The restaurant, which opened in Market Row in Brixton Village in January 2020, has closed with the restaurateur citing the impact of the Coronavirus as the reason behind the decision.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity at Brixton Village, it was a great starting platform and they have been very supportive throughout the process,” he says.
“They obviously wanted to keep us there, but ultimately the aftermath of Covid-19 caught up with us and given the current climate of increased costs and staffing shortages, it wasn’t responsible or possible to keep it going.”
Montoya, who was born in the Philippines and grew up in Sydney, Australia, established Sarap as a supper club in 2017. He later ran residencies at The Duke’s Head in Highgate and The Sun & 13 Cantons in Soho
He has since opened Sarap Bistro on Mayfair’s Heddon Street as a pop-up venue, and says he is now giving his attention to the running of that as well as trying to find a more permanent site for it.
“It's back to the drawing board somewhat for us but my energy and focus is now solely on securing a permanent home and developing the Sarap pop up at 10 Heddon Street,” he adds.