WEBVTT - Your Invite To Power Lunch 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.120 When you were born, you were met with a smile, 0:00:02.279 --> 0:00:06.160 eye contact and a meal and ever since, when you're 0:00:06.160 --> 0:00:09.959 met with that, you're transport times the most important point 0:00:10.000 --> 0:00:12.720 in your life and probably feel quite good. Slad him 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:21.720 on the bum. I'm Franciela. We're back in the London studio, 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:24.720 and I'm David Merritt, also in the London studio. And 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.639 this is in the City, Bloomberg's podcast that connects you 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:29.960 to the stories at the heart of the City of London. 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.000 So Francine. Last week we were going to do a 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.840 Jubilee special all about the restaurants scene in London, and 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.400 we were talking to Syn Yessen, who's the owner of 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:43.400 One Lombard Street, which is a big city lunch institution, 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.919 and Bill not who's a Bloomberg food writer. And Bill 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.280 had written this fantastic article about the power lunch being 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:51.720 back in the City of London. So we went down 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.920 to One Lombard. We pretended to drink Martini's chinking water 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.200 glasses and had a long conversation and then we just thought, 0:00:58.200 --> 0:00:59.639 what there are two things wrong with this. First of all, 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.920 France scene is not here, and I protested a lot 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.240 test is you're really upset and we thought we just 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:06.960 got to make this a bigger episode. There's so much 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:09.120 to un pack about the restaurants scene in London, in 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:12.280 the city, but also beyond. You cannot do a food 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.080 episode without me. I'm like, I feel like I'm the 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:17.080 food queen because if I'm not eating it, I'm cooking it. 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.920 And everybody loves London food. One of the questions is 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.600 do we have the right infrastructure and actually is is 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.840 it just too expensive? And is the government helping or hindering? 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.160 You know, when you compare it to cities around the world, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:31.480 the sort of government support that's gone in And also 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:33.320 you know, in this country we've got a bigger inflation 0:01:33.360 --> 0:01:35.160 problem than the rest of the G seven. We've got 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.480 a worse economic outlook, and you know London rents are 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:41.160 still sky high. You can't get the staff. Of course, 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:44.399 Brexit is still being felt. Is it a good time 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:46.240 to open a restaurant or not. So we're getting our 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:48.680 two star guests back, right, They're coming back and we're 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.680 going to speak without the Martinis here in the studio, 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:55.400 without the margin or the mcgronies. But we will go 0:01:55.520 --> 0:01:59.840 off site, or you'll go off site. But I demanded, Dave. 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:01.840 The reality is that we demand to do some field 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:05.680 reporting for this episode, so stay tuned for report from Sweetings. 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:08.320 Dave has been. I've never been. It's actually considered the 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.959 oldest fish and oyster restaurant in London and it's conveniently 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:14.600 right next door to Bloomberg HQ in the heart of 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.840 the city of London. But first our conversation with Thorn 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:19.960 and Bill, Bill, we were trying to think about what 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:23.680 London was as a food capital. How does it compared 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.480 to other European capitals. I think we have an awful 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:28.800 lot of breadth, perhaps not quite the same depth, but 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.720 I think you can eat more cuisines in London probably, 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.359 I mean by by far than in any other You're 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:38.079 a capital I can think of, partly because we don't 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:40.839 have an awful lot of British or English restaurants, so 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.120 because because English food isn't very nice. I think what 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:46.480 we call modern British is fine, but that borrows an 0:02:46.480 --> 0:02:50.000 awful lot from the French ship. Whereas if you go 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.640 to Rome, as you well know, you will find almost 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:55.640 all Italian restaurants. There will be a few others France 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.720 parents the same. Sorry, Dave, you don't like the jellied eel, 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.480 I mean fan of prime mash but I'm not sure. 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:04.600 But it's not supposing that the Cockneys took so readily 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.000 to rationing during the Second World War, I think so 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:11.280 does it have more Michelin stars at other parts in Europe? 