Beloved London boat restaurant Caravel has been forced to shut

Time to say bye bye to the barge. Caravel, a floating restaurant which has been on Regent’s Canal since 2022, has suddenly announced that it has had to shut its hatches, as well as its sister restaurant Studio Kitchen.

In an eyebrow-raising Instagram post on April 7, the restaurant said: ‘Caravel and Studio Kitchen have been forced to close our doors with immediate effect. We will provide an update as soon as the details are allowed to be made public. Thank you and sorry.’

No reason has been given for the closures, but there have been ripples below the surface at Caravel for a while. In November brothers Fin and Lorcan Spiteri, who ran the restaurant from the beginning, took to Insta to announce their abrupt departure. 

The duo said: ‘Fin and I have left Caravel and Studio Kitchen this week after five years, due to circumstances out of our control.

‘Caravel was a restaurant we built from the ground/water up, and it’s unfortunate we have to step away. Thank you to all of our talented staff and loyal customers that dined with us over the years, it’s been the best! We will be taking a short break whilst we prepare for the launch of our new project opening early 2026.’

Billy McCartney, who co-owns aptly-named parent company The Armada Group, told Restaurant at the time that the siblings had given their notice unexpectedly on November 14, leaving their roles with immediate effect. The change of guard forced the restaurant to temporarily close, but its doors reopened later in November.

Back in May 2023 Caravel received a five-star review from Time Out, with critic Kate Lloyd praising its ‘properly playful takes on modern European and classic British dishes’ and calling it ‘the best date restaurant [she’s] ever been to’. 

The Spiteri brothers are the sons of hospitality consultant Jon Spiteri, who is a co-founder of St John, and Melanie Arnold, co-owner of Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch. The duo have now taken over The Latimer pub in Notting Hill, while former Caravel cook Louis Lingwood has taken the reins at brand new riotous Italian Osteria Vibrato in Soho, which also received a five-star review when we visited in February.

Mourning the chance to eat dinner while floating on the river? Worry not. From Hackney Wick’s Barge East to The Cheese Barge in Paddington and Feng Shang Princess in Camden, there are still plenty of floating eateries still to choose from in London.

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