Restaurants / wapping wharf
Wapping Wharf restaurant to close
Russell Norman, the owner of Polpo and Spuntino, presented a show on BBC Two called The Restaurant Man in which he helped new restaurateurs open across the UK.
But even Norman couldn’t make his two Bristol businesses work, with Spuntino in Wapping Wharf set to close a few months after Polpo on Whiteladies Road shut its doors for the final time.
The second Spuntino after the original in London’s Soho has only been open on the first floor of Cargo 2 for just one year – and it becomes the first casualty of Wapping Wharf (other than Chicken Shed which transformed into Root under the same owners).
is needed now More than ever
Inside Spuntino – which means “snack” in Italian, and serves burgers and small plates of Italian-influenced comfort food
Spuntino is set to close on May 6, with bosses saying that they will now focus their resources on Spuntino and Polpo in London and Brighton, as well as hoping to open more Spuntinos within UK airports.
Managing director Scott Macdonald said they were closing in Bristol “with regret”. He added: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers and dedicated team who have supported us over the last year.
“We have felt privileged to be part of the exciting and dynamic food scene within Bristol.”
Those in charge of Wapping Wharf – which earlier this week announced major new expansion plans – say that they have already had “huge interest” in the prime corner site, which is a suntrap in the summer, and promise “an exciting announcement” soon about who will be moving in.
Spuntino occupies a prime corner site on the first floor of Cargo 2 at Wapping Wharf
Soon after 7pm on Wednesday night, there were only two customers inside Spuntino, while at the same time nearby Cargo Cantina already had more than a dozen.
Stuart Hatton, director at Umberslade, the developer behind Wapping Wharf, said: “We are of course sorry to see Spuntino leave Bristol and we would like to thank them for their time at Wapping Wharf as part of the Cargo community.
“We fully understand their decision to concentrate on the company’s core estate and wish them all the best with their future plans for the business.
“While we will be sad to see Spuntino leave, we have received huge interest in their unit already and will be making an exciting announcement very shortly.”
Read more: Bristol’s worrying trend of restaurant closures continues
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