Sadness as popular Plymouth restaurant shuts after less than two years

Inside Plates Lounge, above the Plates restaurant in North Hill, Plymouth
-Credit:Jordan Turfrey


A Plymouth restaurant has closed after less than two years with its owner blaming “circumstances beyond our control”. Plates opened in Sherwell Arcade, on North Hill, in April 2023 but has now closed with owner Jordan Turfrey saying the expense of running three venues at once was a key reason.

Mr Turfrey announced the closures “with a heavy heart” on social media but told PlymouthLive his other venues, Eighteen87 and Goodbody's, were trading well and he was expecting a successful summer.

He thanked customers at Plates for their support during the past two years and said: “It was great for two years but unfortunately it has come to an end. It was hard work running three venues.”

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But he stressed Eighteen87, which operates in the former Morley Arms at Billacombe Road, was doing very well with “exciting things coming your way this year. Mr Turfrey said: “We have a busy summer there.”

And Mutley Plain ’s famous Goodbody’s, which he reopened with nephew Ben Soper last October, is also thriving. Mr Turfrey said: “At Goodbody’s I've got a good chef and I do a couple of days a week up there.”

He added: “It’s sad about Plates, it’s where I started, but sometimes you have to move on. So it’s the end of an era at Plates but I’ve moved on to different adventures.”

Mr Turfrey opened Plates after 18 years working as a chef in some of Plymouth’s top restaurants. The idea was to start a “cool and funky” eatery combining good food with cocktails.

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The unit where Plates opened had been vacated when all-night chip shop Perillas Fish & Grill moved out. Mr Turfrey re-equipped and redecorated the space turning it into an attractive restaurant with 55 covers downstairs.

Later that year he turned the first floor into Plates Lounge, a bright and colourful function room with a huge picture of a chimpanzee on the wall. In January last year, Mr Turfrey opened Eighteen87 after renovating the building., and in October he masterminded the rebirth of Goodbody’s.

Mr Turfrey is well respected in Plymouth’s culinary scene, having been head chef at the Barbican ’s Quay 33 and The Miners Arms, in Hemerdon, and also having worked in the kitchens at the Dock, at Millbay, and Leigham’s Windmill Chargrill.

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