As soaring costs threaten his industry, the chef looks at how his favourite restaurateurs are innovating – plus two recipes inspired by London’s culinary scene
W
hat does it feel like to eat out in London these days? And what do people want? I’ve been asking myself these questions since closing our restaurant Rovi for renovations this summer, taking the opportunity to rethink some of the things we do.
It has become clear to me that the restaurant world I’ve known for decades is radically changing through a combination of factors: people’s working patterns, health obsessions, the falling out of love with alcohol and the falling in love with pastries and bread, but, predominantly, the affordability of it all.
The numbers are genuinely frightening: in my restaurants, utility costs are up more than 50% since 2019; chocolate prices have doubled; olive oil is up 121%; even spring onions are up 55% – spring onions! Meanwhile, customers are feeling the squeeze just as hard: 52% of UK consumers have cut non-essential spending, with 72% of those naming “eating out” as one of their cuts. With London renters now spending an average of 41.6% of their income on rent alone, something has to give.
