‘Unfortunately the day to move on has come’: Love Art Udon has permanently closed
"We’re incredibly thankful for all the support and love we received from the community, especially during these uncertain times," the restaurant shared.
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A noodle shop near Packard’s Corner served its last bowl of udon on July 3.
Love Art Udon, which opened in November 2018, announced on its website that Friday was its last day of service.
“Udon was a passion project we had been kicking around for a while, and in 2018 we finally made it happen,” the statement read. “But with everything that has been happening in the world, unfortunately the day to move on has come. We’re incredibly thankful for all the support and love we received from the community, especially during these uncertain times. We won’t be completely shutting down the brand as we explore pop-up opportunities in the future, but for the time being our Brookline location will be closing.”
The statement went on to share that if any customers have unused gift cards, the company will find another way to honor them.
“COVID-19 was ultimately the catalyst that sunk the ship,” Ronald Liu, who co-founded Love Art Udon, told Boston.com in an e-mail. “We tried to innovate and kept pivoting as we lost a large concentration of student customers, but the model quickly became unsustainable with rising costs of doing business (Uber commission, advertising spend, limited distribution from vendors), staff feeling uncomfortable coming to work because of increased exposure, and ultimately moving so far away from our initial model that the passion for udon from the team was gone.
Liu said the company is working with their landlord to find a new operator to take over the lease. Until then, Love Art Test Kitchen will experiment with new drink, tea, and coffee recipes, as well as quick-bite tapas available on Uber Eats.
Liu, along with his partner, Jessica Chiep, are the founders of the Love Art brand, which includes Love Art Sushi in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood, and Poke by Love Art, which opened in the West End in January. A second poke shop, called Love Art Poke, is scheduled to open downtown in the fall.
The brand is also behind a number of temporary pop-up concepts including Nani!? Chick’n Bunz, which specializes in fried chicken sandwiches, and Okinawa BOBA Co., which offers a variety of boba tea.
Liu also shared the news of Love Art Udon’s closure in an Instagram post Sunday.
“Sometimes in life, you bet a hefty amount on red…but black hits,” he wrote. “However, if at the end of the day you can still walk out with the people that you came in with, then it’s all good. The unfortunate end to one is simply the foundation to catapult up towards levels higher than ever before. RIP 1024 Comm Ave. On to the next…”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCR4k6hHTv2/
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