Tonight:
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Full-up: top restaurants shake off credit crunch
Anna Davis and Ellen Widdup23 Apr 2008
London's top restaurants are weathering the credit crunch but middle-market venues are suffering.
Sought-after dining rooms including Le Gavroche and The Ivy are all fully booked tonight, despite the financial uncertainty and a crackdown on City expense accounts.
Bob Cotton of the British Hospitality and Restaurant Association said: "We are finding in both the hotel and restaurant sector that the top end of the market and the very bottom or value end are holding up really well. The mid-market is the one starting to suffer.
"This means the likes of Le Caprice are pretty strong, as are the likes of Burger King and Travel Inn. It is everything in between which feels the effects of the credit crunch.
"The mid-market will see the most changes because fewer British tourists are coming to London and local people do not have the same amount of ready money to spend."
Restaurant Bistro 1 has seen its Soho branch, aimed at office workers, taking less money than when it opened in 2000, but its Covent Garden venue is flourishing with the tourist trade. The two restaurants offer the same menu, which includes a threecourse set-price dinner menu for £10.90, as well as lunch for £7.90.
Administration manager Chengiz Ulusahin said: "Our food is mid-price and our branch in Soho attracts business people but overall it is not doing that well for obvious reasons - offices in the areas are closing down. We are trying to recover our losses by teaming up with package holiday companies and offering group deals. We don't know what the future holds."
Website Toptable.co.uk, which helps diners book restaurants, has put together tips on budget dining, including supporting the Standard's Water on Tap campaign by asking for tap water rather than bottled.
Managing director Chris Wood said: "High-profile restaurants are still seeing large numbers through the door but those people are spending less, choosing more budget bottles of wine for example.
"Middle-range restaurants are having really tough times because customer volume is down as well as customer spend."
Paul Campbell, chief executive of Clapham House, which owns chains such as Tootsies and Gourmet Burger Kitchen, said: "We are the low end of the price range and benefiting from the slowdown in spend. It is only a bit more expensive than eating at home. The category that will find it tough is the £20-£30-a-head restaurants that feel like a proper spend."
