Bye Bye Buddha Bar

The last victim of the Recession, the London Buddha Bar has gone bust and told its 80 employees they no longer had a job.



Having Lady Gaga amongst its fans, the London venue opened in August 2008 - just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers - and it was expected to become one of the favourite spots where the city boys (and girls) would splash their money in cocktails and champagne.
Buddha Bar, with branches in Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Sharm el Sheikh and Dubai, specializes in Asian food and features an 18-foot high Buddha figure in the dining room.
I still remember how cool it was when I visited the Paris restaurant for the first time 10 years ago.
In my opinion it is not only the bad timing of this opening that has affected the London Buddha Bar, I believe this represents a whole change of direction in what is considered trendy this days, and Buddha Bar has not been able to re-invent itself to compete in the demanding London market.

Looks like new age compilations and giant statues are no longer good enough.