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:14.320 Or it feels like you have to, you know, remarget 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:19.120 your house sometimes. I know eating as is expensive, but 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:22.600 then try Paris. Parasi isn't cheap either. I'm sure Paris 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:24.000 has more mis shown stars than we do. It certainly 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.560 has more three style wach down restaurants, but London's sort 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:29.120 of catching up. But we have a lot of interest 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:32.400 around the one star level. Um, I think with a 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:36.560 whole host of different cuisines. Um we have Chinese restaurants 0:03:36.560 --> 0:03:40.080 with one star. We have we now have a Ekoi 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:43.000 which is an African restaurant sort of based on sort 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.240 of a modern take on Nigerian food, with two stars. 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:49.000 So it's a it's a for for a curious gourmet. 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:51.480 It's a fascinating city. And have you seen a chain 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:53.440 sorrow And since you know there's twenty three years with 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:56.040 an opening one Lombard right here in the city, and 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:57.880 you would never come to the city twenty years ago 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.640 for a great mayor would you know, you wouldn't come 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.720 here unless you worked here and then you'd um try 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:05.360 and get out of here as quickly as possible when 0:04:05.360 --> 0:04:07.200 work was over and head for the West end or 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.520 um and certainly not there were there were no nothing 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.880 exciting going on in terms of food. Twenty three years 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.599 ago when I owned won Lombard Street, there were lots 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:19.040 of people who said forget about it, and those you 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.200 didn't say forget about it said, um, the city is 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.800 a graveyard for people who have tried to develop an 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.880 evening business. I thought that was very heartening. But you 0:04:28.000 --> 0:04:30.160 did it anywhere. We're still here and we've even got 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:34.400 breakfast as well, which is great. So you opened one 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:37.599 Lombard Street, you're you were awarded the square miles first 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.120 Michelin Star. That's right. When was that? What did it 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.680 feel like? It felt amazing and it's it's a really 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:48.040 big incentive for staff mainly. I find that it still 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:52.159 is for staff mainly, and maybe over the years less 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:56.159 so for for guests. I think when when people didn't 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:59.279 go out as much, they've been in search of a 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.479 treat that would glow their minds. Now, most people go 0:05:02.520 --> 0:05:05.000 out two or three times a week and I'm not 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:08.679 in the mood for that kind of intense experience. Maybe 0:05:08.720 --> 0:05:11.479 it's a it's a six monthly experience or twice a year. 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:18.120 Actually it represents the change in hospitality throughout London, which 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.520 is what atmosphere. It's much more about the It's about 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.280 much more than the food. It's about the ambience to 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:29.240 service and something you would like to experience several times 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:31.599 a week. And then the people you meet that as well, 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.240 because you wrote about the you know, the return of 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:35.640 the power lunch in the city and of course you 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:38.279 know everyone to come back to work or companies are 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.440 trying to get people back to work, but you know 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:43.200 coming in for a meal, people coming in less for 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:44.960 the meal and actually to do business. They're coming to 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:48.800 meet their colleagues and so actually, I mean, you're not 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:50.280 going to come in to the city and sit in 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:51.680 front of a screen all day. You can do that 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:56.919 at home. I get to go out for lunch occasionally, 0:05:57.240 --> 0:05:58.640 and that's what people have seemed to be doing that, 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.240 which is great. So you know, as Saren said to me, 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:02.560 if you want to close the deal, don't do it 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:04.640 over zoom, do it over lunch. That you've seen people 0:06:04.640 --> 0:06:06.960 coming into this bit of London and staying and having 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.479 full you know, the full evening with lots of bottles 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:12.120 of wine, and there is that people come in to 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:13.960 go out, as Bill said, So if they come in 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:16.880 for three days, they tend to go out breakfast, lunch 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.960 and dinner. Possibly there's no wait anyone, So they're going out. 