Today, Aqua Restaurant Group announced that it is closing its operations in the Legation Quarter. Spanish restaurant Agua, Japanese restaurant Shiro Matsu and both Fez Bar and Hex Bar will all cease to trade at Ch’ien Men 23.

Here is the full press release from Aqua Group:

“Since the opening of Agua, Shiro Matsu, Fez Bar and Hex Bar in Ch’ien Men 23 in 2008, we are honored by the support shown to us by the people of Beijing. Agua and Fez Bar are proud to have been named:

City Weekend Reader Awards “Best Restaurant 2009” - Agua
City Weekend Reader Awards “Best Service” - Agua
City Weekend Reader Awards “Best Chef” - Agua
Time Out Beijing (English) “Best International Cuisine” - Agua
Time Out Cocktail Shakedown “Best Bartender and Cocktail 2009” - Fez Bar
Time Out Beijing (Chinese) “Most Beautiful Bar 2009” - Fez Bar

It is with regret that our landlord at our current location Ch’ien Men 23 at 23 Qian Men Dong Da Jie, a company known as Legation Quarter Ltd., whose ultimate majority shareholder is HKC (Holdings) Ltd. in Hong Kong, has not shown us and the other tenants at Ch’ien Men 23 the same support.  Legation Quarter Ltd. has consistently failed to meet its promises and commitments to us and the other tenants to maintain and manage Ch’ien Men 23 as Beijing’s premier fine dining complex resulting in damage to our businesses and day to day operations.

Legation Quarter Ltd’s behavior has reached the point where, among other things, they harass our operations by switching the power on and off at will. We are unable to operate in this hostile environment and as a result we deeply regret that we have no choice but to close our operations at Ch’ien Men 23 with immediate effect. We thank the other tenants for their support – we know they have also suffered the same problems with Legation Quarter Ltd for far too long.

We hope to reopen Agua, Shiro Matsu and Fez Bar soon in a new location and we aim to continue to serve the people of Beijing with outstanding contemporary cuisine and hip cocktails. We thank you all for your support and we look forward to announcing our new location in Beijing soon.“

Last week the Beijinger broke the story with this post on the “Legation Quarter Plight”. However, we were informed incorrectly that the power cuts at Agua were due to unpaid rent and we would like to apologize for suggesting this.

A spokesperson from the Aqua Group also wished it to be stressed that they have fulfilled all obligations to staff and all our suppliers, by not only making sure the staff have jobs to go to but that they have been paid all their benefits and salary as per labor bureau requirements.

Stay tuned to the blog as we bring you breaking news on the situation with the remaining Legation Quarter tenants.