Burro e Salvia closed down

[Abe_froeman]

The shop front just did not invite people in somehow, either to eat or to but takeaway and I don't ever recall seeing a menu in the window, which is something every other pub, restaurant, cafe and bar on LL has.

They are selling off the furniture if anyone is interested.

http://www.burroesalvia.co.uk/sale/

[niall]

i have no idea how half the shops have survived for so long on lordship lane.

especially these ones:

Lilas

jolie a pied

lush designs

that they generate enough business to stay open amazes me.

[Siduhe]

Penguin68 Wrote:

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> Issues of quality and value apart, the business

> model for this doesn?t work. It was set up for an

> area with a high/ high value passing (particularly

> lunchtime) trade ? where people would be looking

> for a quick and easy lunch (in) or for easily

> portable ingredients to take home from work for a

> quick meal there ? very much the passing trade of

> an area with a high intensity of (relatively well

> paid) office staff. This isn?t the LL demographic.

> Although the age/ wealth profile in LL is close ?

> the sort of passing trade is much more yummy mummy

> (long chats over a light lunch with buggies) ?

> which it wasn?t set up for. And if you are cooking

> partly at least for children the costs/ quality

> don?t add-up either. ?6 for pasta for two is fine

> for dinkies, but doesn?t make sense for the LL

> demographic on anything except an occasional

> basis. ? So ? good shop, wrong location, wrong

> customer base.

I very much agree with this. I loved their pasta - thought it was fair value for what you get, but it was an occasional treat for me, certainly not a regular enough user to keep them in business. I did once get some of their filled lemon pasta for a friend of Sicilian heritage, and he was blown away by it - said it was the closest he had ever got to the pasta he grew up with. Will be sorry to see them go, but just think it was the wrong business model for our area.

[Nigello]

Maybe it could work better as an online business, or as a mobile unit going to different venues each week. I hope it does well under some other guise.

[B&G]

Delicious food, though at ?80 for a dinner for two, certainly not cheap. Only went once as a result.

[edcam]

Well they've closed down now, so maybe all the criticism is somewhat belated and redundant.

[fishbiscuits]

B&G Wrote:

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> Delicious food, though at ?80 for a dinner for

> two, certainly not cheap. Only went once as a result.

I thought a plate of pasta was like ?12?

I suppose if you get 2 x starter, pasta, dessert and a bottle of wine it could cost that much. But I don't know many restaurants where that isn't the case.

[Sue]

Nigello Wrote:

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> Maybe it could work better as an online business,

> or as a mobile unit going to different venues each

> week. I hope it does well under some other guise.

They have another branch, don't they?

[Penguin68]

Actually, their product (high end fresh pasta and sauces) would fit very well with the Franklyn's Farm Shop ranges - they would have been far better offering product (but not then a 'dining experience') through that established shop with an established clientele, not frightened of premium pricing. If they could have persuaded the shop to carry their range. By trying to export a 'formula' without considering how that formula actually worked they made a classic mistake. They understood some of the local market needs (many have used this forum to say they liked the product), but not really the market circumstances - or the wider customer needs.

[Beej]

healey Wrote:

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> A case of taking a trendy industrial concept far

> too seriously.

How exactly is pasta making a trendy industrial concept?

[Seabag]

Some of the best handmade pasta i've eaten in London, just the shop suffered through lack of footfall.

The one in Shoreditch has a bigger Asian client base to support it. I spoke with the owners once and Japanese and Korean customers appreciate the hand crafting nature of this product.

Good luck, shame tho.

[B&G]

We had a sharing plate to start, a bowl of pasta each and a bottle of wine. Not that excessive for two! And there are plenty of places that are nowhere near that: Mr Bao, Miss Tapas, ToastED (before it changed).

I wasn't criticising it, but I couldn't have afforded to eat there regularly and I'm clearly not the only one.

[Sol]

Tried it once but found it very expensive

[healey]

Beej Wrote:

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> healey Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > A case of taking a trendy industrial concept

> far

> > too seriously.

>

>

> How exactly is pasta making a trendy industrial

> concept?

Was referring to the rather sparse design of the place. Didn't look very inviting as a restaurant/cafe.

[missse22]

Lilas is amazing my partner has bought me several items of jewellery there. My favourite being a antique coiled snake 14carat gold with diamonds and rubies .... stunning

[nicolle oli]

The food was good, but the prices...too high

[Seabag]

A fish restaurant is to open on that site

Hurraaaaaah!

[Hoopoedi]

Yipeeeee!

[jimbo1964]

Handy for Moxon's

[Penguin68]

Only if he can buy wholesale.

[Sue]

I thought it was Moxons who were opening the restaurant, have I misunderstood?

[Abe_froeman]

Moxons said on Twitter they would be opening a restaurant there and it will be caed Next Door

[RosieF]

We've tried a while ago but found it very expensive....only went once as a result

[janicemuir]

for goodness sake. It was ridiculously overpriced and absolutely not worth it. End of.

[DulwichLondoner]

If you have ever been to Italy, you will have noticed that Italian high streets are not exactly filled with home-made pasta shops. There may be some, but more typically you can find home-made pasta in stores that also sell other stuff. Also, home-made fusilli or tagliatelle are IMHO good, but not exactly on an entire different planet vs their cheaper, not home-made counterparts. The real difference is with ravioli or other pasta filled with fresh ingredients; for example, the ravioli filled with fish that I tried at Burro and Salvia reminded me of what I ate at a classy Italian wedding. But that's expensive stuff, which you don't exactly eat every day, so it's hard to achieve the kind of footfall that would justify the cost of a shop on the Lordship Lane high street.