Cielo Blanco closes its only London site
It will be replaced by another Leelex-owned brand, Spanish and Basque concept Tonica.
Leelex already operates a gin brand, GinTonica, on Portobello Road, serving tapas alongside a range of gin and tonics. The Exmouth Market site will be the first standalone Tonica site.
Cielo Blanco's closure follows in the footsteps of Soho House Group-owned burger brand Dirty Burger, which closed its site on the popular Clerkenwell street last month.
Leelex will continue to operate its original Cielo Blanco restaurant in Leeds.
The street food-inspired restaurant focuses “on the social side of Mexican dining” with a mix of sharing boards and feast menus.
Other venues in its London and Leeds portfolio include Portobello Star, Pintura Kitchen & Bar, Oporto, Jake’s Bar and Neon Cactus.
Cielo Blanco is one of many restaurant casualties of 2018, and its closure comes as financial health monitor Begbies Traynor’s Red Flag Alert releases a report showing an increase in the number of restaurants in “significant financial distress”.
According to Begbie Traynor’s data, the number of UK restaurants experiencing ‘significant’ financial distress ahead of the sector’s Quarterly Rent Day hit 11,091 on 13 March 2018, which marks an increase of 8% year on year.
