Dalston’s Jidori Will Grill Its Last Yakitori This Weekend

Dalston yakitori nook Jidori will close on Saturday 8 August, after four-and-a-half years in east London. Writing on both the restaurant’s Instagram and newsletter, co-founder Natalie Lee-Joe said:

We have absolutely loved our 4.5 years in dalston, it has been a blast but this global pandemic has proven a bit too much for our small shop. We’d like to thank you for all your support over the years. We have loved serving you, it has felt weird these past few weeks being in the restaurant with no customers to serve.I’d like to personally thank all the jidori staff, past and present - we’ve had so many superstars working with us.

Lee-Joe opened the restaurant, best known for its negima and tsukune skewers, and a katsu curry-influenced riff on a scotch egg, alongside Brett Redman, also of London Bridge’s Elliot’s, in December 2015. A second site in Covent Garden, with one of the best-value omakase offerings in the city, followed in 2018 but closed in October 2019. Despite a lockdown pivot that was in keeping with the restaurant’s ethos — rice bowls adorned with charcoal-grilled meat, and barbecue packs for the home — the restaurant, like so many in the city, has not been able to weather the storm.