Wander restaurant to close as owner denied visa

Wander, a Stoke Newington based restaurant, has revealed it has been forced to temporarily close while Australian chef-owner Alexis Noble appeals a decision to deny her visa extension.

Noble announced the closure on the restaurant’s instagram page, also revealing she has been made to leave the country while she waits for the appeal.

She said: “Last week Wander was forced to close, hopefully temporarily. Last week I was informed that my visa extension was denied & I needed to leave the country. Whilst I will be appealing the decision, I currently am not allowed to legally work, so therefore I had to close Wander and cancel our reservations.

“It has been a very heartbreaking and stressful time, and it has taken a few days to consult with lawyers, figure out next steps and try to get over the shock of it all. Unfortunately I will be reaching out to everyone who has made reservations for the rest of the year and have to cancel them and Wander will no longer be open until this situation can be resolved.”

She added: “I don’t want to comment too much on my situation whilst I am appealing the decision, but after finally reopening and feeling like we were just getting back to normal it’s very painful to close again.

“Whilst I have always known my immigration status was temporary, after investing so heavily in both this business and the UK and after fighting so hard throughout the pandemic to survive, I naively never considered this to be a possibility.It is extremely heartbreaking and stressful to be forced to close again after all the months of forced closures due to Covid, but rather than give up, we are going to try & find a silver lining and use this time to create something.”