So it’s official - not only does the crap weather ruin your day (or your winter if you’re unfortunate to live in the Lake District) but it’s also responsible for a downturn in restaurant takings. According to a story today on Big Hospitality, the unseasonably soggy weather in November saw key restaurant chains experience their first dip in takings for seven months. On the plus side, bookings for places such as Pizza Express, Browns and All Bar One were still up on November last year.
‘It looks like the blame rests squarely with that old enemy, the weather. It was the wettest November since 1914, according to the Met Office,' said Peter Martin of Peach Factory, which produces the monthly research.
Someone paying little heed to the vagaries of the British weather, or fashion for that matter, was Robert Downey Jnr who popped in to Scott’s this week in a rather bizarre get-up. Downey Jnr, who was in town for the premiere of his movie Sherlock Holmes, was with his wife and the film’s director Guy Ritchie when he turned up at Scott’s wearing, what the Metro described as a fisherman-like hat, baggy slacks and scruffy shoes. We’re sure the doorman there, Sean McDermott, still gave the poorly-attired star a warm welcome.
And finally – as proof that there are no lengths to which a restaurant won’t go to secure a column inch or two - Farringdon eaterie Little Bay has geared up for the festive season by recruiting stars from the Central School of Ballet to train its waiters. Apparently the staff there will be using all the graceful twists and ducks they’ve been taught to manage their way round the busy dining room this Christmas.
