Aktar Islam to close Pulperia restaurant to avoid 'outpricing' customers

Chef Aktar Islam is to close his Pulperia steakhouse restaurant in Birmingham after rising costs made it impossible to keep trading.

Islam, who also owns the Michelin-starred Opheem in the city, said he could not run the restaurant at a high standard without further raising prices for customers.

Argentinean-inspired Pulperia launched in 2020 and is recommended in the Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2022, though it does not hold a star or Bib Gourmand.

The restaurant will close for the final time on 30 September.

Islam said: "Pulperia has been one hell of a journey, we barely opened just before lockdown and then was shut for the best part of a year. It's where [meal kit delivery brand] Aktar at Home was born and was even our makeshift warehouse. It's allowed me to showcase my love of Argentinean food and a roast dinner – it's bittersweet.

"With the current climate we simply cannot operate at the standard we want without outpricing our customers. Consumer habits have changed, and we feel we've come to the end of our journey. The team has been nothing short of amazing.

"We're going to monitor the next coming months and consider options regarding the location and introducing another concept. For the meantime our focus now will be taking Opheem to the next level and building on Aktar at Home."

Pulperia is the latest hospitality business to close due to soaring costs. In August BrewDog announced it had "no choice" but to close six UK bars, while independent vegan restaurant Got No Beef in Cardiff shut this month after it was "engulfed" by the impact of the economic and energy crises and Brexit.