Adejoké Bakare confirms plans to relocate Chishuru next year as she announces Brixton closure
Writing on Instagram, Bakare confirmed the plans first revealed by BigHospitality last month.
“After two lovely years in Brixton (we'll skip over the lockdowns...) we are moving on,” Bakare said.
“We will have a new home in 2023 - more details to be announced in due course. Our last day of trading in Brixton Village will be this Saturday [29 October]. Thanks to all our Brixton customers and we look forward to seeing you on the other side!”
In a recent interview with BigHospitality, Bakare said the small size of her Brixton restaurant, which has space for just 20 people inside and 14 outside, is now too restrictive given its popularity.
“The waiting list is bigger than the number of people we can fit in the restaurant,” she said.
“We get booked up really quickly because we are so small, the space just isn’t big enough. Brixton has shown proof of concept so I know we can take it somewhere else.”
The new Chishuru will be bigger than the original, but Bakare has insisted it will remain true to its roots, with locations such as Mayfair off the cards.
“I’m never going to do fine dining,” she said. “I want us to be considered premium casual. Yes, the new restaurant will be nice and shiny, but not too shiny.”
Bakare opened Chishuru in Brighton Village’s Market Row in 2020 having won a competition run by Brixton Village owner Hondo Enterprises the previous year.
Despite its challenging birth, with the restaurant only opening for six weeks before the UK went into its second lockdown and trading for only one day between December 2020 and April 2021, it has won plaudits from many people, including receiving a glowing review from Jay Rayner in The Observer.
Earlier this year it was ranked the 93 best restaurant in the UK at the Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards and has been named Restaurant of the Year Time Out and Eater London.
