Acclaimed chef Glynn Purnell has closed his new Edgbaston restaurant, The Asquith, and lost £40,000 following a bitter dispute with a debt-laden property developer.
The Michelin star chef and TV cook pulled the plug after a final lunch service on Mother’s Day.
The Asquith opened six months ago as Purnell’s test-bed for new catering industry talent. But the chef said the trading situation had become intolerable due to landlord Tony Gayden, whose hotel/motel business Totel (UK) Ltd has collapsed.
The Birmingham Post can reveal that Totel, of which Mr Gayden is the sole director, has been placed in compulsory liquidation.
It also emerged that a petition to wind up the failing business, based at 19 Portland Road, was made before Mr Gayden approached Purnell to take over the site of the former Pascal’s restaurant last summer.
Purnell’s restaurant, in Cornwall Street, which has won plaudits for its innovative cooking, is unaffected by the closure of the chef’s Edgbaston business. And in a further twist, The Asquith is set to make a swift return to the city’s dining scene at a new venue.
* Full story in the Birmingham Post which goes on sale today
