Momma Cherri's in Brighton closes

Charita Jones, owner of Momma Cherri's in Brighton, has been forced to close the restaurant.

Momma Cherri's, which was featured on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and was one of the show's biggest success stories, last month called in administrators who have closed the premises and asked staff to leave.

Momma Cherri's was first put into administration in December 2007 after it relocated to much bigger premises but failed to get the necessary funding to support the move. However, the restaurant continued to operate under a licence held by a company set up by Jones's daughter, Katryna Thomas-Shell.

"My daughter, Katryna, was finding it hard to keep up with all the costs of running the restaurant under administration, and the administrators came in to shut us down," Jones told The Caterer.

"I have done all I could to keep things going but I have made the decision to close down."

Commenting on being featured on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Jones told The Caterer that while it had been a "fantastic experience" she found it difficult to deal with the aftermath of the programme.

"It was hard especially because after the programme we grew way too quickly," she said.

"One of the negative aspects of the show is that once it's done you're on your own and they don't give you any aftercare. I needed more management advice and ran into a lot of problems."

For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our newsletters.