Soho restaurant Wonderland forced to shut as investor pulls out

Founders Alexander Stanton and Oliver Santoro posted a statement on Instagram yesterday (16 January) announcing that the Old Compton Street restaurant would be ‘temporarily closed until further notice’ due to ‘unforeseen circumstances’.

In a subsequent email to Restaurant​, Stanton confirmed that Wonderland would be ‘closing down’ after its investor withdrew his support.

The Instagram statement added that Stanton and Santoro hoped to reopen the restaurant soon and are now looking for new investors.

Launched in June last year, Wonderland’s concept was built around the tagline ‘meat vs plants’ and served a selection of meat and vegan-based fast food dishes with options including burgers, fried chicken, loaded fries and milkshakes.

Visually, the concept took creative cues from pop culture cinema and feature graphic posters lining the walls, a holographic chrome counter, and a colour scheme of pink, purple and chrome.

This extended to the menu, which featured the Pulp Fiction​-inspired ‘Royale with Cheese’ burger with Aberdeen angus beef patty, cheddar cheese, gherkins and ‘Wonder sauce’; and the Wild Wild West ​burger with homemade plant patty, barbecue sauce, onion rings, plant cheddar, jalapeños, garlic mayonnaise, pickled onions and lettuce.

Notably, Wonderland’s kitchen was designed with separate fryers, grills and work-stations in order for the vegan and meat-based dishes to be prepared separately.