table7 Gives Us Food For Thought

Table7.com’s Food For Thought Event at Mark’s Bar, Hix Soho

On Monday afternoon the classy low-lit basement, Mark’s Bar at Hix Soho, was filled with the cream of the London restaurant industry crop. The event? Table7.com’s Food For Thought, a timely discussion about the challenges facing high-end restaurants in today’s changing economic climate.

Led by restaurant critic Richard Vines, the panel included Ratnesh Bagdai, partner with Mark Hix in Restaurants Etc; James Lewis of Gauthier Soho; Massimo Riccioli, Chef Patron of Massimo Restaurant & Oyster Bar in the Corinthia hotel and Eliot Sandiford, Head of Lifestyle PR at Bacchus.

Food For Thought kicked off with an introduction to table7.com, delivered by co-founders Ashwin Jain and Moses Hassan, who summed-up their business model in three words: experience, value and sustainability. The floor was then passed to the panel, a discussion driven by the table7 commissioned research into current restaurant-goer’s behaviour in light of the economic downturn.

The debate was wide-ranging, covering topics such as privacy clauses for corporate Christmas festivities, the opportunity for creative development (which the January slowdown brings) and the habits of younger diners increasingly frequenting high-end establishments.

The discussion culminated in a lively Q&A session involving members of the audience, with contributions from Zeren Wilson of Bitten & Written and Adam White, Managing Director of Village London, amongst others.  As the afternoon drew to a close, Ashwin Jain and Moses Hassan wrapped things up in time for guests to enjoy a round of cocktails and Hix signature bar snacks.

Far from being an afternoon permeated by thoughts of economic doom, the pervading feeling was one of optimism: discussions on daring new menu styles, creative ways of manipulating social media and solutions for maxing-out cover capacity every night  - using table7’s brilliant business model – all ensued.  All said, the London restaurant industry is certainly thriving, which works for us! Here at Komodo the thought of Christmas passing us by without a cheeky splurge on a festive lunch would be just too much to bear!