Charming Brixton Wine Bar and Restaurant Salon Will Close After Nearly 10 Years

Chefs and restaurateurs Nicholas Balfe, Matthew Bushnell, and Mark Gurney have announced that their first restaurant, Salon in Brixton Market, will permanently close after nearly a decade serving modern British menus and natural wines.

“Opening its doors in 2012, Salon has become known and loved for its seasonal and inventive dishes. With Nicholas at the helm, the kitchen has produced its contemporary British menus for nearly ten years,” a press spokesperson for the restaurant wrote in an email today, 7 June.

It also included a statement from the owners, who wrote that it was “with a deep reluctance and heavy heart” that they had decided to close the restaurant.

TIM Mitchell

Balfe opened Salon in the early 2010s, at a time when a new brand of modern British restaurant — with a low intervention wine focus and obsession with ingredients, which had taken cues from the informal neo-bistros of Paris — was gaining traction in London. Balfe had been working with chefs Isaac McHale and James Lowe, then the Young Turks at the Ten Bells in Shoreditch, before each went onto open the Clove Club and Lyle’s, respectively.

“The market has provided us with a brilliant home, a space to develop our menus and host a whole range of diners — from locals to those further afield,” the team added. “Industry trading conditions continue to be more challenging than ever, unfortunately meaning we have had to make this difficult decision.

“We want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us over the years.”

Balfe and his team also operate the small plates restaurant and wine bar Levan, in Peckham, and Larry’s a casual bistro-diner in the same neighbourhood.

More soon.