Native restaurant closed due to cost of repairing extraction system

The decision to close Native restaurant in Worcestershire was taken due the cost of repairing a broken extraction system on a business operating on tight margins.

Last week Ivan Tisdall-Downes has resigned as executive chef of Native “under its current guardians Hestia Ltd”, the investment firm which backed the business last year.

The business was established by Tisdall-Downes and Imogen Wells in London in 2016, moving from Covent Garden to Borough Market, before heading to Osea Island in Essex and later Brown’s boutique store in Mayfair.

It opened at the previous home of Pensons on the Netherwood Estate in Worcestershire last year with backing from Hospitality investment fund Hestia, led by Andrew Fishwick. At the time Tisdall-Downes said that the restaurant, which had developed a reputation for zero-waste cooking, had settled at the new site. 

A spokesperson for Native told Worcester News that the cost of repairing the extraction was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” in terms of the viability of the business.

They said: “Extreme highs are often followed with extreme lows.

“Following the amazing news at this year’s Michelin awards, we have returned home to find a broken extraction system.

“What we hoped was a quick fix turns out to be a deeper problem with our systems and so sadly, cannot be an immediate fix.

“The large cost to repair this equipment is unfortunately the straw that broke the camel’s back and has had a huge detrimental effect on a small business with such tight margins, and unfortunately has put us in a position whereby the directors at Hestia Ltd have taken the decision to close the restaurant for the foreseeable future.”

The closure of the business in its current form was revealed last week by Tisdall-Downes. In a statement of social media he said: “From Covent Garden to Borough Market, Osea Island and Mayfair, and finally the abundant Netherwood Estate. A humble street food stall started in 2012, Native has grown into a Michelin awarded brand that’s allowed me to travel the world and cook with some of my heroes.

“It is therefore with a heavy heart that I have resigned from my position as executive chef of Native under its current guardians Hestia Ltd.”