Two of London’s fine dining establishments will not reopen when restrictions are lifted, with Michelin-starred Texture and chef Nathan Outlaw’s site at The Goring becoming Covid casualties.
News of the closure of both sites was reported on Twitter by Bloomberg‘s Richard Vines, after he spoke with Icelandic chef Agnar Sverrisson of Texture and Outlaw.
Vines said that Texture would not be reopening after lockdown and that Sverrisson had returned to Iceland.
The restaurant was opened in 2007 as part of the Texture Restaurant Group, founded by Sverrisson and sommelier Xavier Rousset. The group also included the 28:50 wine bar chain, which once had a total of three sites.
Both Rousset and Sverrisson now have no involvement with 28:50. The wine bar sites were put on the market in 2018. All three were sold off, with the Marylebone site being the only one to continue trading as 28:50. It was joined by a sister site in Covent Garden last year.
Vines also reported that post-lockdown, Outlaw would focus on his restaurants in Cornwall and not reopen Siren.
In a statement given to Big Hospitality, owner CEO of the hotel, Jeremy Goring said: “Due to the situation that all of us in UK hospitality find ourselves in, we are going to have to operate differently for a while in order to protect the business and its staff in the long term. For this reason, when we eventually reopen the Goring it will be with a smaller food and beverage department, and very sadly we will not be able to re-open Siren.”
Goring also revealed that the hotel would be reopening with new ‘secret garden’ and ‘woodland dell’ concepts, with a series of outdoor events planned once restrictions are lifted.
News of Nathan Outlaw’s restaurant opening at The Goring was reported late in 2018. The Goring hotel’s first new restaurant for more than 108 years, Siren opened in June 2019.
Outlaw, who owns two-Michelin starred Restaurant Nathan Outlaw and The Fish Kitchen in Cornwall, previously had a six-year-partnership with the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge.
