January 2011 Archives

I marvel, as I'm sure you do, at the more and more tempting and wallet-loosening restaurant deals being offered now by the newspapers. For example, The Times's "Eat out from £5". Some even include a glass of wine. I must declare that Maison Blanc is participating in The Times scheme, which seems to me appropriate enough for our café-type operation, as we are not full-fledged restaurants.

But at Brasserie Blanc We have not joined any of these arrangements and I'll explain why. Instead, we are rewarding our existing guests by giving them what is virtually a £10 note to spend with us in January. Our "Banque de Blanc" is handed to the guest along with their bill by the manager. We like this because it not only is a thank-you to our customers, but also an incentive to return.

Times are tough for everyone, and it is only natural that as restaurateurs we should react by offering an inducement to continue to eat out, when this item of expenditure is in danger of being excluded from the family budget.

On the face of it, there are no problems here at all; participating eateries are simply offering great value for hard times. But what is the real cost of these offers?

I am of course not talking about lower profits. It still feels like we are in recession, whatever the figures say; belts need to be tightened, and that is natural. My real issue is with the harm it is doing to the hard- fought victories we have made when it comes to the sourcing of quality, sustainable and ethical ingredients. Unrealistically low menu prices can make a mockery of all that. Good food is not cheap, and it never really has been. There is a price for quality, and for those of us who care about what we put on our guests' plates, there is an even higher price for ignoring this fact.

After all, the staff costs remain relatively the same. I know of no altruistic landlord who has reviewed the rent downwards to reflect the times. Most of every restaurant's fixed costs are up, and, of course, so is VAT. 

You will all remember - nobody who saw the final programme will forget it - that in the last series of "The Restaurant" I chose, against all the odds, JJ and James. Now they've just opened their new gaff, The London Cocktail Club (61 Goodge Street, London W1T 1TL. Tel 020 7580 1960). Hurrah.

As I wrote about them last December, JJ and James have many qualities that I respect: they are hard working, resilient, smart and they think on their feet. They have sound and mature business minds, they are creative, and they formed by far the strongest of the competing teams. They're both driven and hugely enthusiastic. And they have a concept, a raison d'être. Many of you may disagree with the choice I have made, as it is well known that I have chosen a chef that cannot cook!  But I can assure you that this particular weakness of JJ (that he cannot cook) will be swept away by his obvious talent for cocktail-making; the choice was made on his strengths not on his weakness. His cooking may be naïve, but his taste is immaculate. Having had JJ and James for a month, full on at Le Manoir, we made a hell of a start. Then the two Hart brothers, Sam and Eddie welcomed them to their wonderful tapas bar and restaurants, Fino, Barafina and Quo Vadis and very generously helped them to understand this business further.

I would also like to point out that my inspectors in the programme, Sarah Willingham and David Moore, have become full-fledged partners in this venture. JJ and James are also major shareholders: they have put their own money into the venture. We are also all indebted to Bacardi Brown Forman who have provided so much support and assistance as the concept has been turned into reality. We feel confident that we have made the right choice and it is already so rewarding to see how committed and hardworking they are. Sure, the business that we are creating will be different from most - and it will probably be eventful. But one thing I know for certain: it will not be boring!

Sarah very much influenced the concept of this venture; it is a celebration both of Britishness and of London's cosmopolitanism. Both the design and food reflect that. As Sarah says: "The London Cocktail Club has got a fantastic vibe about it, I am really proud to be involved and know that JJ and James are going to make it the success it deserves to be".

Of course David was involved in the whole process of acquiring the premises, and by virtue of being a neighbour at his restaurant Pied à Terre on Charlotte Street he will bring to The London Cocktail Club his knowledge and his eye for detail.

This month's 2.5% increase in VAT has caused despair in some quarters. Pubs, for some reason, think that another 10p on the price of a pint is more than their customers can bear.* This is clobbering hotels and restaurants. With our narrow margins, it will be extremely difficult to absorb the additional indirect tax burden; and in the case of establishments that are ambitious and are in the "luxury" business, the additions to the guests' bills are going to look scary to some of our customers. This means that the cost of excellence has increased. What are we to do? To cut corners or lower our standards is unthinkable.

If we do the maths from the customer's perspective, we discover the frightening fact that for a £100 bill, £16.66 goes straight to the government's coffers; turn this around: anyone receiving £83.34-worth of goods or services from us has to pay £100. On a deluxe room costing £600 the VAT element is nearly £100.

Why are we in this particular pickle? Simply put, it is because the Government has decided that the deficit has to be dealt with by a tax rise, and they have decided that a rise in VAT is less damaging than putting up the rate of income tax or national insurance. VAT is a tax on spending, and the Government argues that it's a progressive tax, as higher earners spend more of what they earn, and therefore pay a higher proportion of their income as VAT on what they consume. Moreover, the blow is softened in the UK as opposed to the rest of the EU, because there are many zero-rated items of expenditure, including food, children's clothing and books, and domestic fuel is on a reduced rate.

Mr Osborne claimed that a VAT increase was fairer than putting up income tax or national insurance: "Income tax and national insurance would have a more damaging impact on poorer people in our society".

To remind ourselves: the former Labour Government restored VAT to 17.5% last January, having previously reduced it to 15% for 13 months in order to stimulate consumption during the recession. Mr Osborne says he regards the rise to 20% (which is only 0.4% more than the standard rate is in France, 1% more than in Germany, though 2% more than in Spain) as permanent: "because it's a structural change to deal with a structural deficit".

There's no place like home. I feel so happy and lucky that I was able this year to be at home with my family in France, to celebrate both Christmas and the New Year, to wind down, and ease myself gently back to work in the congenial surroundings of my parents' house. I had a book to finish, and this was absolutely perfect, with breakfast served to me every day. My greatest cooking effort was teaching my son, Olivier, to make a Grand Marnier soufflé good enough to woo his girlfriend.

In France we have two Réveillons, or winter feasts. The first is on Christmas Eve and the second, called la Saint-Sylvestre, is on New Year's Eve. Poor Saint Sylvestre had nothing to do with auld lang syne, kissing under the mistletoe or the extravagant menu for the feast named for him: he was Pope from 314 to 335, when Constantine the Great was Emperor. It's just a coincidence that 31 January, the last day in the Gregorian calendar, is his feast day. (And the "la" doesn't reflect on his gender - it's simply short for "la fête de Saint Sylvestre.")
    
It always makes me smile to think about how much the family eats, and how we spoil ourselves on these occasions. Part of the réveillon menu is written in stone for every French family - and this is not a class thing. Everyone in France knows how to feast; it is the democratic part of our republican heritage! So between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day we drink thousands of bottles of Champagne and eat tonnes of foie gras. Statistics are available for 2005, for example, when the French consumed 19,000 tonnes. I can promise you most of this was eaten during the holidays, and that every village builder, plumber and postman got his share.