City District closes Bossa to focus on Fazenda and Picanha brands

Independent dining group City District has closed its Bossa restaurant in Leeds after only a year, in order to focus on expanding its other brands.

Bossa officially closed yesterday (24 July), with co-founder and director Tomas Maunier (pictured) saying the casual dining market "wasn't as successful for us as we had anticipated".

Bossa was a rodizio-style, South American grilled meat restaurant concept (a rodizio is an all-you-can-eat style of restaurant service in Brazilian restaurants), pitched as a young, fun, good value offer.

The group will be focusing instead on its premium Brazilian brands: Picanha and Fazenda. A new Fazenda restaurant is set to open in Edinburgh next year.

The first Fazenda opened in Leeds's Granary Wharf in 2010. The group went on to open sites in Liverpool in 2013, and Manchester in 2015, and has one Picanha restaurant in Chester.

Maunier said: "We tried the casual dining market and it wasn't as successful for us as we had anticipated. However, we have not ruled out opening Bossa in the future when the casual dining market is more stable and less saturated. The other brands are flourishing and therefore we will be concentrating on Picanha and Fazenda - doing what we do best in the premium casual market."

Top 50 northern restaurant and bar businesses revealed >>

Barbecue restaurant Fazenda to open third site >>

Videos from The Caterer archives

Are you looking for a new role? See all the current hospitality vacancies available with The Caterer Jobs