The Man Behind The Curtain: Leeds Michelin star restaurant to rebrand as 'surf-themed' Psycho Sandbar

The Michelin-star restaurant will close at the end of the year, before reopening as Psycho Sandbar in the same site in Vicar Lane. The Great British Menu judge said the rebrand was influenced by Brexit, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, which have transformed the food and drink industry.

Promising a “fish-heavy” restaurant and the same quality of food diners have come to love at The Man Behind The Curtain, O’Hare said Psycho Sandbar would be more versatile and accessible, with a “surf-shack” theme.

The restaurant is taking bookings for its current menu until December 31, when it will close for a short period in January for a refurbishment before reopening as Psycho Sandbar.

Announcing the news in a video on social media, O’Hare said: “Things need to change because the world has changed and I have changed…my team have changed.

“Our ability hasn’t, our vision hasn’t, but the world has. As an industry we’ve been hit by three major, major waves - Brexit was the first, we had the pandemic and then we had the cost of living crisis. That’s three huge things that impact the sector in such an enormous way.

“The new restaurant is going to be called Psycho Sandbar based on those three waves - a fish heavy, surf-shacky kind-of-feel restaurant that is brutalist in design, where you can eat beautifully-grilled fish, you can have pitta bread with plankton, you can have champagne, cocktails - you can do whatever you want.

“You could do six plates or you can have a whole roast duck if you want. We just want to categorise things in a way that’s like - this is the product, that’s what we’re going to do to it and that’s how much it costs if you want it. And you do, you really do.”

The Man Behind The Curtain, opened in 2014, is the only restaurant in Leeds to hold a Michelin Star and is known for pushing boundaries with its unconventional food, service and design. O’Hare said the new restaurant would be run by the same team.

He added: “What changes is our offering, our name and our outlook.”