The city centre tapas restaurant is another casualty of coronavirus lockdown
A Spanish restaurant run by Manchester United star Juan Mata's dad has revealed it will not be reopening its doors.
Tapeo and Wine on Deansgate is reported to be almost £1m in debt after suffering loss of trade due to the current coronavirus pandemic.
It's been a great ride and we will always be grateful for your love and support
The venue at 209 Deansgate opened in May 2016 as Juan Manuel Mata Rodríguez, had been unimpressed with the Spanish food available in the city following his son’s move to United in 2014.
The Matas originally teamed up with husband and wife Nacho Perez and Natalia Esquerado – Manchester hospitality veterans of twenty years and Spanish produce importers. However, in December the same year, for reasons undisclosed, Perez and Esquerado decided to cut ties with Tapeo, selling their stake in the business to the Matas – who became shareholders with business partner José Manuel Martínez García.
The 120-cover, two-storey restaurant – tastefully decorated with Moorish tiles, copper piping and herringbone parquet flooring - soon began winning over critics for it’s excellent food and drink. Tapeo and Wine had been operating a delivery and collection service during the recent lockdown period but now then owners have revealed that the restaurant is to shut for good.
A post shared on social media, earlier this week, Mata Senior wrote:
Adiós y Gracias ❤️🙏🏼🍴🍷 pic.twitter.com/28VWKNewrD
— Tapeo & Wine (@TapeoandWine) September 15, 2020
Books filed to Companies House back in July revealed that the restaurant business had been under financial stress for some time, with total debts of £772,086 for 2018 - up from £593,548 in 2017. The extra pressure from having to cope with many months of closure as a result of the UK lockdown seem to have made the situation unrecoverable.
Tapeo’s closure comes only a short time after neighbouring tapas restaurant, bar and deli Lunya revealed it was also to permanently close it’s Manchester operation in Barton Arcade back in June. (Their Liverpool and online operations are still open for business.)
Confidential has also heard (as yet unconfirmed) whispers that Spanish restaurant and bar Iberica in Spinningfields might also be a casualty of coronavirus. Bosses are seriously considering whether to cut their losses and close their Manchester restaurant permanently. We have reached out to Iberica for a statement and will be able to confirm whether this is the case as soon as they get back to us.
Tapeo however is the latest in a number of Manchester restaurants and cafes which have confirmed permanent closure in the past few weeks including Corn Exchange steakhouse Alston Bar & Beef and the vegetarian Earth café in the basement of Manchester Buddhist centre.
Chain restaurants such as Mexican restaurant Wahaca have had to close their least profitable outlets and the Byron chain of burger restaurants has collapsed.
Back in June, administrators were appointed to the Blackhouse brand, which includes Grill on New York Street and Grill on the Alley in Manchester, Grill on the Square in Leeds and Grill on the Corner in Glasgow, as well as Olive restaurant in Liverpool.
Fortunately, Confidential has also been covering quite a few stories in regard to new restaurant and bar openings recently (here, here and here)
The hospitality industry has been hit with an almighty and unexpected blow in 2020. It’s tragic but not surprising that some places are just not going to make it through this incredibly difficult time. The dining landscape as we know it is set to change dramatically in more ways than one.
Now, more than ever is a good time to support your favourite local restaurants as much as possible.
