Recently, two high-profile Michelin-listed restaurants in Beijing have suddenly announced their closure, causing a significant stir in the food and beverage industry. One of the well-known Michelin restaurants in Beijing, Opera Bombana (referred to as Opera), announced its closure. Opera was hailed as a “star restaurant,” with many celebrities and famous personalities being regular guests. The TIAGO group also closed all its Beijing stores.
According to a report by the Daily Economic News on April 24, the shareholders of Opera were originally the well-known capital giants Overseas Chinese Fortune Group and Lai Sun Group. On the day of Opera’s closure, its parent company Beijing Yasheng Catering Services Co., Ltd. also changed its legal representative simultaneously, with the third generation of Overseas Chinese Fortune Group, Huang Qiaofu, stepping down, and the new legal representative named “Gao Peisong.”
The parent company of Overseas Chinese Fortune Group is the Taiwan Overseas Chinese Fortune Group, a prominent giant in the real estate industry, with multiple commercial and residential real estate projects globally. The Beijing Overseas Chinese Fangcaodi, where Opera was located, is also one of its projects.
Similarly, Lai Sun Group is a diversified enterprise in Hong Kong engaged in property investment and development, hotel and restaurant operations. The chairman of Lai Sun Group, Lin Jianyue, was once a major shareholder of Golden Harvest Films, with a stellar lineup of artists including Sammi Cheng, Leon Lai, and Miriam Yeung. He has also signed contracts with the superstar Andy Lau.
Several interviewees claimed that Beijing Overseas Property Company, a subsidiary of Overseas Chinese Fortune Group, holds a 65% stake in Opera. According to Lai Sun Development’s mid-year report for 2024, Lai Sun Development holds a 20% interest in Opera.
Supplier Li Sa has been cooperating with Opera since 2013, mainly providing staff meals and seafood and vegetables to the restaurant. Recalling his cooperation experience, he said, “In the early stages, the payments were smooth until last April when the finance manager changed, and the payment was constantly delayed for various reasons.”
Li Sa, who had not received payment for a long time, stopped delivering goods on April 2, and on April 4, he saw a notice of “suspension of business.” Subsequently, dozens of suppliers began the “debt collection journey.” Through communication and calculation among suppliers, it was revealed that the total amount owed by Opera was approximately 4 million yuan.
An informed source analyzed, “The total amount of membership recharges also amounts to several million yuan. The recharge amount of each member is almost around 100,000 yuan, and it is up to them to collect debts next.”
Having been in operation for many years, Opera has always been known as a “star restaurant,” with celebrities like Jackie Chan, Gao Yuanyuan, Zhao Youting, and Tsui Hark being regular guests. It is known that Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO of Innovation Works, is also a member of Opera.
Coincidentally, all outlets of TIAGO in Beijing were recently reported to have closed down.
A resident informed the Beijing News that on the evening of April 10, he and his friends planned to dine at TIAGO HOME KITCHEN in Yinding Port, only to find the store’s doors tightly closed. “The original glass doors were covered with advertisements from the shopping center. We peeked inside through the gap in the door and it was pitch black. Later, we found a notice on the store indicating that TIAGO had closed its doors since April 1.”
Established in 2014, TIAGO Group created four restaurant sub-brands in a decade, with a maximum of 8 outlets at one point, known as a “Western food internet celebrity” in Beijing. Its Thai restaurant brand Modern Thai, also recommended by the Beijing Michelin Guide, was part of its portfolio.
According to information from TIAGO’s WeChat official account, TIAGO’s sub-brands include TIAGO HOME KITCHEN, KEAAMI·Modern Thai, CASA TALIA, and TIAGO URBAN KITCHEN, with a total of 6 outlets in Beijing. Currently, outlets like Modern Thai, formerly recommended by the Beijing Michelin Guide, cannot be found on major restaurant review platforms.
Furthermore, TIAGO’s sudden closure has left some consumers’ prepaid balances in limbo. On social media, some netizens have shared their VIP card balances, ranging from a few hundred yuan to thousands of yuan.
Not only in the aforementioned cases of closures, but according to the Beijing Business Daily, in recent years, Michelin-starred restaurants, including The Araki and D.H.K. Duxihuju, have also reported closure due to operational issues, with many high-end and long-standing culinary brands affected.
With the ongoing economic downturn, some Michelin-starred and high-end restaurants have started to “ground themselves” through measures such as takeout and promotions. Previously, TIAGO launched a takeout mini-program, offering delicately presented dishes and discounts; Opera BOMBANA once introduced a “Restaurant Week” promotion, offering set meals as low as 398 yuan, including four dishes.
According to the “2023 China Food Consumption Trend Report” released by Hungry Table, high-end dining establishments are under pressure, with the proportion of stores costing over 300 yuan per person steadily decreasing from October 2022 to April 2023 over the span of six months.
The “2023 China Consumer Insights and 2024 Outlook” report published by Nielsen IQ China shows that 43% of Chinese respondents plan to strictly control their overall spending, with 37% indicating a shift in consumption patterns to seek the best price or lower-priced products.