London restaurants shouldn't 'rest on their laurels' and risk being overpriced

Peverelli, now executive head chef at the London-based high end food delivery service Deliverance, was speaking to BigHospitality as Deliverance revealed the results of a survey they conducted that suggested 40 per cent of Londoners were eating out less than this time a year ago.

The results also suggested a third of those asked had paid £120 on a meal for two with wine and some of those surveyed had also been charged extra for bottled water, bread or appetizers like olives.

Idea not enough​

The survey appears to echo research BigHospitality reported in August last year from Harden's London Restaurants 2012 Guide which suggested restaurant prices had soared by 11 per cent in a year - the biggest jump in 21 years​.

Although the Deliverance poll suggested some diners felt high prices and charges were occasionally being coupled with poor service, such as being rushed to finish early, Peverelli said restaurants had been forced to raise prices to cover costs and were not necessarily too expensive. However they did did need to ensure greater value for money in order to not lose custom.

"Consumers are becoming more savvy and they are looking for greater value and that is not just in terms of the price but the whole value in terms of the customer experience - how you are seated, the interaction you get from your server and so on," he said.

"Nobody should rest on their laurels and I think they should be constantly looking introspectively to their operation and also to what everybody else is doing and make sure they are offering good value. You can no longer just think you have got a good idea and that is enough," he added.

High-end delivery​

Peverelli said Deliverance, which opened up a new kitchen in Herne Hill at the beginning of this year, was planning further expansion in the capital and suggested other high end restaurant operators should consider a delivery service.

"People are saying that they might be eating out less but it doesn't mean they aren't buying pre-prepared food any less," he said. "I think they are definitely realising that people don't necessarily want the traditional experience of sitting in a restaurant. The high street or the town centre operators are realising that and sometimes they have the capability in which to deliver a different offer or in a different way," Peverelli added.

Olympics​

Peverelli, who in October last year told BigHospitality he was forming Public House, a hospitality consultancy with former Leon colleague Richard Holmes​, said the Olympics would have a huge impact on the restaurant industry. "New operators will definitely open up; obviously there is an influx of business but it is for a short period so there is going to be potentially a lot of pop-up restaurants. I don't believe people are going to be putting up prices just for the sake of it," he said.

The research for Deliverance was carried out by Zoomerang in March using an online panel of 745 residents in the capital and was designed to identify London diners' trends and modify the business accordingly.