Guilbaud-backed restaurant closes

A Dublin brasserie backed by Ireland’s only Michelin two-starred restaurateur Patrick Guilbaud has closed for the second time this year.

Venu Brasserie and Cocktail Bar, which was set up by Mr Guilbaud’s son Charles in 2006, ceased trading on Tuesday having temporarily closed in mid-January due to rent negotiations.

The annual rent and charges on the premises in Anne's Lane, near Grafton Street, was reported to be in the region of €250,000 prior to the negotiations which led to the restaurant agreeing new terms with its landlord and re-opening a week after closing.

However, in a statement issued today, Charles Guilbaud said that while significant efforts had been made to reduce costs and overheads in recent months, the restaurant had been unable to cope with the impact of the recession on customer spending.

Mr Guilbaud described the decision to close Venu as a "devastating blow".

"Venu has been trading successfully since 2006 and became a profitable, award winning business quickly showing that it offered the right combination of high quality food at good value that appealed to the market," he said.

"Over the past 20 months, Venu reduced its costs and overheads significantly. In January last, new terms for the rent were renegotiated and Venu reopened after a temporary closure of a week. Since then all possible measures have been taken in an effort to keep the business viable however, our trading base continued to erode in line with the diminishing level of spend available to customers in the current harsh market conditions," he added.

Venu, won a number of awards over the years and had previously been included in the Bridgestone, Dubliner and Georgina Campbell best restaurant guides.

Dublin has witnessed a number of high-profile restaurants close since the beginning of the year including the Mermaid Cafe.

The Restaurant Association of Ireland recently warned the industry was in crisis with as many as 10 restaurants a week expected to close this year unless measures are introduced to help owners.

A spokeswoman said Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud, the two-starred venue in the Merrion Hotel, was an entirely separate entity to Venu and was continuing to trade profitably through the recession.