For many top London restaurateurs, it's now a case of 'recession, what recession?' as tables at the best restaurants on a Friday night at 8pm prove incredibly elusive to all but the best organised/connected. But for two London restaurants this week, the cumulative effect of the past 12 months proved too tough to survive.
Gordon Ramsay announced in his interview with Bloomberg that he was closing down his Knightsbridge eaterie, The Boxwood Cafe, as part of a massive cost-cutting exercise across the Ramsay empire. And across town, on Lower Regent Street, the staff at St Alban learned they'll serve their last meal to customers on Christmas Eve.
It sounds bad, but as Jay Rayner points out in his Guardian piece, the closure of St Alban is merely savvy business sense for owners Christopher Corbin and Jeremy King - they'll use the money they get to fund their plans for some seriously glitzy new ventures in Covent Garden and the City. Watch this space - there's life in the London restaurant business yet!
