Parle announced earlier this month that he was working on bringing JOY back to the London site, which was once home to his beloved Dock Kitchen restaurant, and was in discussions with the current leaseholder and new landlord on securing a long term lease for the venue.
However, in an update this morning (23 February) posted to Instagram, Parle said that despite his best efforts, it no longer looked like JOY would be returning to Portobello Dock.
“To our surprise the current leaseholder and new landlord have taken another direction and are progressing a deal with an international group,” he wrote.
“Thanks everyone for all the support and love.”
Parle opened JOY in the summer of 2020, amid the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and had hoped to secure a long-term tenancy for the space back then.
However, those plans never came to fruition after Parle struggled to secure a reasonable rent rate for the venue, due to interest from other parties wishing to take over the space, and JOY eventually closed in June 2021.
JOY has since pivoted to being a pop up concept and for a time operated as a plant shop and café in London's Marylebone.
Parle also owns fast-casual pasta restaurant Pastaio, which has a single site in Soho.