Michelin-starred restaurant in Northern Ireland to shut down due to lack of wealthy diners

By Hoang Vu November 13, 2023 | 03:35 pm PT

Tartare dish at Deanes Eipic restaurant in Northern Ireland. Photo courtesy of the restaurant

A Michelin-starred restaurant in Northern Ireland will be closed by the end of this year after 26 years of operation due to lack of wealthy customers and expensive operating costs.

The tasting menu at the Michelin-starred restaurant Deanes Eipic costs 100 euros (US$120), expensive for a regular meal but normal for Michelin-starred restaurants, CNN reported.

However, this restaurant is located in Belfast of Northern Ireland where the number of wealthy customers is limited compared to Paris or London, and most locals do not have enough money for such luxury meals.

With less customers but high expensive operating costs, the restaurant has been forced to suspend business for a relaunch, Belfast-base chef Michael Deane told Irish News.

Deanes Eipic, the flagship fine dining restaurant run of Northern Irish chef Deane, opened its doors in 1997 and was awarded with Michelin star rating within a year of opening.

The restaurant is the latest in a series of closures of high-profile restaurants.

In January, Copenhagen’s Noma, one of the world’s most famous restaurants, announced it was closing as the fine dining business model was "unsustainable."

Last August, English-French celebrity chef Michel Roux Jr. announced that he will be closing his two-Michelin-starred London restaurant Le Gavroche next January to "make time for a better work/life balance."