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.440 They're going out to eat three times a day. Monitor 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:25.560 who are these people? I want to meet these people 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.000 and what do they do and what did they do 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.280 for a living. But I think Starns right when he 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.360 stresses the ambiance and any restaurant right now, because there's 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:35.640 tough times for restaurants. Prices are going up, overheads are 0:06:35.640 --> 0:06:37.720 going up. If you don't give people a warm welcome 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:39.640 and remind people of why they fell in love with 0:06:39.680 --> 0:06:41.840 restaurants in the first place, and give them something more 0:06:41.880 --> 0:06:44.839 than we got used to these meal kits during lockdown. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:47.680 You know, that's such a tiny fraction of what a 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.800 restaurant offers. A good restaurant offers. So if you don't, 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:53.680 if you don't smile, you're gonna lose your customers. So 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.720 what was lockdown, Like did you ever feel like I 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.920 couldn't cope? It was as bad as you can imagine. 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:04.000 It was overnight saddled with a very very busy machine 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:08.080 turning out expenses and serial income. And it stayed pretty 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.720 much like that for two years, only interrupted by some 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.400 signals sometimes that we could open again and have some 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:18.320 customers back. And every time we were close back down, 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:21.720 it was starting stop and it was very difficult. Did 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:26.040 you feel like you had government support help? I daresay 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.520 I don't feel that much. I think there was government confusion, 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.440 like everyone was confused from the start, and it meant 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:37.640 that we had to survive on our own. And those 0:07:37.680 --> 0:07:43.000 of those businesses who could find capital and support the 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:46.680 business have survived, and a lot of businesses who couldn't 0:07:47.160 --> 0:07:50.240 not because they were bad businesses, they haven't survived. I mean, 0:07:50.240 --> 0:07:52.240 I'll give you a comparison and have a colleagues through 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.640 restaurants in New York, Paris and London. In New York, 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.920 for the same sized restaurant over the course of the pandemic, 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:02.600 they've got a million dollars of support to keep the 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.320 business going and to keep the jobs going. In Paris, 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.760 they've got four hunderd euros in London they got sixteen pounds. 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:11.960 So it reflects a different attitude, doesn't it in these 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:15.000 cities to the restaurant industry overall and the importance of 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.480 it to the city. Do you think London? I guess 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:19.440 it's the council's, isn't it. And it's the government as 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:24.000 a whole don't appreciate and support the hospitality industry as 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:28.440 they should. I think you're right. Take outdoor seating for instance. Um, 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:34.480 there is massive amounts of spaces that are unutilized that 0:08:34.520 --> 0:08:37.400 could earn an income and pay tax if we put 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:40.400 tables and chairs outside, we would have. They ripped o 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:42.640 the rules right and every pavement was covered in in 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:44.800 for a short while and then a lot of a 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:46.800 lot of those permissions have been pulled back. I mean 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.720 we felt that were not batt There's a there's a 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:54.400 completely empty alleyway next door which we've applied for and 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.800 we keep being rejected on the big basis. They put 0:08:57.840 --> 0:08:59.720 it in the Queen's speech. It was it was. There 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.360 was a there was a line in the queen speech, 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:03.400 or as and addendum to the Queen's speech saying that 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.880 her Majesty wants fresco dyning fresco dining for her, and 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:12.760 the Corgi swich is all rare. Well. I think you're right. 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.559 I think this is perhaps to do with London what 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:19.240 Britain generally not treating, not treating food as culture. But 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:21.760 this was not, I mean, it's not in the British culture. 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.400 Right leet outside al Frisco. I mean, for one, the 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:27.480 weather is not always clement, not necessarily helpful, but that 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:29.400 you can go to Copenhagen or you go to Amsterdam 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:31.360 and you will find more percentage of tables outside than 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.600 you do in London. In Copenhagen, I'm fun Denmark. In 0:09:34.640 --> 0:09:37.800 Copenhagen during winter at the whole of Newhound is full 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:41.400 of outdoor seating with heaters and blankets, and people are 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:45.160 sitting outside just like they do after ski And it's 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.400 just a matter of maximizing what you have got now 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.680 that you have fewer days if you're in the city, 0:09:51.720 --> 0:09:54.800 you have fewer days to take the money to pay 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.600 for the rent and pay your staff. Then it would 0:09:58.679 --> 0:10:01.040 be nice to have our of things helping you out 0:10:01.040 --> 0:10:03.960 of this. Also to make up for the losses over 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:08.320 two years and the visibility of a restaurant without door 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:12.800 seating helps all the trade. It's not just those tables outside, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:14.599 even if you just had them sitting there with a 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.719 couple of people enjoying a glass of wine. Fewer days 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:20.800 because people work from home or and soek has been 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:24.760 compressed to three days. Really, I mean it's massively busy. 