Bristol's Wallfish Bistro announces plans to close later this year
Wallfish Bistro has been put up for sale, as its owners plan to move away from the city to start a family, according to the Bristol Post.
The restaurant has been trading for five years, and has received a series of glowing reviews from high profile critics including Jay Rayner.
Located on the former site of Keith Floyd’s Princess Victoria Street bistro, Wallfish Bistro is owned by Seldon Curry and Liberty Wenham who take their experience from working at London restaurants including Ducksoup and Le Café Anglais, as well as Dorset restaurants for celebrity chefs Mark Hix and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Co-owner Seldon Curry says the difficult market has been a contributing factor to the closure of his restaurant and others, with rising costs and a saturated market contributing to a “widespread malaise”.
“The costs of everything have accelerated beyond what could be seen as reasonable market increase. It’s not just the price of fish and meat - bin collections and cleaning materials have had epic price hikes,” he says.
“It is a challenge to keep ahead of the game in an increasingly demanding market and, at the same time, retain integrity and not sell one’s soul by being more appealing than everyone else.”
The sales listing for the restaurant property on Rightmove says that after four years of trade, the current owners have "established themselves in this close knit community", and that they are now planning to move to Dorset to establish a "similar operation closer to the sea".
"People talk about being afraid of change but I’m more afraid of things staying the same," says Curry on the decision to move on.
"The game is never won by staying in one place for too long.”
Bristol’s booming restaurant scene has seen a number of closures in the past few months, with both Polpo and MeatLiquor shutting their doors.
Last month, independent restaurant Birch announced that it, too, would be closing as the owners plan to focus on their cider and farming business.
