24/10/2022
All good stories have to come to and end
Dear customers, friends, colleagues and all the other ones too
It saddens us to inform you that we have not been able to reach a sensible agreement with HKR to renew our lease in the future. I could waste my time going into the detail about corporate greed, lack of understanding of the current market economy, and the damage that covid-19 and its subsequent policies have done to HK and DB, the departure of a large base of our clientele and so on.
Instead I would like to focus on praise and heartfelt thanks to those who deserve it and have made 22 North the success it has been in the almost 14 years since its inception.
No operation can be a success without a great team and dear me have I been blessed, to work with the most amazing dedicated people. Several of them have been with us since day one, some have left us over the years to take on new challenges and have fared well. To all of you, you have given the best in yourself and more to ensure that our dream of creating the best dining experience in DB (and far beyond) was consistently delivered with a smile. I'm immensely proud of you and it brings me to tears to have to let you all go.
Our loyal and dedicated suppliers deserve praise for sticking with us and delivering on my often unreasonable demands of sourcing the best quality ingredients. You had a large part to play in our success and I am very grateful for the many years of cooperation.
At the same time we would not have been able to build our dream without the immensely loyal support of YOU, the customers. We can't thank you enough for having supported us over all the years and stuck with us in good and bad times, we might not always have gotten it right but we have tried as a team to deliver you what has been our crucial motto: consistent quality with a smile.
Over the years the lines between customers and friends have blurred and I feel so honoured to have gotten to know so many of you, seen your kids grow up (several of them worked for us as students) and so to all of you - thanks - you have made the lives of all of us at 22 very often a joy and left us with an endless list of amazing memories.
We will remain open till the end of November - exact date to be announced - we hope that you will support us in our last couple of weeks and look forward to seeing you all during our last stretch for a drink, a meal and a good chat.
In order to dispel any rumours, no we are fulfilling all our obligations and will leave with a clean slate. Every person, every bill will be paid and we will leave with our heads held up high.
Wishing everyone who has been involved in our success all the best for the future, I once more would like to thank you all.
Philippe Moriau
