'We're absolutely devastated' - York restaurant closes its doors

A RESTAURANT in York which was saved after it closed suddenly almost a year ago has closed its doors.

Forage at 2-4 Little Stonegate briefly ceased trading after nearly two years, but at that point the restaurant quickly reopened again having been bought by Tokyo Industries.

Now sadly, today the restaurant has had to close, and business development manager, Jack Vanston, said he was "absolutely devastated".

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"Forage has ceased trading as of today and will now remain closed for the foreseeable future," said Jack.

"It's not a decision that's been taken lightly and unfortunately in todays climate the continuation of the business was unviable.

"We would of course like to say thank you to our customers and the York community.

"A special mention to the staff who have dedicated their time, passion and energy into running such a special restaurant."

Inside Forage in York

He said every effort is being made to relocate the 19 staff from Forage.

Today the restaurant is shut up and Jack said every effort is being made to contact people who have made bookings.

Anyone with reservations can email forage@tokyoindustries.com

The restaurant, which featured head chef Kieran Duffy - formerly of Le Cochon Aveugle and Roots - and took its direction from middle eastern cuisine, with much griddled and barbecued fare.

Part of the restaurant's ethos was to be as sustainable as possible with many locally-sourced foods and foraged ingredients.

The venue had just over 100 covers and the building was previously part of the Gusto restaurant chain, which closed in 2020.

Some of the food on offer at Forage

The business was previously owned by Callum Houston, a York-based entrepreneur Callum who is also the founder and director of events company, Yorkshire Bartender and distillery, The Yorkshire Explorer.

The building had a speak easy and a bar which ran cocktail masterclasses and hosted industry networking nights on Thursdays in the upstairs speak easy bar.