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Top Michelin restaurant goes bankrupt, celebrity chef: the industry is on the verge of collapse.

"Our industry is on the verge of collapse." Marcus Wareing, the chef of Britain's top Michelin restaurant, recently cried sadly.

COVID-19 epidemic swept the world, hitting the top Michelin restaurants in the world.

Marcus Wareing, a famous British Michelin chef, pointed out to Sky News that the annual value created by his industry is over 111 billion pounds. Without further policy support, many restaurants will face closure and unemployment will worsen.

Marcus Waring made a bleak prediction: "If the government does not take action, the service industry will be one of the most severely affected areas, and the service industry will continue to be bleak for many years. You will see restaurants closed and employees unemployed, which is not what I want to see. "

Celebrity Chef: Our industry is now hanging by a thread

Two top Michelin restaurants in Denmark have failed and filed for bankruptcy.

Compared with summer, the cash flow of restaurants in winter is relatively insufficient, and the epidemic crisis struck hard when the funds of restaurants were almost exhausted. Now Kadeau Restaurant, the parent collection of these two Danish Michelin restaurants, has entered the bankruptcy process.

Kadeau Restaurant is a Danish catering head enterprise, and Magnus Klein Kofoed, the CEO, said frankly, "our cash flow has bottomed out".

Daniel Humm, the super celebrity chef, laid off all the employees of his Michelin restaurant Eleven Madison Park in new york. "Our industry is hanging by a thread now".

On March 5th, Eleven Madison Park restaurant closed down due to the epidemic. The restaurant was full the day before it closed.

Daniel Humm made a decision to transform the boutique restaurant into a community kitchen.

"I really hope to reopen the restaurant as soon as possible, but the world is changing rapidly. I don't know whether it can be restored after the epidemic. I don't know what a boutique restaurant means. I don't know what luxury means. Our restaurant relies on customers from all over the world, and I don't even know if global travel can be restored within six months. " Daniel Humm said.

The famous Hampton Manor in Britain also felt the economic pressure brought by the epidemic. "If we do nothing, we will lose 151,111 pounds a month." James Hill, general manager of the hotel, said.

"People stole toilet paper from the bathroom of my restaurant, and it's hard for you to explain how things fell off the cliff in an instant," Michelin chef Alex Stupak described the doomsday scene when the store closed on March 3. "I watched people coming out of tall buildings, holding boxes with their computers and monitors in them, and then I knew that business could not come back."

Hot Michelin restaurants may not make much profit

Bloomberg article points out that Michelin restaurants with one of the best influence and hot reservations may not make much profit, especially in international metropolises like London and new york, where the operating costs are high, and no one is more anxious than the owners of these restaurants.

"The operating cost of restaurants is very high. When it is restarted, we have no idea about the rules of consumer confidence and keeping social distance." Clare Smyth, chef of Core, a Michelin restaurant in Notting Hill, London, said, "Our upfront investment is huge, and the labor cost is very high. Before the outbreak, the service industry was actually in a tight state. The upfront investment includes furniture and decoration as high as one million pounds, and you need to do a lot of work to make ends meet."

transforming into a takeaway to save yourself

Rasmus Munk, the chef of the Alchemist, another Michelin restaurant in Denmark, simply picked up the charity ideal many years ago and provided meals for the homeless and vulnerable groups in Copenhagen.

This is also a reflection of the human light in Michelin during the epidemic.

However, feelings can't be eaten, and the real problem still exists. Even Michelin chefs have to make a living.

Michelin chefs came up with an emergency plan, and they took the local atmosphere to make takeout.

Even The New York Times felt that even Michelin chefs had to take food out during the epidemic.

Liath, a Michelin restaurant in Dublin, Ireland, was forced to close down during the epidemic. Chef Damien Grey temporarily suspended the staff of the restaurant, one decorated the N corner, and the other was busy in the kitchen with a cheap takeaway package of 19 euros per person.

As a result, this take-away set meal exploded, making it almost as difficult to make a reservation as usual.

Despite the popularity of take-away orders, the frustrated chef is excited to vomit, "This is all about living, screw living".

Hampton Manor tried many self-help measures. First, it borrowed from its partners and "transitioned" some employees to the German supermarket chain Aldi.

During the epidemic period, the demand for employees in Aldi supermarket increased, and Hampton Manor directly assigned some employees to Aldi supermarket to temporarily "take over".

Peel's, a Michelin restaurant in Hampton Manor, quickly adjusted its business strategy and used the "buy one get one free" model for reference to play a new trick in the take-away business.

It's also a takeaway, which is special in that every time Peel's restaurant sells a "customized" meal, it will donate another meal to the elderly or vulnerable groups in isolation for free.

It not only adapts to the requirement of keeping social distance during the epidemic, but also ensures the operation of the enterprise team. At the same time, it conveys the idea that people can give back to the community by spending money in this restaurant.

"We promote the concept of buy one get one free, but in fact we may donate more meals than we sell, and we hope to encourage people to give back to the community by consuming from us," said James Hill, general manager.

"But I think this experience will help me understand what the new world is like when we get out of the epidemic predicament. This is a terrible time, people are facing death, but I think we will learn something from it. "

Daniel Humm, a famous chef, said, "Catering is a wonderful industry, because the core of business is service, not giving. After the restaurant closed, I thought, what can I give at this moment? I have an extremely clean kitchen. I have established contacts with many food suppliers and I can prepare meals. "

These self-questions have an answer. Daniel Humm has now transformed a boutique restaurant into a community kitchen, and the customers he serves have changed from global tourists to frontline anti-epidemic personnel, such as doctors, nurses and police.

