How to Make Fancy-pants Restaurants Cheaper: One Critic's Radical Ideas
London restaurant critic Nicholas Lander has some provocative suggestions in the Financial Times about how to cut prices or keep them down in high-end eateries as restaurateurs deal with higher food costs:
First the bad news. There is no doubt that menu prices in restaurants across the world are likely to rise quite significantly and, most probably, quite soon. Even those restaurateurs and chefs with harmonious working relationships with farmers and growers will be unable to escape the steep rises in a number of basic foodstuffs.
But the scale of the price rise will depend not just on how restaurateurs respond to this challenge but also how quickly they are prepared to jettison some of their practices, that have become costly irrelevances and often detract from the overall enjoyment of the meal.
Lander has some prescriptive measures in mind for restaurateurs. Will they take him up on any of them? Do you have some of your own?
- No reservations policies. This would certainly save diners money (reservationists do get paid), but if I am meeting meeting my wife for a special-occasion dinner, I don't want to wait an hour and a half for a table.
- Timed bookings, or "you can have a table for four at 8 p.m., but you must leave by 10 p.m. so that we can seat another party." I have never had a problem with this practice, but it does make many diners crazy because they feel it's "occasion interruptus" when a restaurant asks them to move on. Many people see this practice as a sign of unenlightened hospitality, to borrow and twist Danny Meyer's phrase.
- Eliminate the ceremonial "charger plate," the one that is on the table when you arrive only to be whisked away when you sit down. I'm sure the rationale for placing the plate there in the first place is that restaurateurs don't want you to sit down at a table that's not properly dressed. If the elimination of charger plates would reduce the cost of my meal, I'm all for it.
- Cut down on the array of amuse-bouches, breads, and petits fours. If I could save twenty bucks and get two fewer courses at Thomas Keller's Per Se, I suppose I would, but I don't think Keller is going to go for that. Those kinds of flourishes are what distiniguish one fancy-pants restaurant from another, and every four-star chef I know is so incredibly competitive they would not willingly give up any kind of edge. I love every component of the incredibly delicious bread basket at Del Posto, so I would be very unhappy if they eliminated it to save me $5 on my meal. Even at non-fancy-pants restaurants like Esca, the mackerel-white bean bruschetta freebie served to everyone is a lovely, welcoming touch.
- Waiters shouldn't a.) fuss with your napkins by folding and refolding them when diners get up or b.) spend inordinate amounts of time reciting every ingredient in every dish. I guess I don't disagree with either of these points, but I don't really buy the idea that restaurants would need a smaller staff as a result.
I think the question Lander is asking is this: Is there a way for restaurateurs to cut costs (or keep their costs down) and remain competitive while still making their customers feel well taken care of? Only restaurateurs, and not economists or critics, can answer that question.
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9 Comments:
It doesn't make much sense to me really... if a restaurant could cut costs, then they would probably either A) take the profit or B) find ways to use the money to serve the customers even better. Like yous aid about the competition between four-star and fancy pants restaurants, B seems most likely. I guess it's possible to mention a C, and that would be pass the savings onto the consumers. Really though, is Thomas Keller going to gain a greater following if his tasting menu dropped $20? He probably has a better grasp on the restaurant business than Nicholas Lander.
foodinmouth at 9:40AM on 10/02/07
Ed, you're right on the money. Here in the Land of Giant Portions, I've suggested that restaurants offer half-portions and charge 2/3 of the cost of the original, but I know I'm whistling in the wind there.
The fact is that for the great majority of the restaurants that average more than $100 a head, those folks at the table aren't there because they scrimped and saved to eat Chef Frou-frou's cooking, and there's little-to-no financial sense in wooing the scrimp-n-savers unless the place is running dangerously empty.
My guess is that amuses, petit fours and fresh flowers are among the first items cut when times get tight.
lemons at 10:11AM on 10/02/07
The article reads like the American response to foreign competition: the Pinto. The approach is so flawed, it's inexplicable. Maybe if we chop down all those damn trees, Mr. Lander will have a better view of the forest.
jayfallon at 10:44AM on 10/02/07
I would be very sad if restaurants cut down on the amuse-bouches, breads, palate cleansers, petits fours, etc. Sometimes, that's one of the most memorable and unexpected parts of the meal. Not to mention the breakfast treat you sometimes get at the end of a meal!
kathryn at 10:46AM on 10/02/07
I wish restaurants would get rid of the "free" bread basket. Charge $5 for it and people will order it if they want it. Why fill up on bread when a delectable meal awaits? If I feel like eating bread, I go to a bakery.
lisenz at 12:24PM on 10/02/07
In the past week I've spent between $2 and $278 for meals for me and my husband. For the top dollar, we got everything: amuse-bouches, breads, waiters telling us every ingredient, a luxurious setting, etc. If less would have been offered at this restaurant, but was cheaper, we would have found the more expensive competitor with all the bells and whistles. For $2, we got two Mexican pastries in a carry out place. Exactly what we wanted for $2.
People want exclusive, top end, outrageous restaurants. They also want cheap takeout pastries, and everything in between.
churchka at 12:33PM on 10/02/07
London restaurant critic Nicholas Lander has some provocative suggestions in the Financial Times about how to cut prices or keep them down in high-end eateries as restaurateurs deal with higher food costs:
This article is focused on how to create a cheaper ("less expensive") product for the consumer, in this case the restaurant-goer.
Yet although possible higher food costs were mentioned, what wasn't mentioned as part of the economic equation being considered is that currently many workers in mid-level restaurants work in difficult conditions, many without benefits and at a very low rate of pay.
If the the same level of employee benefits were available to many workers in the restaurant business as are commonly available to workers in most other businesses today, the tab for many a restaurant meal would immediately rise. If one is to think of the food costs and the farmers, one should think of those who labor to wash the dishes, sweep the floors and peel the carrots and onions. The consumer is getting a bargain today in many restaurants due to the fact of the sad state of employee compensation in some parts of the restaurant business.
To my mind, aside from looking at spreadsheets, Lander's suggestions have a rather Dickensian tone. if one wants to purchase a BMW, it is unlikely that one would want to have parts of the transmission torn out so that it would be less expensive. If you want a BMW, you want a BMW and of course, have to pay for it.
On the other hand, there are restaurants (such as Momofuku Ssam) which are altering the shape of high-end dining and creating new "fine-dining products" so to speak, where some standard operational practices have been discarded for a less expensive though still "fine" or "high-end" dining experience yet on different terms, without a sense of loss or apple-parings tasted within.
Karen Resta at 3:36PM on 10/02/07
I suppose the obvious answer is that if there is something a fancy restaurant can do to cut costs without sacrificing profit, then they are already doing it. If the price of foodstuffs rises, then my guess is that there will be more restaurants doing what Nougatine does: serving lower cost proteins with most of the higher cost fussiness. I'm actually pretty happy with this solution -- I know that I am paying for all of the extra service, amuse bouches, petit fours, etc., those are some of the reasons I go out to nice restaurants.
mdp at 10:15PM on 10/02/07
if I am meeting meeting my wife for a special-occasion dinner, I don't want to wait an hour and a half for a table.
I completely agree, but I can't tell you how many times I've had reservations and still had to wait 20 minutes for my table to be ready.
SAMiller at 12:59PM on 10/03/07