D&D London closes Aster after five years of trading

D&D London has closed its Aster restaurant in London’s Victoria after deciding the site was not the “right location” for the concept.

The restaurant launched in 2017 as one of the early openings in the £380m Nova Victoria development.

It was initially positioned as a Nordic concept with chef Helena Puolakka overseeing the food, but it relaunched as a European-style grand café in 2019 under the direction of Bjoern Wassmuth.

Des Gunewardena, chief executive of D&D London, said: “Aster is a lovely restaurant and has developed a loyal following since we opened some five years. But we have concluded that going forward Nova Victoria is not the right location for the concept.

“We are in active discussions with landlords on a number of new sites and we will in due course consider relaunching Aster in another location.”

A spokesperson for D&D said all staff had been redeployed to the group’s other venues in London.

D&D London was founded in 2006 and runs 45 restaurants, bars and one hotel including Le Pont de la Tour in London, 20 Stories in Manchester and Angelica in Leeds.