This initiative has linked people from different industries, such as farmers and food suppliers, and driven related industries to overcome the difficulties together.

Alex Stupak, a famous chef, chose online sales and contactless distribution mode to continue his cooking career. However, "this is not to make a profit, but to save money and pay wages, which is equivalent to oiling the bicycle chain and making the whole car move."

There is a high voice for returning to work, but I can't imagine wearing a mask service

"We hope to restart as soon as possible," celebrity chef Clare Smyth expressed her feelings with her colleagues. "At the same time, we don't want to put anyone at risk. I am waiting for the government to issue guidelines. For example, will waiters be required to wear masks to provide services? If so, what's the point? When people go out to eat or drink, they will want to enjoy the atmosphere and will not want to eat in a place without a soul. "

Marcus Wareing, the chef of Michelin restaurant Marcus, also said: "Our industry is eager to return to work. We can do this, but we must have a guide."

Cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs in Britain have been closed since March 21th.

On May 11, British Prime Minister Boris said that the service industry in Britain could be restarted as early as July.

Marcus Waring believes that the British Prime Minister's Office could have made more macro efforts, but it didn't. If the government could provide more favorable policies to the catering industry, it would be a good opportunity to unblock it. The catering industry is gnawing at hard bones, so the government might as well consider giving it some bones.

"I am very anxious about the future. I have no idea how to keep social distance in the kitchen, or it is difficult for the whole service industry." Marcus Wareing said.

The fragmentation of information directed by the British government has made it more difficult for the catering industry to return to work.

"For me, my colleagues and the whole catering industry, we all need a guide, and it is very urgent. We can't sit at home and count on some fragmented information to tell us what to do in the future. "

Marcus Waring said, "We are very anxious. We were the first to shut down and will be the last to restart. I am worried about the health of myself, my colleagues and customers. The whole team works in the same kitchen, touches each other and tastes food. The chef has to put the food on the plate, and then the waiter will bring the dishes to the customer. Keeping a social distance will not work in the whole service industry. "

Keeping a social distance may lead to a loss when returning to work

Yotam Ottolenghi, a British best-selling chef, also raised concerns about the operation of the British restaurant industry after returning to work. If it is necessary to keep a social distance, restaurants may not be able to operate at full capacity for a long time, and a restaurant may go bankrupt if it loses 11%. Loss of 21% or even 31%, a restaurant is bound to go bankrupt.

Marcus Waring has a similar view: if restaurants have to operate at less than 51% of full capacity in order to ensure social distance, those restaurants with low profit margins are likely to make ends meet.

"You will find that labor costs, rent costs, utilities and other costs add up to make you unable to make ends meet." Marcus Wareing said that he called on the British government to set up a catering industry advisory group to listen to the opinions of the industry and discuss the future development direction of the industry.

celebrity chefs expect government support-this is indispensable

Marcus Waring believes that the government's commercial sector also needs to further deepen the catering industry. In addition, financial support is also a necessary means. "We also need more help from the financial sector."

Marcus Waring said that many business leaders in the service industry have put forward some "excellent" ideas, but there are many things that need the government's help to turn concepts into reality.

No matter in London or new york, famous chefs are eagerly looking at the government, hoping for more support.

However, Dan Kluger, the owner of a famous chef in new york, said that the "Paycheck Protection Program" in the United States failed, which was originally intended to provide commercial loans to small enterprises to help them tide over the epidemic. However, the program ran out of funds in the first round because it provided financing to some listed companies, and some small enterprises did not receive financial support at all.

has the situation of restaurants that have received financial support from the us government PPP improved?

Not necessarily. Simon Kim, the owner of Manhattan's high-end Korean barbecue restaurant, said, "If you get the PPP funding, you have to invite all the employees back. If you don't invite everyone back within eight weeks, you will be finished. We were funded by PPP, but it didn't play a practical role in solving the problem and invited people back within 8 weeks? You let us reopen in eight weeks. "

will Michelin's operation change after the unsealing?

how should Michelin restaurants operate in the post-unsealed era? Chefs have their own opinions.

Tom Sellers, the chef of Story, a Michelin restaurant on the south bank of the Thames, said: "I'm not sure what big changes are going to be made. What we were like before we closed the store will remain the same when we reopened it, and we should give consumers the same experience before and after the epidemic. It is important to be loyal to your own values. "

Jackson Boxer, the owner of two Michelin restaurants in London, thinks: "We will reopen in another city in a different mood. Those who think they can continue the mode before closing will soon wake up. The financial crisis in 2118 was a warning. After the economic contraction, people ate out more frequently, but their budgets were reduced. They want a bigger meal when they eat. They spend less on quality wine, but more on cocktails. They want to fall into a more easily drunk state. All we know is that we should read the public mood carefully. Assuming that we will restart in six months, after experiencing the recession and spending cuts caused by unemployment, I think the trend of food and beverage consumption will focus on large weight, big table and abundance. "

John Devitt, owner of London Koya udon noodle, said: "High-end restaurants are used to high-profile, but the whole industry will need to change. More and more people work at home and don't want to sit in crowded restaurants. We will need to embrace every opportunity, the opportunity of take-away, online sales and distribution. Our precious brand has to evolve in the commercial direction, and we have no choice. "

jump out of the framework of Michelin catering industry, RNB Ac.