As the cost of living continues to hit communities and people across Wales another independent Cardiff restaurant is having to close its doors. The Lazy Leek, a vegan restaurant and takeaway in Pontcanna, has announced it will be closing after four years.
Ran by partners Samuel Speller and Jessica Newton, both 33, they have had to make the difficult decision to close their restaurant. Samuel listed the cost of living crisis and staffing issues as some of the reasons for the closure. You can keep up to date with the latest What's On news by signing up to the newsletter here.
He said: "It is sad. It is all in the news, all the troubles that hospitality are facing, rising costs, staffing issues so it is a lot down to that."
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The couple also has a young family to consider, with a seven-week-year-old baby and a three-year-old. Samuel said their profits were beginning to disappear, he said: "That coupled with not being able to find good staff, everything going up in cost our kind of profits are disappearing, it kind of feels like the perfect storm of its time to move on."
Although the decision was hard to make there are new projects in the works for Samuel and Jessica. They will be taking their food trailer to festivals and events and the food trailer can be hired for private functions and weddings.
There are also other plans in the works, which Samuel is yet to reveal. Samuel explained he was "really proud" of the business and that they were "ending on a high".
The Lazy Leek has received a lot of support since announcing the news they were closing on their social media, with people booking them for weddings, and bookings for the restaurant quickly selling out. Samuel said: "I think people are going to miss us which is always nice to hear. Hearing that a load of people are going to miss us makes us feel like we've had an impact."
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