“For now, I just need to say goodbye” – Sven-Hanson Britt closes Oxeye
In an emotional statement posted on Instagram, Britt confirmed that the Nine Elms restaurant would not reopen, having closed for a ‘refurb and refresh’ back in May.
He said: “The last couple of months for me have been the hardest of my life.
“I’m grateful for my beautiful children and Kae [Shibata Britt’s wife], but for one of my babies, Oxeye, it’s the end. I’ve tried everything in my power to save the restaurant, to keep fighting, to regain control, to fundraise, to remodel, to regroup, to reimagine, to restructure, but nothing could be done for my first restaurant and my third baby.
“I poured my whole heart into that space and I’m so, so grateful to all those that came through the doors - both sides of the pass.”
Britt, a finalist of BBC’s MasterChef: The Professionals 2014 and the winner of MasterChef the Professionals: The Rematch 2019, launched Oxeye back in October 2021.
The tasting menu-only restaurant had previously been in development for close to a decade and was designed to be a ‘true celebration of the incredible bounty of produce found on the British Isles’.
Oxeye operated alongside an informal bar and shop space called Bar Rex, which is also understood to have closed. Restaurant has contacted Britt’s representatives to confirm this.
In his statement, Britt said he would ‘forever be grateful’ for the hard work of his team, adding that he was ‘absolutely confident the guests that dined at Oxeye received the best hospitality imaginable and some of the best food in London’.
“The closure weighs heavy on my shoulders and in my heart. And it will for sometime,” he continued.
“I’m not sure what the next step is for me. I would love to carry on the Oxeye journey but perhaps now is a time for stability?
“Anyone that really knows me will know that it’s the risks, the relentless push, the new project, the glint in my eye when someone has a new 'idea' that really gets me going.
“There will be something new coming, hopefully soon, for now I just need to say goodbye to Oxeye 1.0.
“Soon I will be ready to add something a bit more interesting to the staid and vapid restaurant scene that London is currently plagued with.”
