Michelin star restaurant Casamia in Bristol to close amid rising costs
A highly revered restaurant in Bristol is set to close for good this August amid rising costs.
Casamia, in Bristol city centre, was one of the first eateries in the city to be given a Michelin star but it is now set to close permanently.
Executive chef Zak Hitchman announced the closure online.
He said: "In August 2020 we ripped up Casamia's rule book and started fresh. We created 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.
"We were determined to keep evolving, so we quickly became a very creative space, taking on influence more from gigs, film and theatre, than restaurants we'd been to.
"We filled Casamia with graffiti, record sleeve menus, neon lighting, strobes, and projectors showing interesting and peculiar cinematography. Most importantly we created a restaurant filled with a team enjoying themselves.
"We kept the same core team through Covid, and there is no way Casamia would be the same without any one of us.
"For reasons out of my hands, Casamia will be closing permanently on August 20th.
"I have very mixed feelings about this, 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."
A 20 course tasting menu costs £180 at Casamia, and a wine pairing is an additional £120.
The restaurant started life as a trattoria in Westbury-on-Trym with Peter Sanchez-Iglesias, now the chef-patron, running the kitchen.
He told Big Hospitality that rapidly increasing costs had made the business "financially unviable" and that "losing just a few covers per service is often the difference between making a profit and making a loss".
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