THE GUARDIAN: ·3,000 restaurants and bars go bust in three months ·Starters and wine out, baguettes and burgers in
It is seen as the mark of civilised eating, distinguishing well-fed French workers from the English who wolf prawn sandwiches at their desks. But France's tradition of the three-course restaurant lunch is in danger of being killed off by the economic crisis.
Around 3,000 traditional French restaurants, cafes and bars went bust in the first three months of 2008 and unions predict a further rush of closures as people worry about making ends meet. The number of French restaurants going bankrupt rose by 25% from last year, and cafes forced to close were up by 56%.
Le Figaro's renowned restaurant critic François Simon said yesterday that French consumers' frugality had changed national eating habits and forced restaurant owners to the brink. Diners were now skipping the traditional aperitif, avoiding starters, drinking tap water, passing on wine and coffee and - at most - sharing a pudding.
Even the city's smartest restaurants were getting impatient with smaller orders. In one restaurant near Paris's Gare de Lyon, he reported, two couples were asked to leave by a desperate restaurant owner because they would not order starters. The restaurant chain Hippopotamus was now running loyalty deals and special-offer hamburgers, which had become more popular than French steak dishes. Office workers were increasingly buying take-away baguettes and supermarket lunches.
Making ends meet with low salaries and rising food prices has become a national obsession as France's economy continues to be sluggish. Regular TV reports describe the desperation of people forced to eat cheap tinned vegetables or forage in bins at markets.
The restaurant sector has seen the third highest number of bankruptcies in France this year after the construction and building trades, according to the credit insurance group Euler Hermes SFAC. Au revoir to Long Lunch as French Tighten Belts >>> By Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
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