In a statement sent to customers, Cottam blamed the current economic and political conditions for the closure, and said that ‘no meaningful help’ was coming for hospitality from the current Government.
“This is no longer the right time to own independent restaurants like Emba,” she said. “Under the current conditions they cannot survive.”
Cottam launched Emba last year on the site that previously housed her Leeds restaurant The Owl having successfully crowdfunded more than £65,000.
Its closure follows that of Cottam’s flagship tasting menu restaurant HOME after seven years’ trading, with Cottam citing soaring costs and low consumer confidence as the reason behind the decision.
She continued: “It’s obviously not just us. I’m watching crushing costs break some of our most renowned and brilliant restaurants and those in power simply do not listen.
“I opened Emba on the back of the heartbreaking closure of HOME because I couldn’t let go of what restaurants mean to me. The magical spaces they are that bring people together and create beautiful memories.
“I believe in that magic deeply. But my city, like those across the country, has changed dramatically since the pandemic and not for the better. The experience of being here and the harsh financial reality of running a business here no longer stack up.”
“Behind the scenes there is very little magic for restaurant owners. There is health-destroying stress, constant worry and the hope that we’ll somehow survive the storm. The truth is that’s not possible right now.
“Being award winning, popular, admired and loved no longer means profitable and as an industry if we’re honest most of us have not truly been okay since Covid.”
A raft of closures
Emba is one of a number of restaurants to have announced their closure in the past week.
SIX Rooftop, the top-floor fine dining restaurant at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art has closed its doors citing sustained losses and a tough economic climate, and Manchester restaurant and bar TNQ has announced it will close after 22 years of operation, also blaming the current economic climate.
Burger restaurant Mother Flipper has closed its debut bricks and mortar site in Brockley after just over two year’s of trading, and Pascal Aussignac announced he will close his Michelin-starred Smithfield Market restaurant, Club Gascon, at the end of next month after 28 years, although he did not give a reason behind the decision.
Emba will close at the start of March.