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THE FIRST POST, London, England
September 24, 2008
People
From Paris, France
Francois Simon, Le Figaro's secretive restaurant critic (right) and no stranger to controversy - he attacked Gordon Ramsay for providing "karaoke cuisine" just before his restaurant opened in Versailles earlier this year - has this week identified a terrible truth about life in France: restaurants and cafes are going bankrupt at an alarming rate as French diners, hit by the rising cost of living, give up eating out so often and, when they do, behave with uncharacteristic frugality.
As a result, around 3,000 restaurants and cafes across France closed in the first three months of this year. Bankruptcies are up 25 per cent year on year.
The smoking ban introduced this January hasn't helped, nor has the shift among Paris office workers towards a sandwich for lunch rather than a plat du jour. But the big problem, Simon says, is that French restaurant-goers have become much more careful about what they spend. They are skipping aperitifs, avoiding starters, drinking tap water instead of bottled even instead of wine - and passing on the coffee. More and more are sharing desserts, if they order one at all.
This has led to a war of nerves developing between diners and restaurant staff. Some customers are finding themselves harassed even ejected by angry waiters and maitre d's. At the Aux Lyonnais restaurant in Paris, owned by the celebrity chef Alain Ducasse, anyone who declines to order an aperitif is told that their meal "will take a long time to prepare". Says Simon: "This is a classic ploy."
At the Quincy restaurant, near the Gare de Lyon, two couples were recently shown the door when they chose not to order a starter. "How do you expect me to survive?" the owner asked when they complained.
Meanwhile, struggling French restaurateurs are still praying for a cut in VAT from 19.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent promised by President Chirac six years ago. President Sarkozy has revived the idea but it remains blocked in Brussels.
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Tour d'Argent restaurant - view on the Seine river
La Tour d'Argent, once the most famous restaurant in the world, with three Michelin stars and a reputation for unbridled luxury, has suffered a terrible ignominy: the new Michelin Guide to France, having demoted it in 1996 to two stars, has now cut it to one.
The penthouse restaurant, perched on the Left Bank of the Seine, is so swish it actually pays part of Notre Dame's electricity bill so that its clients can enjoy the glorious view of the illuminated cathedral.
While it still serves its famous signature dish canaton - pressed duck - a series of young chefs have been allowed to experiment in recent years and standards (as far as Michelin's shadowy inspectors are concerned) have faltered.
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People
From Munich, Germany
Inside the Hackerfestzelt beer tent during Day 3
of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany
THE FIRST POST's PIC OF THE DAY - September 24, 2008
Copyright: First Post Newsgroup IPR Limited
Francois Simon, Le Figaro's secretive restaurant critic (right) and no stranger to controversy - he attacked Gordon Ramsay for providing "karaoke cuisine" just before his restaurant opened in Versailles earlier this year - has this week identified a terrible truth about life in France: restaurants and cafes are going bankrupt at an alarming rate as French diners, hit by the rising cost of living, give up eating out so often and, when they do, behave with uncharacteristic frugality.
As a result, around 3,000 restaurants and cafes across France closed in the first three months of this year. Bankruptcies are up 25 per cent year on year.
The smoking ban introduced this January hasn't helped, nor has the shift among Paris office workers towards a sandwich for lunch rather than a plat du jour. But the big problem, Simon says, is that French restaurant-goers have become much more careful about what they spend. They are skipping aperitifs, avoiding starters, drinking tap water instead of bottled even instead of wine - and passing on the coffee. More and more are sharing desserts, if they order one at all.
This has led to a war of nerves developing between diners and restaurant staff. Some customers are finding themselves harassed even ejected by angry waiters and maitre d's. At the Aux Lyonnais restaurant in Paris, owned by the celebrity chef Alain Ducasse, anyone who declines to order an aperitif is told that their meal "will take a long time to prepare". Says Simon: "This is a classic ploy."
At the Quincy restaurant, near the Gare de Lyon, two couples were recently shown the door when they chose not to order a starter. "How do you expect me to survive?" the owner asked when they complained.
Meanwhile, struggling French restaurateurs are still praying for a cut in VAT from 19.6 per cent to 5.5 per cent promised by President Chirac six years ago. President Sarkozy has revived the idea but it remains blocked in Brussels.
______________________________________________________
Tour d'Argent restaurant - view on the Seine river
La Tour d'Argent, once the most famous restaurant in the world, with three Michelin stars and a reputation for unbridled luxury, has suffered a terrible ignominy: the new Michelin Guide to France, having demoted it in 1996 to two stars, has now cut it to one.
The penthouse restaurant, perched on the Left Bank of the Seine, is so swish it actually pays part of Notre Dame's electricity bill so that its clients can enjoy the glorious view of the illuminated cathedral.
While it still serves its famous signature dish canaton - pressed duck - a series of young chefs have been allowed to experiment in recent years and standards (as far as Michelin's shadowy inspectors are concerned) have faltered.
_______________________________________________________
People
From Munich, Germany
Inside the Hackerfestzelt beer tent during Day 3
of the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, Germany
THE FIRST POST's PIC OF THE DAY - September 24, 2008
Copyright: First Post Newsgroup IPR Limited
