NO SWANSONG FOR FINE DINING

Could there be a trend behind the closure of landmark Johannesburg restaurants Gatrile's, The Three Ships and Cento? Susan Reynard investigates.

Closing a restaurant is never easy. Sometimes insurmountable odds force closure while in other situations, it's the result of sound business strategy.

Alan and Val Stricke insist that fine dining is dead. After 31 years at The Fisherman's Grotto and then Cento, they have opted out of the fine dining arena altogether and opened O'Crumbs, a bakery, deli, pizzeria, catering and casual dining establishment in Germiston.

Alan Stricke reckons restaurateurs have spoilt customers by offering a range of side dishes and extras at no extra cost, thus eroding margins. This, combined with expensive overheads, has rendered many fine dining restaurants unprofitable.

Food costs and overheads must not exceed one-third each, Stricke says, otherwise it erodes the one-third - less theft and wastage - that makes up one's profit.

He cites the reasons for Cento closing in June 2003 as a com-bination of things: change of demographics in the area; clients visiting less regularly; reduced client spending; and issues with landlords.

Instead of fine glassware he now serves wine at O'Crumbs out of thick tumblers like they do in Europe, at a fraction of the cost. He estimates they were losing up to R100 000 per year in glassware breakages at Cento.

The tables are communal and there's not a tablecloth in sight. Costly vegetables are no longer on the menu - saving around

R7 000 per month in wastage - and bulk production in an industrial kitchen keeps costs in check.

"We want to give people an experience of flavour, not design," Stricke explains. This concept and reduced prices do mean they have to work twice as hard though, and turn tables more often to compensate for the lower prices.

Garth Thompson, GM of the Gold Reef City Casino Hotel which The Three Ships restaurant was a part of, sees it differently. He says the decision to close The Three Ships in August 2003 after painstakingly resurrecting it at Gold Reef City Casino three years earlier was purely a business decision.

Although imbued with all the sentiment that went with The Carlton Hotel in its heyday, The Three Ships fell victim to a change in eating tastes and trends.

"People coming to the casino are not affluent and the average person comes here to gamble. They don't want to spend three hours having dinner and they like to dress casually," he explains.

Hotel guests look for less formal surroundings and the restaurant couldn't rely on only outside customers. "It didn't draw people into the casino or off the floor into the restaurant," Thompson says.

Regulars have expressed sadness following the closure of the restaurant, but on closer examination "regular" turned out to mean "once a year on a special occasion". The space is now leased to the Mastrantonio group, which has opened Italian restaurant Nazarro's and coffee shop Gasoline Alley.

Thompson says launching The Three Ships made sense at the time: "It had a good reputation. Everyone knows The Carlton Hotel and when launching a new product like the casino it's good to have something familiar".

He says they couldn't have modernised the original restaurant or messed with the format too much as it had a certain atmosphere and formula that limited its ability to move with the times. The only logical step was to close it altogether.

Ken Forrester and business partner Michel Morand of Gatrile's opted for a grand finale for their restaurant's last month of trade in December 2003. Forrester maintains it simply made good business sense to close Gatrile's, precipitated by their lease expiring and the landlord intent on building a gym on the property.

Forrester's other businesses are based in the Cape and rather than risk relocating Gatrile's at huge cost in an area far from his home base, he chose to close it. "The location worked well and the restaurant ran full up to its last day. We had a 28-year run and closed on a high note," he says.

Theo Holiasmenos, owner of the Smith & Wollensky and Ciao Baby restaurant chains, says SA is a challenging environment in which to do business as the demographics are changing all the time. What makes good business sense today may prove unprofitable five years from now and one needs to be able to adapt - sentiment and good business sense make poor bedfellows.

"A few years ago the centre of town was thriving. Now it's a no-go zone, but in a few years' time people will go back," he says, by way of example.

He also believes that family restaurants offering wholesome, traditional food will always be in fashion whereas those choosing to operate on the fringe of new cuisine may battle.

However, one can have everything in place and still fail due to the quirks of the public. On paper Ciao Baby Cucina in Hyde Park, Johannesburg had everything: a good location, great food, knowledgeable staff, and beautiful surroundings, but two years ago it had to close. The same staff and concept have been transplanted to the new Ciao Baby Cucina in London and business is thriving. Go figure.

Other factors that can sucker-punch restaurateurs include issues like the new smoking legislation. Holiasmenos says all of his restaurants lost 30% of business when the law was first passed. It took the better part of a year to recapture some of this.

If one's restaurant starts at break even in the beginning, issues like this and rising operating costs will put you out of business in the end, he says.

He sums up: "The only reason for our profitable existence is the complete satisfaction of our guests".

INDUSTRY INPUT Fedhasa chairman and Pl@net Hotels MD Brett Dungan says it is sad when icon restaurants close. "It's important to look at the cost of service, what makes these businesses succeed or not," he notes. However, he believes there will always be fine dining restaurants, catering to niche markets in specific sectors and in certain areas. While the niche market may be diminishing, there will always be someone closing a deal or celebrating a special occasion, he says. Restaurant Association of SA member Joel Katz, who owns The Grillhouse and Katzy's, says restaurants closing are part of the cycle of business. He says the emphasis with food critics is to play up fine dining, but asks whether this is what the public wants. "Ratings are one thing but customers vote with their feet," he notes. "There is a gap between what the average diner is looking for and what the critic is looking for. People want regular meals, good service, and great ambience," he maintains. "It's about being in touch with what customers are looking for. They want value for their money." However, he believes it is sad for the industry when fine dining restaurants close because a broader spectrum of dining options is better for the industry as a whole.

HOT VS. HAUTE Before one throws out the beluga with the Evian water when it comes to fine dining, consider Lannice Snyman of Eat Out magazine's analysis of the results of this year's Eat Out Johnnie Walker Restaurant Awards: "Whereas before we were stuck on haute cuisine being the ultimate, now cuisine is freer; way more honest. Yet not at the expense of quality and integrity. South Africans still adore the dolce vita, 'put on the glad rags and go the whole three course hog' but we're discovering the pleasure in simpler stuff. And we're choosing less intimidating, more casual spaces to eat it in. Delis and other pop-in places are opening at a dizzy rate." Fine dining establishments still feature on the Top 10 Restaurants list for 2003, which includes: 96 Winery Road, Helderberg; Jemima's, Oudtshoorn; La Belle Terasse & Loggia, The Westcliff hotel, Johannesburg; La Madeleine, Lynn-wood, Pretoria; Le Quartier Franais, Franschhoek (Restaurant of the Year); Lynton Hall, Pennington, KZN; One.Waterfront, Cape Grace hotel, Cape Town; The Restaurant, Cape Town; Yum, Johannesburg (Chef of the Year); Zafferano, Park Hyatt Johannesburg hotel.