A London noodle bar is the latest restaurant to close at the height of its popularity. We ask why successful businesses shut – and offer three recipes to recreate dinners past
News last week that a popular London noodle bar, Koya, was closing took restaurant-goers by surprise. This wasn’t a case of “use it or lose it” – Koya was (and still is, until the end of the month) an absolute star of the Soho restaurant scene, with queues out the door at every service. It is the equivalent of a restaurant “doing a Fawlty Towers” and ending proceedings at the height of its powers. Stevie Parle, a chef and food writer, spoke for many when he tweeted: “I don’t think there’s one chef or one restaurant so unanimously loved by our industry than @KoyaUdon and @JunyaYamasaki.”
So why are they doing it? The decision was fairly uncomplicated. “It’s as simple as Junya is leaving,” owner Johnn Devitt explained. “He’s heading home to Japan – and I couldn’t imagine Koya without him.” The restaurant began five years ago as a fairly simple concept, specialising in udon dishes. But it evolved into the vision of its head chef, Junya Yamasaki. He was the restaurant – blackboard specials reflected his self-taught instinct crossed with a Japanese aesthetic and a fascination with British ingredients. “I considered replacing him for a moment,” says Devitt, pointing out that the sister restaurant, Koya Bar, will stay open and expand, “but there is something really lovely about closing at its peak, when it’s been a wonderful thing. People will remember and cherish it.”
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