef opening on the strip.”

Dallow told Society Insider in April he planned for GiGi to be full of “celebration, escapist vibes, affordable luxury”, mixed with French style and a “female-first energy”.

Luke Dallow and Thane Kirby outside the former Ponsonby Road Bistro, which they bought in April 2024 and reopened as GiGi. They have now sold to chef Matt Lambert.

He had sold his last Ponsonby Rd establishment, the Midnight Gardener, in March 2022. He told the Herald at the time it was too hard to run a profitable hospitality business in the tough economic climate caused by the Covid lockdowns.

But speaking to Society Insider in April he said the time was right to open something fresh.

“We’re 75% through the storm. This is the right time to be bold and add something new to Ponsonby’s iconic bar and restaurant scene.”

Viva Dining Out editor Jesse Mulligan reviewed GiGi in July and awarded it 16 out of 20, writing “this place will either be for you or it won’t, and the food is strong enough that it won’t make much of a difference either way.”

Jesse Mulligan reviewed GiGi in July. Photo / Dean Purcell

Dallow says hospitality in 2026 is a very different beast from when he first walked into a kitchen in 1989.

“Costs have exploded. Social ethics have evolved. The culture around hospitality has shifted. What was once driven by long nights and forgiving margins is now a high-pressure business running on discipline and increasingly slim returns. The romance is still there — but you pay more for it now, what Matt does will suit the times.”

Dallow’s previous hospitality ventures have included Sale Street, Red Hummingbird and Tin Soldier.

Before opening GiGi he had been focusing on his real estate career.

He says he will now shift his focus back to real estate and writing a book, which he says will document the unfiltered highs and lows of hospitality.

Kirby intends to continue working in the hospitality industry, building and supporting bars such as Jolene, a country music-themed bar which is across the road from GiGi.

GiGi’s closure is the latest in a series of Auckland restaurant closures in a tough economic climate for hospitality.

In January, Onehunga Italian restaurant Trident’s Little Sicily shut its doors and Mt Eden’s Jadetown Uyghur Cuisine closed after going into liquidation.

Famed Ponsonby Rd strip restaurant Sidart closed its doors in October last year after it also went into liquidation.

Owner and executive chef Lesley Chandra had bought Sidart in 2021 from restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat, who opened the restaurant in 2009.

Chinese restaurant Dragonboat went into liquidation last year after 30 years in business, owing $1.4 million to creditors and its landlord.

Other eateries to close in 2025 include Little and Friday, The Grove and Moe Palae’ Myanmar.

Ricardo Simich has been with the Herald since 2008 where he contributed to The Business Insider. In 2012 he took over Spy at the Herald on Sunday, which has since evolved into Society Insider. The weekly column gives a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and famous.