Michelin-starred Casamia set to close as rising costs have made it 'financially unviable'

Peter Sanchez-Iglesias' Michelin-starred Bristol restaurant Casamia is set to close on August 20th as rapidly rising costs have made it "financially unviable" 

The restaurant will be replaced by a more casual outpost, overseen by the chef patron. The current executive chef, Zak Hitchman, who joined the business from his previous role at Ynyshir, will leave to set up his own restaurant.

No Compromises

Dissipating any notion that there was a creative rift at play, as questions have been raised as to whether the restaurant's new direction was a step too far for some of its customers. Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, also the executive at The Standard Hotel's Decimo in London, was quoted by Big Hospitality as saying that Casamia is "the best it's ever been" since he handed the reins to Zak and let him relaunch it in a more edgy, artistic style than prior the pandemic.

In a statement, he said the project had served "some amazing food - imaginative, complex and fun and for me personally it's been a breath of fresh air and really invigorating to see a restaurant operate so well in such an original way."

However, he told Big Hospitality that part of the reason for closing is that "we don’t want to compromise on anything or stop moving forward. I can’t ask the team to start ordering lower quality produce or reducing the number of courses.”

Noting that tables have been hard to fill on Thursday evenings and Friday lunchtimes, he said, “with margins so tight every table counts. Losing just a few covers per service is often the difference between making a profit and making a loss.”

“The family has been reviewing it for the last couple of months and have come to the difficult decision that it’s time to call it a day," he added.

'We created a restaurant with a team enjoying themselves'

Meanwhile, Zak took to the restaurant's Instagram page this morning, explaining that it would be closing "for reasons out of my hands."

Describing his tenure as having "ripped up Casamia's rule book and started fresh," he said his team filled the restaurant with "graffiti, record sleeve menus, neon lighting, strobes, and projectors showing interesting and peculiar cinematography," creating "an unconventional restaurant, serving 20 courses of food like you've never had before, soundtracked by an eclectic mix of music played through a ridiculous soundsystem."

Counter to Peter's statement that the team would either be offered jobs at Paco Tapas, Decimo in London or given the opportunity to rejoin the team when the new site launches later this year, he added that he has "very mixed feelings" about the closure, as "part of me likes that it couldn't exist for long as it fits the concept of rip it up and start again, it would obviously be great if we weren't all out of a job though."

"I don't know that a restaurant quite like this will exist again, and we won't be going out quietly, so come and see it before we close."

 

 

 

 

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Casamia take 2 

Though plans are still underway, the new site, which could open as early as December 2022, will likely be closer to what the restaurant was like when brothers Peter and Jonray Sanchez-Iglesias took over their parents' neighbourhood trattoria in 2006, originally in Westbury-on-Trim, where Paco and Sue launched in 1999. At the time, it served pizza, pasta and a special menu with fresh fish.

With no formal training, the brothers turned the humble family-run restaurant into a multiple-accolade venue, pushing a more seasonal, modern British menu inspired by Bristol's "individuality, multicultural and creative vibes."  

In 2009, it was awarded a Michelin star; in 2010, the brothers won Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant awards and in 2015, they were named chefs of the year in the Good Food Guide.

Jonray sadly passed away in 2015 after battling with melanoma for four years. Days later, Casamia was named fourth best restaurant in the UK by The Sunday Times. It was awarded 5AA Rosettes in 2016 and was named SquareMeal’s Best UK Restaurant in 2018.

It was relocated to Lower Guinea Street on Bristol’s waterfront in 2016, and that same year, the family opened the restaurant's now Michelin-starred sister site, Paco Tapas, within the same building.