Award-winning Dublin restaurant closing after ‘two-year battle’ to stay open

'We have battled for the last two years to keep going. However, we simply can’t continue any longer.'

Located at 7 Church Street in the north Dublin town, Potager was launched six years ago and was included in the prestigious Michelin Guide for 2023.

It also won the Best Contemporary Irish Cuisine in Dublin award at the 2024 Irish Restaurant Awards and was named as one of Ireland top 100 restaurants in 2023 by The Sunday Times' McKenna's Guide.

Despite these accolades, its owners have issued a closing statement where they referred to "business struggles".

They said that shutting Potager's doors was an "incredibly difficult decision" to make.

This was before adding that they "simply can't continue any longer" after battling for the "last two years to keep going".

The owners also thanked their "lovely" customers and their "hardest-working" staff and suppliers.

You can read the emotional statement right here:

According to an RTÉ Prime Time report this week, more than 600 restaurants have closed their doors in Ireland in the last year and its projected that over 1,000 more will shut in the next year.

Speaking on the programme, chef and co-owner of Galway restaurant Cava Bodega, J.P. McMahon, said that the economics of the restaurant industry have changed - making it difficult for businesses to survive.

"I think we're in a perfect storm due to a number of events, Covid being the main one," he said.

"It's almost like that the price of food has become uncoupled with what you're charging. It doesn't really have any relationship anymore because the labour is so expensive, because energy is so expensive, rates, whatever else.

"You almost discount the price of the food. You go: 'It's irrelevant'."

Main image Instagram/Potager