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.839 Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, Friday dead. Monday is quite busy. 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.000 In fact, some people are now saying they'd rather come 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:33.240 in Monday and Friday because it's too busy on Tuesday, 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:36.360 Wednesday and Thursday. Said hopefully it'll even out a little bit. 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:38.560 So that's if that's where we've landed in terms of 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.280 the working week. I mean there are still big sort 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.120 of storm clouds, aren't there on the horizon For the economy. 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.840 Inflation is a massive problem, particularly I think Britain's got 0:10:47.840 --> 0:10:50.439 the worst inflation profile and growth profile out of the 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:52.160 G seven at the moment. I mean, what's happening to 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:56.319 your costs and how are you able to absorb them 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.319 or not? And is there gonna be another wave of 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:03.080 restaurant clothed us with the economic circumstance. Well, I mean, 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.680 let's start with the two biggest ones staff costs and 0:11:05.720 --> 0:11:12.120 premises costs, and staff cost has gone up that generally speaking, 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.680 I think most restaurants will have passed on UM. There's 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.800 nothing in the margin to give UM, so it's more 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:22.880 expensive to go out. The second thing, premises cost depends 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:26.560 on who you speak to. Genuinely speaking, the market had 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:33.400 was completely overheated before lockdown. It was very competitive and expensive. 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:35.040 I think there's a little bit of a reset in 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.080 the property market, and it may be a sense of 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.720 more reasonable rents around the corner. But what about energy, 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:42.559 because that's the thing that's really hurting everyone. Isn't a 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:46.559 energing outrageous? I mean, I can give you an example 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.920 from Active minority restaurant here in Bloomberg Arcade. If you 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:54.160 have some spare electricity to send our way, be very happy. 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.560 We paid three thousand pounds a month for electricity build 0:11:57.559 --> 0:11:59.679 and last month it was ten thousand parts. Sorry, what's 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:03.640 your biggest headache? And energy? Food shortage? I mean, I 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:05.960 you know, I can't get a table to places where 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.200 I want to go. So it feels like the restaurant 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.960 businesses is doing okay. It is, it is doing okay. 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:14.240 It's been but there's the challenges now that you have 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:19.120 compression of demand and then spiraling cost, which you we 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.640 are lucky compared to other industries because we can we 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.880 can more or less pass it on, not all of it. 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:27.520 But the other side of it is we have been 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.720 forced to and this is good news. We've been forced 0:12:29.760 --> 0:12:32.960 to look for efficiencies that maybe we were a little 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.280 bit slow at finding before, and that is I think 0:12:36.320 --> 0:12:38.880 that's very exciting. You know. It's a way we deal 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.040 with the flow of staff in the restaurant, the ordering 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:44.679 and payment out. Lena at the end, I remember being 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:46.800 at a book launch for in Genois, the former PepsiCo 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:49.120 chief executive, and she was joking that actually she was 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:51.600 in a fancy hotel and couldn't get room service because 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:54.160 they just didn't have enough staff. Now this was about 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.280 twelve months ago, So has it you know, is it 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:02.160 just as difficult to get staff? It was impossible and 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.520 now it's just very difficult. And there's a bit of 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.360 light at the end of the tunnel. There's an enormous 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:13.000 shortage of skilled workers. And the government's policy on this, 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:16.200 I have to say that they've it's got to change, 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:20.120 and it's because of Brexit. Right, is that partly because 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.719 of Brexit. Brexit has certainly not helped. And when I've 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:27.040 got several Danish people lined up to work in a 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.959 Scandinavian restaurant here and I can't hire them, it seems 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:33.800 ridiculous when we can't get anyone. Um, so we if 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:38.280 we've got a t cvs for a senior job position before, 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.160 we get three now and it's and those three are 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.880 genuinely not as qualified. On top of that, the people 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.240 who turn up. A lot of people don't turn up 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.360 for interviews. Some people turn up for interviews and we 0:13:49.480 --> 0:13:54.960 never hear back because they're not busy because what they've 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:57.839 accepted another job where there's also a change in mentality. 