Sostare: Bar Veloce Closes its Doors

There was sad news for the city's wine set Wednesday when it emerged that Bar Veloce in 1949 The Hidden City has closed its doors for the final time.

Suggestions swirled of problems with the landlord in the Sanlitun south complex, but China owner/operator Leon Lee quashed those rumors, saying that it had simply been a case of the sums not adding up.

"Bar Veloce was open for a year and we did some projections for the coming year," said Lee on Wednesday night. "We found that it wasn't going to be worth it for our investors."

Bar Veloce opened to fine reviews in the middle of 2012, and we had thought the trendy spot would be a front runner in the city's developing wine scene for a long time to come.

Lee said: "It's never nice to close a bar [...] maybe it was too casual and too advanced for this market at this time."

Asked about the possibility of opening another wine bar elsewhere Lee said: "Frederik (Twomey, of the original Bar Veloce in New York) is considering another city."

Bar Veloce was popular with a set of regulars who will now need to look elsewhere for the bar's signature high quality/low pretension approach.

We'll keep you updated on any more developments regarding Lee and Bar Veloce, and the now vacant 1949 The Hidden City space.