The owners of a 'dream restaurant' in Bury have announced they will put the site up for sale after 'years of struggling to make a living'.
The Hideaway, on The Rock, was opened in 2020 as the passion project of Lu Varley and Farhad Ghassemi, former head chef at Ramsons in Ramsbottom. But just one month after the eatery opened, they were hit by the first Covid lockdown - something Lu says they were never able to recover from.
Since then, the pair have struggled with rising costs and falling demand, and say despite all efforts, they are 'extremely sad' to be closing. It comes after a number of sudden closures in the area, including including The Chocolate Café, and Spanish restaurant duo Levanter and Baratxuri in Ramsbottom.
"We opened one month before Covid, and we had to shut," Lu told the Manchester Evening News. "Things did pick up, but it was a struggle because the first one was so long.
"It wasn't our fault that the pandemic happened and now we have lost our business because of it."
Lu said the pair opened the restaurant in an effort to do something 'positive' after Farhad was brutally attacked and left in a coma for three weeks while working at Ramsons.
"It's quite traumatising for us because we were so determined to do something positive," she added. "But rising food costs and the cost of living crisis has made it so difficult.
"Every single time things started to pick up it got worse again."
She urged people to support their local restaurants and cafes after the cost of living crisis has seen a number of Bury eateries close their doors in the last six months.
"Please, please support the local independent businesses because those are the places where people are so passionate," she said.
"People who run them are trying to give back to the community."
In a statement on Facebook, Lu wrote: "It is with sadness and regret that we announce the closure of our dream restaurant ‘The Hideaway’ which we opened in Bury in March 2020.
Having both worked at Ramsons for many years (the well-known and highly respected restaurant in Ramsbottom) where we had received accolades from @goodfoodguideuk , @mcrconfidential @mcrfoodanddrink we had the vision of opening our own restaurant where our ethos was to use quality organic ingredients and home cooked in a truly authentic Italian way, from all regions in the style of Trattorias and Enotecas, with a set menu concept.
Unfortunately, immediately after opening the restaurant, we were faced with a wave of challenges that no one could have foreseen.
After three and a half years of struggling to make a living and getting into debt, we have unfortunately been left with no choice but to sell our restaurant.
We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to thank all our loyal customers for their fantastic support and believing in us."
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