Which Hong Kong restaurants closed since coronavirus – and how will the rest survive?
Central’s Elgin Street has lost Craftsteak, Soho Spice and Olive, while Maximal Concepts has closed Brickhouse and John Anthony – what’s next for the restaurants still standing, and how will Hong Kong’s dining scene survive the years to come?
It has not been the best year for the food and beverage industry in Hong Kong – starting with the protests that erupted from June 2019 and discouraged diners from eating out for much of the year, followed by the coronavirus pandemic, which brought the city to a standstill in late January.
There have been plenty of restaurant closures with footfall to some previously popular dining districts dwindling fast.
“We closed a few restaurants on Elgin Street as they were commercially not viable,” says Sandip Gupta, chief operating officer at Dining Concepts, referring to long-standing eateries Craftsteak, Soho Spice and Olive.
Dining Concepts is the group behind Le Pain Quotidien, steakhouses Tango, BLT Steak and Bistecca; restaurants Bizou, BLT Burger, Dear Lilly; and bars The Iron Fairies and J. Boroski. It opened its first restaurant, Bombay Dreams, in 2003 during the Sars outbreak.
“We are not too optimistic about the area picking up any time soon as several nearby neighbourhoods are becoming more popular, such as NoHo and High Street. I remember being at 7-Eleven on Elgin about 15 years ago and seeing swarms of people coming towards me. I do not think that will happen again.”
He is still upbeat about Hong Kong and the F&B industry, however.
“Hong Kong is home, so I am cautiously optimistic as it is resilient. A reset button has been pressed and we have to possibly accept new normals, new benchmarks.”