Honey & Co to close after a decade in business

The restaurant, owned by chef-couple Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, will close at the end of April after the pair were not offered the option to renew their lease. The duo say they are now looking for a new London site in which to reopen the restaurant.

“Sadly, the time came to renew and the building was sold instead,” says Itamar. “While it was a bit of a blow after such a crazy 18 months, we are moving on and excited for the next 10 years of Honey & Co., whatever that may bring.”

The couple opened Honey & Co in 2012 with the restaurant winning numerous plaudits for its traditional Middle Eastern food, including its signature feta and honey cheesecake on kadaif pastry, which was crowned ‘dessert of the decade’ TimeOut and described as ‘the best pudding I’ve ever had’ by Giles Coren in The Times last weekend.

“We had this simple idea to open a little place of our own – at first, we thought it would be a kebab shop, but we came to the idea of serving up all the dishes we missed from home: shawarma in the oven, delicious fresh salads, tahini with everything,” says Sarit.

“Looking back, I was certain we wouldn’t do any cakes… and then the cheesecake happened.”

The pair opened a second venue, grill house Honey & Smoke on Great Portland Street in 2016, along with deli Honey & Spice on Warren Street, both of which remain open.

“We had no clue what a happy monster it would become when we opened. Now we’re about so much more than bricks and mortar – who knew we would write cookbooks and a column, host a podcast, teach classes, spend a lot of time dancing on Instagram?” says Itamar.

“We know our community will support us on our next adventure, coming soon.”