Staff due to work today have been unable to enter the restaurant
Sad news from Infirmary Street this afternoon as staff at Ricci's Tapas and Cicchetti have reported the restaurant has seemingly closed for business without warning.
Keyholder Carl Sunley told the Yorkshire Evening Post that when he arrived for his shift this morning the restaurant lights were switched off and the locks appear to have been changed.
The Facebook pages for Ricci's and adjoining cocktail bar 53 Degrees North have disappeared, however the accounts for the original restaurants remain, as well as a dormant @RiccisTapasLeeds Twitter account.
Ricci's was one of many tapas restaurants that opened in the East Parade area in 2016, with the aim of bringing a taste of its "spiritual home" Ibiza to the city. It earned a high score in our review later on in the year, and picking up the award for Best World at the 2017 Yorkshire Evening Post Oliver Awards. Sunley, a sous chef in the restaurant's kitchen, suggested that the restaurant's financial viability didn't appear to be in question; remarking that they were "turning over tens of thousands in December."
