Hospitality braced for bloodbath as Reeves's timebomb finally explodes

Restaurants are making stark choices to survive

- WORDS BY DAVID ELLIS AND JONATHAN PRYNN

It has already been a tough start to 2025 for London's rightly celebrated restaurant scene, arguably the most vibrant and diverse in the world.

But for how much longer? Gloomy London diners have been reluctant to go out and spend big during these dark early months of the year — and there have been casualties.

Last month The Petersham and La Goccia, the Covent Garden restaurants from the Petersham Nurseries owners, both closed their doors after six years. On February 15 one of Europe's most celebrated female chefs, Anne-Sophie Pic, threw in the towel at her restaurant La Dame de Pic at The Four Seasons hotel near Tower Bridge after eight years. The list goes on.