Michael O'Hare to relaunch Man Behind the Curtain as new concept

Michael O’Hare is to close his Michelin-starred Leeds restaurant the Man Behind the Curtain at the end of the year to relaunch it as a new concept.

It will reopen next year as Psycho Sandbar, which is described as a “fish-heavy” restaurant with a “surf shack” feel and brutalist design.

The restaurant will serve its current menu until 31 December when it will close for a refit in January.

Announcing the news on Instagram, O’Hare said the change was in reaction to the impact of Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

Psycho Sandbar will be a fine dining restaurant designed to be more accessible to guests, according to a video on Instagram.

“Things need to change because the world has changed, and I have changed,” said O’Hare.

“As an industry we’ve been hit by three major, major waves. Brexit is the first, the unspeakable…we had the pandemic and then the cost of living crisis.

“That’s three huge things that impact a sector in such an enormous way.”

The restaurant will be run by the same team and company as the Man Behind the Curtain.

O’Hare said Psycho Sandbar would offer dishes such as gilled fish, pitta breads with plankton, and champagne and cocktails.

Reservations at the restaurant are open until the end of the year and experiences and offers will be on sale ahead of Christmas to help fund the new project.

The chef added: “From then on in comes a new baby. Same team, same building, same set up, same company. These things don’t change. What changes is our offering, our name and our outlook.”

The Man Behind the Curtain opened in its original site in 2014 and is Leeds’ only Michelin-starred restaurant.