Ryan Chetiyawardana and Doug McMaster’s Cub will not reopen

Ryan Chetiyawardana and Doug McMaster's sustainability-focused Cub restaurant in London's Hoxton will not be reopening post-lockdown.

The concept opened in 2017 at the former White Lyan site, above the Super Lyan bar, with the kitchen overseen by Michael Thompson for the past year before the bar closed in March due to government restrictions.

A post on the restaurant’s Instagram page said: “I know there's so much more important hardship in the world to address, but this is tragic to us – mainly due to what Cub stood for; Cub was the baby of the group, and like all the others in the family, it was designed to challenge. But what Cub represented seemed precious and important. Hence the name! It was the first full food offering for us as a 'bar' group (sorta bar, kinda restaurant!) and we wanted to challenge that divide…

“Cub will live on where it can, we really believe in the values and systems it represented, and now more than ever, that seems to be a blueprint of how we want to change things. Empowerment, ownership of re-shaping value and luxury, human and ecological sustainability, and showing how food, drink, music and community are such wonderfully warm tools to bring real happiness to people.”

Chetiyawardana also owns Lyaness, formerly Dandelyan, at Sea Containers London, while McMaster operates Silo in London’s Hackney.