One of London’s most popular restaurants has been forced to close after chef-owner Faye Gomes was locked out of the property by her landlord.
Gomes, 65, has run her Guyanese restaurant Kaieteur Kitchen in Elephant and Castle for more than 20 years, earning a loyal following thanks to her Caribbean home cooking.
People travel for miles to try Gomes’ pepper pot — an earthy, rich beef stew made with herbs, spices and cassareep (derived from cassava root) — Guyana’s national dish, her saltfish, curry goat and oxtail stew.
In a recent episode of the Standard’s street food stories, Gomes described Kaieteur Kitchen as “her own little world” and said: “It's homely, it's welcoming, and it just makes people feel like they can always keep coming because of the atmosphere, the food, and the welcoming that we gave them.”
But last week the chef arrived at her venue to find a notice telling her she had been locked out due to an unpaid electricity bill totalling £21,000.
Gomes told the Metro newspaper when she saw the notice: “I had to stop myself from collapsing when I saw my business was locked. Nobody is answering my calls. We just don’t know what to do. We don’t even know who the electric providers are.”
Kaieteur Kitchen is part of the Castle Square development, which opened in 2021 after the old shopping centre in Elephant and Castle was demolished to make way for new town centre. Numerous traders moved over to the new site while others shut down.
Landlords Get Living has locked a number of traders out of their premises due to unpaid bills. Tenants said they were issued backdated sums, most between £10,000 and £20,000, after “metering issues” prevented regular payments from 2021 until last year.
The landlord asked for the amounts to be paid in full, which restaurant owners had hoped to pay incrementally.
Gomes told reporters that she has been unable to get in touch and has not been able to speak to Savills, which manages the development, either.
Savills has yet to provide a statement to the Standard. A spokeswoman for Get Living said: “Castle Square sits at the heart of Elephant & Castle, and we’re committed to keeping its diverse, independent character central to The Elephant.
“From the outset, our strong preference has been to resolve outstanding payments through open and constructive dialogue with market traders. We deeply regret that, despite eighteen months of intensive engagement, the traders concerned have not been able to clear their arrears or agree to reasonable payment plans.
“We recognise the sensitivities of this situation and enforcement action is never our desired course of action – this has only been pursued as a last resort after all reasonable alternatives were exhausted.”
Other traders affected are Diana Sachs, 60, owner of Como Y Beba, a Colombian cafe, and Olajide Agbede, the owner of the West African fixture Daddy O Suya. Like Gomes, both are facing enormous electricity bills.
At a protest at Castle Square last week, Agbede said: “I was shocked when I saw my door was locked. I don’t know what to do about my two members of staff who have families to feed. My rent was up-to-date, I was paying towards electricity costs.”
Placards were held up at the petition which read: “We see what you’re doing.”
Get Living told the Standard it will not be pursuing the tenants who have had enforcement action against them and will be writing off the cost of the arrears, which it said amount to a combined sum circa £100,000.
The group reported a £153.2 loss in the last financial year.
Unless circumstances change, the Standard understands the restaurants affected will not reopen.
Castle Square, 40 Elephant Road, SE17 1EU, castlesquarelondon.com
