IN THE LATEST SURPRISING CLOSURE,

Hong Kong foodies will be forced to bid farewell to Okra, the punk-themed izakaya in Sai Ying Pun that opened in 2016. The fun, edgy and intimate eatery struck a chord with innovative dishes like dry-aged sashimi and its solid sake menu. After getting married last year, chef-owner Max Levy and sake sommelier Izaskun Levy will be taking a sabbatical to celebrate their honeymoon and spend time with his family in the US. By the time you read this, the ground floor izakaya will have closed while the upstairs omakase dining room will remain open until the end of the month. What’s next? Before the pandemic hit, the couple had planned to open a restaurant in Ibiza. Their time out will give them a chance to plot their forthcoming chapter. “Our focus right now is to actually just get some oxygen, so to speak,” Max says. We’re hoping they keep a hand in the Hong Kong dining scene. As Levy was fond of saying, “At Okra, the only things that you can always expect are surprises.”