Heartbroken MasterChef star tells of ‘lost dream’ after shutting award-winning restaurant and warns ‘it’s bleak’

A DEVASTATED MasterChef star opened up about his “lost dream” after shutting an award-winning restaurant.

Top chef Simon Wood said his fine dining establishment WOOD, in Manchester, was forced to close and that “it’s bleak”.

The 48-year-old blamed the misfortune on rent arrears, soaring bills and ingredients costs in October last month.

In light of the announcement, Simon has opened up more about his heartbreaking loss, after first welcoming customers seven years ago.

He shared an emotional video of the empty restaurant but encouraged foodies to keep supporting the industry by eating out.

Under the post, uploaded on X, Simon wrote: “A look inside a dream, lived, lost and loved. It’s important to look at the present, but not to hold on to the past…. I lived and loved @WoodRestaurants Thank you to everyone who supported us. Please Keep supporting local, independents are someone’s life, their everything.

“Back your independents Manchester, it’s a bleak place without them, just empty spaces….Big Love.”

Simon’s fans and loyal customers flooded the post with support and hailed the chef.

One wrote: “Simon, Congratulations on such a success story. If at any point you feel yourself getting down between this door closing and another opening feel free to reach out.

“I have a lovely quiet place in the Yorkshire Dales, Free to relax and with clear headspace.”

Someone else said: “This evening while your awake know you achieved a dream that years ago you wanted and made happen.

“In your sadness of having to close for now take comfort for the lovely food we enjoyed and the chance to employ those you did.”

“Great restaurant Great Food , Team was Great and the chef wasn’t too bad,” penned a third.

“Onwards and definitely upwards. Will be watching with interest to the next adventure. Stay strong Chef!”

Others said it was a “huge loss” for the Manchester culinary scene.

The dad of four, from Saddleworth, opened his self-titled bistro in 2017, creating dishes with “seasonal, high welfare and foraged” produce.

Guests could expect to fork out £125 for his “Chef’s Selection Menu” and wine flight – which featured veal sweetbreads and hand-dived scallops.

The restaurant’s website was still advertising its £60 per head Christmas menu when Simon took to social media to say it had shut for good.

Writing in a post on Facebook, he said: “Dear Friends, Customers and Suppliers of WOOD Manchester.

“It is with much regret that I have to inform you that I must close the doors here at WOOD for good, with immediate effect.

“We have had 7 years as part of the Manchester City dining scene and I’m very proud of what the team and I have achieved.

“Sadly with COVID rent arrears now being demanded by our landlord and an increasingly difficult marketplace, energy increases, ingredient costs and soon-to-be spiralling business rates we just cannot make this work.

“I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patronage over the years.”

Simon was a data scientist for almost 20 years before he quit his job and took on a career in hospitality.

He became a professional chef aged 38 in 2015 when he won the amateur version of MasterChef.

Simon then went on to open WOOD Manchester in 2017 and WoodKraft, in Cheltenham, in 2018.

WOOD Manchester was Michelin-recommended in 2019 and has won the double AA Rosette award.

Last year, Simon said acclaimed shows like The Bear, which revealed the struggles faced by many in the hospitality industry, gave chefs the respect they “deserved”.

He said: “I have seen all the things that happen on these shows at some point – even in the space of 40 minutes.

“People love the drama that comes with high-end hospitality, and I think it’s all shown in drama TV programmes like The Bear and Boiling Point.

“It can be just as intense in real life.

“You get stressful moments where all the cheques arrive at once, or someone drops the sauce, burns the food and cuts their fingers.

“The flare-ups between each other [are realistic].

“Also, most definitely the shouting, swearing, raw intensity, you see in these programmes, I think, is all very factual – It’s true to the life of a functioning kitchen.”

It comes as another chef was forced to close down his Michelin-starred restaurant just months after it lost its star.

Leroy, in Leonard Street, Shoreditch, sadly announced its closure after seven years of serving devoted fans.

The sudden closure highlights the ongoing struggles faced by the UK hospitality sector, which has been hit hard by soaring costs and dwindling support.

Elsewhere, another restaurant owner was forced to shut his Michelin-starred establishment overnight, claiming the decision was completely out of his hands.

The eatery was boarded up after the landlord “made the decision to close” the doors.

Plus, a chef who worked at one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurants has announced he will shutter his food spot, leaving diners devastated.

Meanwhile, former Masterchef finalist Tony Rodd was forced to close his restaurant in Blackheath whilst Michel Roux Jr closed the doors on his iconic restaurant Gavroche in January after 56 years in business.

Experts say the cost of living crisis has left customers favouring a cheap dinner over splashing out on fancy evenings out in expensive restaurants, and this has made celeb chefs think twice about whether it’s worth continuing to run their business.