Tired of no-shows: L’Ecrivain to shut down after 31 years
End of an era as iconic venue will serve its last meal in July
THE Michelin-starred restaurant L’Écrivain is to shut its doors after 31 years, marking the end of an era in the nation’s food industry.
The restaurant, which has hosted visiting and home-grown presidents, politicians, superstars and sports icons, is to serve its last meal in July after three decades – in part because of people failing to turn up for bookings.
It is owned and run by chef Derry Clarke and his wife Sallyanne who, in an interview just before Christmas, said that their business has been hammered by no-shows, which is a problem that has plagued the entire industry.
This arises when diners book several venues for the same date and then decide on the night which restaurant to choose. While it’s not a new phenomenon, the economic upturn has seen a surge in the practice – and as a result, two tables were left empty at L’Ecrivain on December 13, on one of the busiest weekends of the year.
‘If those people [on December 13] had told us even that morning that they weren’t going to show up, then we could have tried to sell those tables, but to have those tables free on one of the biggest nights of the year was terrible,’ Sallyanne said.
Given that it’s a ‘destination restaurant’, they would get virtually no walk-up business to their venue, which could seat 80 in its main dining room.
Sallyanne previously said that while business may be booming in certain sectors, the scourge of ‘noshows’ posed a serious threat to their restaurant, which marked its 30th anniversary last July.
‘The knock-on effect is souldestroying for us. It’s not just that you’ve bought and prepped all the food in anticipation of a certain amount of diners,’ she revealed.
‘You’ve also got the staff there too, and they still need to be paid, even if you’ve had cancellations. This is threatening businesses everywhere and I know there are loads of other restaurants having the same problem.’
She said that on any given week, they were getting between 25 and 30 people not showing up for their reservations and that it was taking its toll on the business and on morale.
‘I think that 99% of people are decent, but it’s just that 1% who don’t bother calling or turning up. I just wish people treated restaurants with more respect,’ she said.
But while their Baggot Street business is closing in July, Derry is opening a new venture in
Temple Bar in the capital.
Sallyanne said: ‘Derry is moving on and very involved in opening a new bar/restaurant on the quays in Dublin 2 in autumn 2020. There is a place for all our team to join him there if they so wish. Derry is also continuing with his consultancy work and especially his Derry Clarke at Home range.’
‘Knock-on effect is soul-destroying’