Oklava announces closure

Turkish Cypriot restaurant Oklava in London’s Shoreditch announced its closure yesterday.

“We fought long and hard but have come to the end of the road. We’re proud of everything we’ve achieved,” founders Selin Kiazim and Laura Christie posted to the restaurant’s Instagram page.

“Thank you to all those who believed in us and backed us, we will be forever grateful,” Kiazim added on her own Instagram.

“The scale of the challenge was too great for us in the end, the mountain too high. I hope things will change for our beloved industry and I hope that many restaurant doors in London and beyond will manage to stay open in the months to come.”

The website is directing queries to business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy Begbies Traynor.

Christie and Kiazim opened Oklava in 2015, with Christie taking charge of the flow of the business and Kiazim behind the menu. They sought to create a business with equitable structures and care at the heart of the business for both guests and staff.

The original plan was to open three restaurants across five years and in 2018 Kyseri opened in Fitzrovia, offering Turkish pastas and wines from the region, but the concept didn't fit the business and lunch crowd that dominated the area. Following a crowdfund it was relaunched as Oklava Bakery & Wine, but the country went into lockdown not long after the relaunch and the restaurant closed during the pandemic.