Bjorn van der Horst closes the Eastside Inn

Bjorn van der Horst, chef-patron of the Eastside Inn, has closed the restaurant in Farringdon, east London, Caterersearch can reveal.

The former Michelin-starred chef, who opened the restaurant last May together with his wife Justine, who was the restaurant director, closed the Eastside Inn yesterday.

Van der Horst told Caterersearch he was devastated but that it was the right decision.

"It was the melange of too much in a very difficult time," he said. "We were offered the opportunity to carry on but we didn't want to get ourselves into a hole that we couldn't get out of and end up not being able to pay our staff and suppliers.

"It was a very tough decision; we spent two-and-a-half years building this restaurant and it's very painful. But in a way I'm relieved that we're able to do this without letting anyone down."

US-born van der Horst, who was previously head chef at the Michelin-starred Greenhouse and Gordon Ramsay Holdings' La Noisette, said that the restaurant was now on the market for a new operator to take over. He added that he and Justine would consider staying on if the offer was right. Davis Coffer Lyons has been appointed to market the restaurant.

"London is our home now and we are very happy here. We will take some time now and see what's next for us but we will bounce back," van der Horst said. "We've learnt what we do well and what we don't do well and as a team we work incredibly well together."

The Eastside Inn initially opened divided into two sections - a 36-seat fine dining room and a 55-seat casual bistro, each with a separate entrance. The van der Horsts closed the fine dining side of the restaurant, turning it into a lounge bar, in May this year.

Fine dining restaurant at Eastside Inn to become a lounge bar >>

Video: Bjorn van der Horst talks about his new Eastside Inn >>

Bjorn van der Horst joins Gordon Ramsay stable >>

By Kerstin Kühn

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