Bad weather and lower spending hits restaurant trade

IN what is usually their busiest time of the year, restaurants are reporting massive cancellations because of the weather.

They also said people are spending less and drinking cheaper wine.

William Wong, owner of the Ambassador restaurant in Cork city, said about half of their bookings were cancelled over the last few weeks.

“It has been pretty bad, especially after such a tough year. We didn’t anticipate this weather at all. This is the last month of the year and a time when we can make a bit of money, but the weather is putting a dampener on everything,” he said.

At the upmarket Chapter One restaurant in Dublin, Ross Lewis said Christmas bookings are on a par with last year, except for the weather which destroyed early December given that there were about 80% cancellations.

“We’ve started to see last-minute cancellations and people turning up with fewer guests than then they reserved for, so that’s tough. January and February will be tough. The corporate business has started coming back for dinners, but not lunches. To be honest, it’s RIP for the corporate lunch,” he said.

One restaurant per day is closing in Ireland and 80% of establishments are running at a loss, according to a report by the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

Meanwhile, on a brighter note, Ronan Ryan of the Town Bar and Grill said they were the first people to get money from the IMF when officials visited the restaurant earlier this month.

“I was going to bill them for €85 billion but decided against it,” he said.

“The days when you started dinners with bottles of champagne and finished with Armagnac are gone.

“People used to be embarrassed to be poor, now they are embarrassed to be rich. It’s now about stealth wealth, not flash,” Mr Ryan added.

Barry Canny of Peploe’s restaurant in Dublin said that they are about 6% down on last Christmas due to the recession and the weather.

“No longer do we have the swashbuckling Armani suits.” Still, “we are extremely busy for Christmas. We cannot take any more people than we have. We’ve been like that since the start of Christmas.”