There is a light and it never goes out…

...or so the maudlin refrain goes. Yet here we are with another unprecedented crisis, and I regret to inform you that to conserve energy the lights will only be on twice a week. Soz. A year after small businesses across the country weathered the, er, previous unprecedented crisis, it all feels a little like Groundhog Day. It will have escaped no one’s attention that restaurants up and down the country, faced with the fresh hell of energy renewal quotations, are staring down the barrel of closure once again. We can’t go on. We must go on. But for how long?

UK Hospitality have led the charge for sensible measures; a
VAT reduction, a business rates holiday, the reintroduction of
HMRC’s Time to Pay scheme and more. Unfortunately, our
government is as rudderless as ever - at the time of writing, the dozy Teflon twat whose non-stick coating finally wore out has just handed the baton to Truss, a leader who appears to have little to no discernible talent. Her first actions have been to appoint a climate sceptic and fossil fuel beneficiary to oversee our national efforts to address climate change, and provide temporary reprieve on domestic energy bills with the key objective of protecting energy company profits. I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I’m not holding my breath on significant relief coming any time soon.

The outlook for all of us is a million miles from the halcyon days of post pandemic when we shopped, scoffed and drunk with wild abandon. I write this staring at our ill-advised second dog, wondering whether he will, regrettably, become dinner should hospitality descend into the hellfire some predict. If so, I regret immensely choosing this gangly, bony little creature. We shall not eat well come the apocalypse.

So, will restaurants be wiped off the face of the planet? The
answer is, of course, no. My perspective is, astonishingly
enough, one of some optimism. A well-respected restaurateur who I look up to a great deal (and who would absolutely deplore a named inclusion) established his now wildly successful group in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The appetite for everyday luxuries and escapism, it appears, did not diminish quite so much as one may imagine in previous times of hardship.

That said, change, it’s a coming. For those who patronise
restaurants, the pressure applied to business and customer
alike is going to necessitate a collaborative belief in the
importance of dining out like never before. Pricing is going to become an increasing challenge – as suppliers go out of
business and there is a discernible scarcity of ingredients
expect restaurants to shoulder energy increases supply-chain side. The good and great will focus on more changeable menus and a return to the alchemy of humble ingredients elevated to godliness. Luxury ingredients will command prices here-to unimagined.

I also think restaurants, like ours, that serve exclusively tasting menus will have hard choices to come. I am a long-term believer that it is not possible to be all things to all people (it’s absolutely not), but to my mind we’re at a tipping point where maintaining a singular and rigid vision will become increasingly untenable. Flexibility is going to be key in pricing, opening hours, booking policies, menus and more. Creativity is king. Since launching Anarchy Tuesdays, it’s been encouraging to see collaboration in the city flourishing – more than ever we need to work together, to offer something different, and to provide people with a reason to leave the house beyond simply trying to find a place to get warm (on this point I must note that
there is nothing bleaker than living in a country that has made ‘warm banks’ a necessity through chronic mismanagement and an undeniable disdain for society’s most vulnerable).

I write this not as an elegy – there is enough sensationalism
and misery in the press as stands, which I don’t think helps. I write this as an invitation to fight. I established my restaurant to be a space for radical ideas and radical creativity and now, more than ever, I am convinced this is the way forward. I also note for the benefit of those who work in restaurants, restaurateurs should realise early that the stresses affecting businesses and customers will impact on their teams significantly both in and out of service. Beyond evolving to keep business tenable and trading, protecting jobs in the process, we can’t overlook the fact that this is a very personal, as well as a professional crisis. None of your team are immune to the added pressures that this winter may bring. A secure job is the bare minimum; mental health support, bridging loans, financial planning advice, all of this is necessary to help our teams weather the storm. If you’re not offering it, now is the time to start.

In any comment on these peculiar (often heart-breaking) times we live in, it would be remiss not to mention food in this country in its wider context. I am acutely aware that, if the worst case unfolds in this country and no meaningful action is taken, there are many who will be not debating menus they can afford, but debating meals. I consider this shameful, and an abject failure of a government long unfit for purpose. I believe that eating well is a fundamental right, and one that is increasingly under threat in this country. We’ve got two soon-to-be-announced events coming up that will support SIFA (a homelessness prevention and support charity in the city) – a small drop in the ocean of need, but an attempt to remain outward looking despite being in the stranglehold of the current crisis. I hope you will join us.

Reading the hospitality headlines, it’s easy to roll eyes at chefs crying “woe is me” over an inflated energy bill. And yet, whilst dining out, and certainly fine dining, is a luxury, it’s also a livelihood, not just for owners, but millions of talented hospitality professionals and suppliers across the country. And we can’t let the lights go out on them.