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:01.600 And I think with a lot of the digital online culture, 0:14:01.679 --> 0:14:04.599 you know, it's easy to cancel something with just a 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.760 flick of the thumb. You don't really have to there's 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.240 no courtesy involved. Are we in a crossroads where people 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.960 want to go out and party when inflation is going up, 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:13.480 so you don't really know what happens in the next 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.280 twelve months where there could be a little bit of 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.240 a lot of the Roaring twenties And then hopefully with 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.360 hindsight and We're not going to repeat the end of 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.040 the Roaring twenties with a big crash. But I think 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.640 in terms of if the restaurants offer right now, it's 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:35.680 it's amazing. But if restaurants offer something good atmosphere, jolly 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:39.240 good service and you feel welcome, good food, fair value 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:42.680 prices in a good location, um, I think there's prospect 0:14:42.680 --> 0:14:44.760 of doing very well over the next many years. Well 0:14:44.840 --> 0:14:47.360 do you see you see the pipeline of new openings 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:49.720 across the city. Is that is there's still stuff coming out, 0:14:49.720 --> 0:14:52.560 people still putting in money in investment into new openings 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:54.360 or is that starting to try up? But though they 0:14:54.400 --> 0:14:56.360 really are and some quite exciting things. I mean, there 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:58.000 has been a big chair and especially in the mid 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.640 market where I think a lot operators chain operators in 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.280 particularly weren't doing enough to keep the customers, and so 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.880 a lot of the chain restaurants have closed down, but 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.640 at that in turn opens up premises. I saw, for example, 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.200 Thomas Perry, very gifted chef proprietor at Bratt just at 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:16.320 the road from here in shortage has taken over an 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:18.960 old Byron Burger site in big streets and so so 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:23.200 less of the kind of the cookie cutter chains, more independent, 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:25.960 innovative that's going to make good things. I think that's 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:28.280 h And you know, it's a buyer's market as far 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:32.440 as as far as diners are concerned, because a lot 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.800 of places that don't make the effort, we're going to 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.840 be shutting their doors. You had a fun anecdote about 0:15:38.480 --> 0:15:44.600 someone partying for like a month in your restaurant. That 0:15:46.080 --> 0:15:50.200 member of staff there was he did leave in between, 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:54.160 but he did. He booked our new private member's cocktail 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:58.720 bell for private lunch and had a big lunch there. 0:15:59.280 --> 0:16:01.000 We could hardly get them out when they were having 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:04.680 a cronies at six thirties, still um and they meet 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:10.600 p M after lunch. Yes, they moved upstairs and continued 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:14.120 in the barn, the brosary. But not only that. As 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:16.760 he left, he booked for next Wednesday, and for next Wednesday, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.400 and he booked two wednesdays a month for the next 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:23.240 three months, same lunch, same same room. And he said, 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:27.760 way go anywhere, Sace. He seemed to made it very 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.320 very easy for everyone. What's your top tip going to 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.800 a restaurant? I was always told, you know, choose a 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.760 second bottle of wine on the list that I'm afraid 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.000 restaurant has got wise to that one about twenty years ago. Wait, 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.560 I've been buying the second one for every wine. Every 0:16:45.560 --> 0:16:49.720 good wine is the should have the obvious expensive choice 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.640 for people who like that, should have the value choice 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:56.280 for people who love that. And also, which I like, 0:16:56.440 --> 0:17:00.520 is to find the um interesting wine which is really 0:17:00.520 --> 0:17:03.800 well priced for people who know about wine. So there's 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:06.879 something for everyone. And I actually, if there is a 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:09.560 wine ray to familia often say I'd like to spend 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:14.520 fifty pounds. I like white Burgundy, and then I say, well, 