Outrage over restaurant's new 'minimum spend' rule that sees some pay double

21 July 2023 , 15:41

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The restaurant has introduced a 'minimum spend' (Image: Google Maps)

A top restaurant in London's Mayfair has caused outrage among solo diners after announcing they have introduced a "minimum spend".

Two Michelin-starred restaurant, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, opened in September 2022 and currently, its tasting menu is priced at £125 per person for the five courses, and £175 for the seven courses.

But amid crippling costs and other issues plaguing many businesses across the hospitality sector, the establishment is increasing its menu prices from August 17, and introducing a minimum spend for singleton tables of £330. The five-course tasting menu will cost £165, while the seven-course menu will be priced at £195, which is an 11 per cent increase.

For solo diners, it will see them charged twice their minimum menu price - which means it will cost at least £330 to eat alone - due to the sheer amount of requests they receive that results in a large proportion of vacant seats across the dining room.

Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, Mayfair (Justin De Souza)

That being said, Victoria Sheppard, 34, who owns the business with Alex Dilling, 40, confirmed the charge would be discussed with guests in advance, and if solo diners book within 24 to 48 hours of their required booking time and there is availability, they can forego minimum spend.

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But some solo diners on social media have shared their outrage at the news, with several commenting on the fact that it's a "penalty" for being single. Restaurant PR Hugh Smithson-Wright commented: "A classic example of making the customer the problem, rather than finding a solution.

"If you get 'many solo diner requests' how about you reconfigure your dining room to accommodate that and maximise the revenue? This is the very opposite of hospitality!"

Alex Dilling owns the restaurant (Justin De Souza)

alongside Victoria Sheppard (Justin De Souza)

Another Twitter user said: "Oh great news. Yet another penalty for being single," while a second added: "This is not ok. I'm usually in favour of steps restaurants take to sustain themselves. Happy to pay deposits etc but I love a solo meal and this is just mean!"

A third commented: "Hopefully solo diners will go elsewhere, how insulting!" And a fourth asked: "Why do they not make more efficient accommodation for single diners?"

Victoria Sheppard, chief executive at Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, told The Mirror: "We have many solo diner requests that could easily amount to 50 per cent of our available tables. We have 20-25 staff on our payroll, increasing supplier costs and London rate and rents, therefore, we have to be considerate to our overheads.

"We have implemented this to ensure the longevity of our business. As mentioned to all requests if they would prefer to book within 24-48 hours of their required booking time and we have availability, we will welcome solo bookings without a minimum spend and we absolutely welcome food tourists.

"Many solo diners that do opt for advance bookings use this as an opportunity to upgrade to the longer menu or take a wine pairing for example - it's not a flat fee we are demanding from them for nothing in return."

There will be a minimum spend on the tasting menu (Justin De Souza)

The five-course tasting menu will cost £165 (Justin De Souza)

She continued: "This policy started mid-June due to a surge in solo diner demand following our two Michelin stars just seven months after opening that we are delighted created great interest in our business. If we didn’t implement this revenues could be down up to 25pc and empty seats left in the restaurant - often only to be followed by larger groups wanting to book tables allocated to solo diners at a later dates. This far only two guests have been disappointed with this versus the many understanding."

"On top of the rise of requests for solo diners, there is the widely covered topic in the industry of no-shows - one or two tables per night not turning up to their reservation could affect restaurant revenues (the size of ours - where guests are treated to a gastronomic experience rather than a rushed turnaround) by up to 20pc."

She continued: "Even when guests are aware of cancellation fees, it does not mean that valid card details are always provided. Moreover, if you take into consideration the three days of train strikes this week and tube strikes next week greatly impact both retail and hospitality industries.

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"It should also be noted that we are battling against increasing supplier rises and the overall increase of salaries in London due to the Brexit-inflicted staff shortage in hospitality meaning a surge in hospitality salaries - some up as much as 35pc pre-pandemic levels.

"In the last year alone these have averaged around 25pc rise in costs (we opened last September). I would also add that it is a great shame the government did not appoint anyone in the hospitality industry in its new business council given the business critical issues the industry is facing and there are over 3 million people employed in this sector in the UK."

Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz