Cub, the Hoxton venue by Ryan Chetiyawardana (Mr Lyan) and Doug McMaster, will not re-open at its site following lockdown.
Launched in September 2017 on the site of Mr Lyan’s first bar, White Lyan, the award-winning restaurant was innovative in its approach of providing guests with a drinks-led dining experience.
Its focus on sustainability looked at minimising waste as well as challenging larger food systems and supply chains, creating dishes and drinks out of ‘abundant’ ingredients, demonstrating that luxury doesn’t have to be wasteful.
“Cub was named as the baby of the group – it was precious and important – and it is incredibly sad to see it go,” said Mr Lyan. “What the team created was something we were truly in awe of – something that reflected our desire to provide a super fun space for our guests, that also showed that our generation could have a positive impact on the world through food and drink.
“Although it won't reopen as a permanent space, we certainly will continue its legacy as that still stands strong, and something we hope to bring back in the future.”
The Lyan team plans to continue the Cub brand, with the possibility of pop-ups and events in the future. Lyan Studio, the Mr Lyan creative agency, will continue to be based there.
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Sad News 😿. Sadly Cub will not re-open post lockdown. I know there's so much more important hardship in the world to address, but this is tragic to us – mainly due to what Cub stood for; Cub was the baby of the group, and like all the others in the family, it was designed to challenge. But what Cub represented seemed precious and important. Hence the name! It was the first full food offering for us as a 'bar' group (sorta bar, kinda restaurant!) and we wanted to challenge that divide – not only by having bonafide superstars like @mcmasterchef @arielle_johnson @drjohnnydrain help us out – but by demonstrating the ridiculousness, and dangerousness of the divide. We managed a string of wonderful awards – plus hitting no 12 in the best restaurants in London (which is itself the most fascinating food city in the world) and being the first venue to grace the cover of Condé Nast – but what was more amazing was what the team created. Not just to challenge the balance of sustainability and luxury, but to make a stupidly, all-out fun venue. The number of comments that came back that it was someone's best night out ever is something we'll hold dear forever. But I'm mainly gutted as we didn't get to do a last goodbye, and we won't get to see what the team will produce – it felt like they were just getting into gear under Matt's stewardship. But Cub will live on where it can, we really believe in the values and systems it represented, and now more than ever, that seems to be a blueprint of how we want to change things. Empowerment, ownership of re-shaping value & luxury, human & ecological sustainability, and showing how food, drink, music and community are such wonderfully warm tools to bring real happiness to people. Not really had a chance to process everything and worse, I'm not sure there is time just now. But to those who have supported – and really there have been so many of you (and peeps with vouchers, we're sorting solutions for you) – thank you, and thank you to Imbibe for helping us discuss things. Click the link to read more. Much Lyan Love x
A post shared by Ryan Chetiyawardana 🦁 Mr Lyan (@mrlyan) on Aug 7, 2020 at 3:54am PDT
