Hatch & Sons closes both cafe locations citing drop in Dublin footfall

‘Simply not enough tourists or office workers’ to sustain sales, say Kemp sisters

Food entrepreneurs Peaches Kemp (left) and Domini Kemp. Photograph; Frank Miller
Food entrepreneurs Peaches Kemp (left) and Domini Kemp. Photograph; Frank Miller

Hatch & Sons, the Dublin restaurant company owned by sisters Peaches and Domini Kemp, has announced that it will close both of its operations, which were located in the Hugh Lane Gallery and under the Little Museum of Dublin on St Stephen's Green, in 2022.

The food entrepreneurs wrote on the website for the business that they were “disappointed” to make the decision, but that from 2020 there was “simply not enough tourists or office workers to sustain sales in any meaningful way”. Despite attempts to pivot the business to adjust to the pandemic, “it was clear we had lost 96 per cent of our revenues for 2021”, they said.

Hatch & Sons, which began in 2012, specialised in Irish produce, including blaas, smoked fish, farmhouse cheese and craft beers. It described itself as an “all-day kitchen” – rather than a cafe – for Dubliners, office workers and tourists.

Jenny Moran from Luncheonette will operate at the Hugh Lane premises, while the future of its location at No 15, St Stephen's Green, is unknown.

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The Kemps added that they hoped to one day find a new home for Hatch & Sons, “or maybe Hatch & Daughters”.