Crisis kills City's most expensive restaurant
Tatsuso, an iconic Japanese restaurant with a reputation for being the most expensive in the City of London, has become the latest victim of the financial crisis and been forced to close.
The restaurant, where prices were described by one reviewer as “almost prohibitive”, went into liquidation in May with liabilities of more than £338,000 (€394,400), according to the appointed liquidator Arkin & Co.
The closure of Tatsuso marks the end of the boom days of big expense accounts and lavish client entertainment. The restaurant was in the Broadgate development near big spenders such as trading firm Icap, UBS and Lehman Brothers (before it moved to Canary Wharf), and had a reputation for serving some of the best Japanese food in London. The average price per head was a “breathtaking” £80, according to restaurant guide Harden’s.
News of Tatsuso’s closure comes a week after news that Gordon Ramsay Holdings, the eponymous restaurant group run by the high profile British chef, was only rescued from administration last year after Ramsay injected some of his own money into it.
Mehmet Arkin, the appointed liquidator, said Tatsuso had been hit by the collapse in corporate entertainment and expenses budgets, and that several City institutions had closed their credit accounts with the restaurant at the start of this year. In the six months before its closed, turnover was down 50%, he said.
Tatsuso, which is the trading name for TerriiBroadgate Ltd, owes landlord Broadgate Estates more than £83,000, according to documents filed at Companies House. British Land, the owner of development, said it has a meeting with the company this week and “hopes to see it back in business soon”. Arkin said the restaurant would not reopen, although a note on the door says it hopes to “reopen at the beginning of May” - two months ago.
Other reviewers said Tatsuso had failed to adapt. One reviewer wrote: “The decor is in dire need of updating; the live lobsters surely all felt a sense of salvation when they were plucked out to be cooked rather than having to languish for another evening in the fish tank overgrown with slime and algae”. Terutoshi Fujii, a director of TerriiBroadgate and its biggest individual shareholder, could not be reached for comment.
Other expensive restaurants serving the City have also suffered. Vivat Bacchus said that no-one had ordered its notorious £1,000 tasting menu in the past year.
Proprietor Gerrie Knoetze said: “Business in the restaurant was at its lowest in January, and was down about 20%. People didn’t feel like celebrating although we hosted a few redundancy leaving parties. Last month it suddenly picked up, and in June we sold as much Champagne as we did for the whole of the first quarter. But still customers are being careful. Rather than buying Ruinart Champagne they will plump for the Cava. Corporate spending has dropped off a lot too.”
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