Hip Shoreditch wine bar/restaurant Leroy has closed while the nearby Clove Club – heavyweight kingpin of the East London dining scene for the past decade – has separated from its Italian sister restaurant Luca as the founding team announces a splitting of assets.

Leroy lost its Michelin star in March, but earned its customary high ratings in this year’s Harden’s survey for “interesting small plates and a wide-ranging wine list”. Its founder, sommelier Ed Thaw (pictured), announced the “heart-breaking” closure in an Instagram post headed “It is better to burn out than to fade away” – and castigated the government for its attitude to small hospitality businesses.

“We would have been seven in March and indeed our previous incarnation Ellory opened nine years ago. It has been quite the ride but sadly nothing lasts forever. We fought hard against the dying of the light but sometimes there is a time to let go. In that time we’ve experienced some incredible highs and lows. It has been joyful and painful. Everything that makes life worth living...

“Despite what our government may think, this is a noble profession and indeed any small business owner has our enduring respect.“

He urged followers to “Use your restaurants or lose them. They need you now more than ever“, before signing off “Leroy is dead. Long live Leroy“.

Meanwhile, the founding trio behind The Clove Club, which started out as a supper club before moving into the old Shoreditch Town Hall in Old Street 11 years ago, have parted ways. Under the new arrangement, chef Isaac McHale owns The Clove Club while Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith are co-owners of Luca, near Smithfield Market in Clerkenwell.

The Clove Club has made a big splash internationally and was for some years the highest-ranked UK restaurant on the annual World’s 50 Best list, while Luca is widely acclaimed for what the new 2025 Harden’s guide describes as its “sensational old school Italian cooking”.

Isaac said, “I will always be immensely proud of what Johnny, Daniel and I have built together and the heights that we have reached with Luca and The Clove Club” – and dropped an intriguing hint about “an exciting new venture” on the horizon next year.