How the Tier-System Will Affect the Future of Fine Dining
UK government got us doing the Hokey Pokey with all of this inside/outside business. Outside is closed … again! London has been moved to Tier 3 after spending a mere 2 weeks in Tier 2, and according to the 3-tier system this means that all restaurants and bars will close with immediate effect. The clink-clink girls are not happy! After painfully cancelling my dinner date reservation at Sushi Samba, I started thinking about how this unsustainable tier system will affect the future of fine dining.
Without even realising, my articles have adopted the running theme of assessing the changes to society and consumerism as it pertains to the coronavirus pandemic. As we know, the initial lockdown in March saw the closure of … everything! Statistically, restaurants, bars and pubs took a massive hit financially because with everyone at home trying to stay safe, who will dine in? Before the COVID-19 warning at the start of March, sales for public dining spaces started to decline: pubs at -12%, bars at -14% and restaurants at -21%. However, as soon as the rapid spread of the virus urged people to stay at home, sales drastically dropped to -57.6% for all outlets.
Most, if not all, restaurants and bars who may not have initially offered a delivery service began providing no-contact home deliveries to get some money in the till. Luxury Turkish restaurant and bar based in Essex, Sheesh, started offering takeaways during the height of the pandemic. Nobu is also now available on Deliveroo.
Fine dining restaurants know that we are paying for a lot more than just the food — we are paying for the experience. We enjoy the glamour and aesthetic that comes with the gourmet meals. We get our nails done, we get our pretty dresses and we make sure our hair is laid. In short — occasion or not — we are dolled up to match the atmosphere, prepped and primed to clink-clink to our hearts content! Not only is coronavirus an enemy of love, it is an enemy of enjoyment because with London, the literal hub of all things fine-dining, being plunged into Tier 3 (again) where we ‘bouta eat at?
As I mentioned, I think the tier system is extremely unsustainable not only for us as the general public but for big franchises who need outside to be open to generate revenue. How do restaurants like Sexy Fish or Novikov plan to stay afloat in the coming months? Hakkasan have recently launched an annual delivery subscription service, Hakkasan at Home priced at £2,000 for the year or £200 a month. I know it is a pretty penny for some gourmet food at home but in an attempt to provide regular diners (or subscribers should I say) with the Michelin-starred experience at home, I reckon this will become a hot trend that more restaurants will jump onto. If just 50 customers subscribe to Hakkasan at Home for a year, that guarantees £100,000 in the bank. Luxury restaurants offering delivery subscription services is incredibly smart and provides some form of stability during this uncertain time. I wonder if Hakkasan will reach out to influencers who embody their aesthetic to increase their reach and subscriber count? I mean, we already have the people’s fave, Melissa’s Wardrobe, literally selling out packets of Mac & Cheese for goodness sake! In saying this, I also wonder whether these restaurants will give their social media presence a well-needed sprucing up and start engaging with customers via platforms such as Instagram and TikTok? Will they also try to reach out to food bloggers and enthusiasts while restaurants remain closed?
Following the news of the national lockdown in the UK, Sushi Samba have now announced a delivery service with the email subject being: ‘New Year, New Lockdown, New Delivery’. Debuting their new delivery menu, Sushi Samba are promising diners a ‘SAMBA BOOST’ with immunity-strengthening dishes packed with vitamins and minerals. Perhaps a subscription service to go with this new delivery service is on the horizon and soon other restaurants will follow suit.
This was my first newsletter which went live in inboxes almost a month ago and yet everything I mentioned still stands. We are still inside, outside is still closed and we don’t know when we will clink again. I think it goes without saying that a subscription delivery service doesn’t compensate enough for our lack of physical clink-clink in these fancy restaurants and bars, but with the way things are going, the future fine-dining as we know it is bound to change.
Subscribe to my bi-weekly newsletter here
Read other articles of mine:
Why Dating in a Pandemic as a Gen-Z in Incredibly Hard
How Influencers are Beating the Instagram Algorithm
Why Clothing Brands Extending their Collection to Homeware is a Really Smart Move