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:20.000 good luck, no, but you know, give them a price 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:21.879 and a taste and then ask them to come up 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:25.240 with a suggestion. Can I ask you all, including Dave Merritt, 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:29.280 a question about what's your secret sauce to host the 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:33.159 best inner party there is? This is This is a 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.560 great question because if it divers it into restaurants, the 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:40.960 most important ingredient is the people you mix, and that's 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:42.800 the thing you don't have any control over in the restaurant, 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:45.600 but you do. And of course the next ingredient is 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:48.680 a lot of booze and some nice food. And then 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.600 I think you're off. Even if the seats are uncomfortable. 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:53.600 But if you don't have great people, it's going to 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:55.159 be hard with no matter how good the food or 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.760 the drink is. And in a restaurant, when you especially 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:00.520 if you're a new restaurant, you have no control over 0:18:00.600 --> 0:18:02.280 it comes into the room and you have no control 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.639 over you're seating people next to that the atmosphere and 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:07.200 a new restaurant is going to be a little bit 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.960 like that. Whereas if you have an established restaurant full 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.480 of regulars, you can do that. You treated as a 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.000 dinner party, and we drizzle the room with people, We 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:17.720 put them in the seats they want we put We 0:18:17.840 --> 0:18:20.800 never put people from the same organization back to back 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:22.919 next to each other, and you make you mix it 0:18:23.080 --> 0:18:24.880 like that, and you have you don't put a romantic 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:27.160 couple right next to a couple who's about to close 0:18:27.200 --> 0:18:29.600 the deal. And if you don't think about these things, 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:32.160 you only have two out of the three main ingredients. 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:35.720 What's your secret bill? As far as dinner parties go, 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:38.840 I would say the most the biggest mistake people make 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:41.040 is to make it too elaborate and spend all the 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:44.920 time in the kitchen or fussing or failing about and 0:18:45.960 --> 0:18:49.520 actually just make sure you've prepared things sensibly and make 0:18:49.560 --> 0:18:51.239 sure you've got time to talk to your guests. Um. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.359 And that's that's the secret source. That's uh, that's what 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:56.520 oils the wheels of a good dinner party is making 0:18:56.520 --> 0:18:59.240 sure that everybody's happy, everybody's drinks stopped up, and everybody's 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.600 getting on well with each The food is the food 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.800 can still be wonderful, but don't end up doing everything. 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:09.879 L Let me neat, as they say, says, I'm going 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:11.800 to try and get an invited to Dave Merritt's house 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.640 for dinner. Well expect my secret is to ask Mrs 0:19:15.640 --> 0:19:21.240 me cook. I'll make the McGrain. Thank you so much, 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:27.879 both of you. I'm so hungry after all that conversation. 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:29.800 I wanted to take Dave out for lunch, but he's 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.720 double book. He stood me up for lunch and I 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.360 already ate. And actually, you probably don't like the role mobs. Yeah, 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:38.040 I do like fish, but just not the wrong but 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.520 not the jelly to eel. I don't know who I'm 0:19:40.520 --> 0:19:42.960 going to take. I'm actually going to take the cynical 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.720 American in the newsroom. Good idea to sweetings with me, 0:19:46.160 --> 0:19:50.320 what are you doing here? I'm bringing you one and 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:54.560 only Oliver to the oldest fish restaurant in London. Gave 0:19:54.600 --> 0:19:57.399 you fish restaurant in London to give you jelly to eels, 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:03.600 jelly eels and roll mops. What is it? Mops mops? 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:07.679 I think it's called role mops. We're going to uh 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:10.040 I can see it now, Sweeting. It's said I'd say 0:20:10.080 --> 0:20:15.040 about one hundred pieces from the office about there. I 0:20:15.040 --> 0:20:18.920 mean we would come in and it's a fairly savory 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:22.960 smell in the Amazon the air, no reservation required, which 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:25.000 is a breath of fresh air from me. I mean, 0:20:25.000 --> 0:20:26.840 I think we were quite lucky to actually find groom 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:31.400 work in space. How long have you been working here? 0:20:31.400 --> 0:20:34.720 For almost six years? Did you want to come to 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.439 Sweetings in particular because it's such an iconomic restaurant. For me, 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:39.840 it's the family business, so my grandparents and the restaurant. 0:20:40.200 --> 0:20:41.920 Can you tell us a little bit about the history 0:20:41.920 --> 0:20:44.920 of this place. That's the oldest fish restaurant. So slow 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:47.720 for a hundred years old whatever hundred years old, eight 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:52.000