Gunpowder Holdings to close Madame D and Gul & Sepoy
Himalayan sharing plates restaurant Madame D, which opened in May last year, will close on 30 July, while the more recently opened Gul & Sepoy will close today.
The restaurateur - who runs the business with his wife Devina - says the closures will allow the team to focus on the launch of a follow-up to the group’s sole remaining restaurant Gunpowder.
“We opened Gul & Sepoy and Madame D in quick succession last year and it stretched our already small team to the limit. Closing the restaurant has been a necessary move in the current financial climate with increasing staffing and other costs. While I am very sad to let the restaurants go, it will allow us to refocus on Gunpowder and making the second restaurant bigger and better.”
The second Gunpowder is expected to open at the One Tower Bridge development in September. An adjoining bakery called Custard is set to open the following month.
The Bawejas opened the original Gunpowder in Spitalfields in 2015 in a bid to introduce a new style of Indian dining to the UK and are considered pioneers of the UK’s new wave Indian scene. Gunpowder’s suitably explosive small plates won the restaurant a Bib Gourmand.
It is hoped that the staff will be kept on to work at the upcoming One Tower Bridge site.