UK restaurant closes after sooner or later as boss claims ‘this is not sustaintable’
Ruger Fjord, run by former MANA chef Kieran O’Reilly, opened its doors to the public on Sunday with a collection of Michelin-style focaccia sandwiches – but sold out within 90 minutes
The restaurant and bar completely sold out of all its freshly-made bread in just under two hours on its first day(Image: Ruger Fjord)
The proprietor of a fresh Oldham eatery has revealed they’ve been compelled to shut temporarily after trading for just a single day. On Sunday (June 7), Ruger Fjord on Hartshead Street in Lees welcomed customers for the first time with its range of Michelin-style focaccia sandwiches.
The establishment seeks to showcase ‘Scandinavian simplicity with Italian craft’ across its house-made misos, small plates, cocktails, and its upmarket interpretation of sandwiches.
Proprietor Kieran O’Reilly, who previously worked at establishments including Gaucho and MANA, explained his ambition for the venue to ‘elevate’ the sandwich offering by preparing each order fresh using genuine ingredients sourced from both Italy and the surrounding region.
Via social media, the Ruger Fjord team revealed they’d been met with ‘queues out of the door’ which saw them ‘completely sell out’ of their focaccia bread within merely an hour and a half – forcing them to continue baking throughout a hectic service.
In one post, Kieran wrote: “The support over the last few weeks has been overwhelming, and today was everything we hoped it could be. This is only day one.”, reports the Manchester Evening News.
However, in a subsequent post on Sunday evening, Kieran announced that he and his team had concluded they would need to shut for several days while they secure additional ingredients and equipment to satisfy demand, alongside meetings with investors to establish how they can operate more ‘sustainably’. In the post, the chef announced: “WE NEED TO CLOSE. RUGER FJORD. Day 1. Sellout within 1 hour and 30 mins.
“This isn’t sustainable, we don’t want to let anyone down. We’re closing, we’re having meetings with the investors. More stand mixers, more dough, more bread, more sandwiches. We apologise for any inconvenience, but we do not want to drop in quality or turn anyone away.”
In an accompanying video, Kieran described the response as ‘unreal and crazy’, but stated they now needed to shut for a ‘minimum’ of three days to refine their concept.
He elaborated: “We’re going to speak to our investors about scaling the team, scaling the dough so that we can never run out, so everybody can eat the sandwiches and experience us at Fjord, make sure that our customer service is perfect so that we’re not rushing around and nobody’s getting sent away.
“Three days is all we ask for – nobody is going to be disappointed because It’s going to be even better by the time we’re back. We don’t want to get to a point where we’re losing quality because we’re doing more, and that we have to pack it in in a month because we can’t carry on staying up until 5am in the morning.”
Kieran added that he and his team would be convening today to devise a plan, but reminded patrons that they were temporarily closed – urging people not to arrange visits until further notice was provided.
The announcement was greeted with understanding and backing from punters, with one fellow business owner saying: “Congratulations on a great first day. Hats off to you for taking this decision. In our game, customer service is priority. Looking forward to coming down and trying when you are fully operational.”
Another commented: “Such a mature decision, you clearly have something special, don’t rush, take your time. Work to Live, and look after yourself first.” One other person wrote: “Devastated but also delighted for yous with the demand.”
Last month, Kieran chatted to the M.E.N. about the vision behind Ruger Fjord and revealed he was committed to bringing the ‘happy foods’ of sandwiches to Oldham town while contributing something meaningful to the local area. He explained: “Lees is a really lovely place, there’s some really amazing local and independent businesses here and there’s a great community vibe.
“Hospitality is facing a difficult time at the moment, but I think people do connect best when they can see that someone puts a real passion into what they are doing. I’m not doing this to make loads of money – as long as we can pay ourselves and our staff a wage and keep the lights on, then that’s all we need.
“It’s not a chain, it’s not a big name, but it is something that I am opening in my home and it’s hopefully going to be something really special that people feel connected to and enjoy. I just think there’s room here for a really good butty shop with a fine-dining take on things.”
