Woky Ko has announced it will close two restaurants leaving them with just one site in Bristol. The Asian fusion restaurant made the shock announcement on social media today (Tuesday, October 25) citing the cost of living crisis and the pandemic as reasons for its decision.
The Bristol restaurant chain will close its restaurants in Wapping Wharf and Queens Road, the latter of which had only just reopened for dine-in customers in September, having previously been kept as a takeaway-only site post-Covid. However, the lunch spot in St Nicholas' Market will remain open as usual, head chef and owner, Larkin Cen, said in a statement.
"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we will be closing our Woky Ko Queens Road and Cargo. St Nick’s will remain open as usual," Larkin wrote on Instagram.
Read more: Bombolini on Gloucester Road closes 'with a heavy heart
The chef was open about the specificities that led him to close the two sites, including "increasing costs, staffing shortages and wage pressure". He also stated the closure of Gaol Ferry Bridge had seriously impacted business at the Cargo site in Wapping Wharf, causing a "substantial drop in sales". They had held two sites there, but the rooftop venue in Cargo was closed at the end of last month.
Larkin continued: "With fantastic commitment and hard work from the Woky Ko team, we managed to stay open throughout the main outbreak of covid, creating a delivery service for our loyal customers. Unfortunately, over the last year, increasing costs, staffing shortages and wage pressure impacted the viability of these two parts of the businesses.
"Further covid related closures totalled over 200 days across all our sites and now on top of that we are experiencing a very substantial drop in sales at Wapping Wharf due to the main footbridge being closed for prolonged works. The price pressure on our takeaway orders caused by the economic squeeze has meant that both locations are no longer viable."
Larkin made a final plea to ask other Bristol restaurants to help their staff: "This sadly means that after they are paid this month we will have to make our amazing staff redundant and would ask if any other restaurants have vacancies to please get in touch and we can share this with the team. We will also be contacting our pre bookings in due course to apologise for the inconvenience.
"We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for supporting Woky Ko over the years at Cargo and Queens Road and to our suppliers and supporters who kept us going throughout the pandemic. Our St Nicks Market operation will remain open and will be our cornerstone as we look to regroup and stabilise the business. We would love to see anyone after a Woky Ko fix there."
Larkin first launched Woky Ko in 2016 and has opened a range of sites since then. The chef closed the rooftop restaurant in Wapping Wharf at the end of September "to focus on our exciting new developments to the menu and our restaurants in Bristol".
The Queens Road site reopened in September with a new authentic Chinese menu - which the Bristol Post awarded four stars for its skilful cookery of classic street food dishes. Larkin also appeared on the BBC's Great British Menu earlier this year and made the final with his Blue Planet-inspired Sichuan hot pot.
Up next:
The Bristol pub with a festival garden inside that’s even better in winter
Bristol pubs and cafes plea to carry on using former parking spaces for outdoor seating
Inside one of Bristol's best-dressed Halloween pubs bringing back community spirit
CAMRA Bristol Beer Festival to return early after two-year break due to Covid
