5 great London restaurants that have been forced to close this autumn

A bunch of incredible London restaurants have closed over the past few months. Here we pay tribute to our favourites. 

12:51

Upper Street’s great 12:51, run by Great British Menu winner James Cochran (and one of Time Out’s hottest chefs), shut down at the beginning of September. It was famous for its fusion of Scottish and Caribbean cuisine, and legendary Sunday roasts, but James has already moved on. On December 5 he launches The Brave, a pub on Essex Road with more Scots-inspired scran, including smoked eel with bacon and cheese toasties as well as potato dumplings with slow braised shin of beef. 

Leroy

Shoreditch’s Leroy announced its closure earlier this month. ‘Only those who run a business, much less a hospitality business post Covid, know how tough it is,’ wrote the restaurant on Instagram. Modern European bistro Leroy sprang from the ashes of Hackney’s Michelin-starred Ellory, which met a similarly sticky end in 2018. So long and thanks for all the small plates, Leroy. 

Mystic Burek

This one hurt. British-Balkan chef Spasia Dinkovski’s cafe and bakery was a super sweet addition to Sydenham, serving up flaky slabs of burek that she’d perfected during her lockdown delivery service as well as creamy cherry baklava buns and massive cups of tea. They even made it into our 2024 50 Best Restaurants in London list! Though shutting at the end of September, Spasia has been busy ever since, hosting a Balkan kebab party at Half Cut Market in Kentish Town, and with a supper club at Sydenham cafe Chef’s Delight set for November 30.

Snackbar

In September Dalston Lane caff Snackbar shut up shop after five years of cheese toasties, kimchi croque madames and pickle plates. Chef-founder Freddie Janssen – another one of Time Out’s hottest chefs in London – said there will be more to come in the future. ‘I did what I set out to do and now it’s time to move on to the next project.’

Decatur

Ok, so Decatur wasn’t exactly a restaurant, but it did make the finest New Orleans-worthy food in town. From pop-ups at Dalston bar Pamela, to their own rowdy arch parties in Leyton, and infamous seafood boil mail kits, Decatur did Cajun-ish cooking right. Run by Tom Zahir Browne – yet another chef who appeared on our hot chef list – in October he announced he’d be winding things down and leaving their Leyton prep kitchen, with no more meal kits after Christmas and no more arch action. However, it’s not all bad news. ‘This ain’t goodbye, just see you soon!’ explained Tom.

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