The restaurant industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus. As governments around the world imposed lockdowns and told people to stay at home, restaurants were forced to close their doors and many will never reopen.
Thankfully, the UAE’s dining scene is getting back on its feet, and while some have been lost along the way, the majority of the country’s restaurants are back in business.
But there’s another problem plaguing the industry that has only been highlighted by the current crisis: no-show bookings. When you are operating at a lesser capacity and trying to make up for more than three months of unexpected closure, a flurry of missed reservations can be the difference between staying afloat or going under.
Over the past few weeks, some of the world's top chefs have spoken out about the issue. Television chef Tom Kerridge, whose UK restaurant The Hand and Flowers holds two Michelin stars, branded people who book tables at restaurants and do not turn up "selfish". In an Instagram post, he said: "You are the worst kind of guest … I hope you have a good look at yourselves.
“Your behaviour is disgraceful, shortsighted and downright unhelpful. You are putting people’s jobs more at risk.”
Chef and TV presenter James Martin also highlighted the "ongoing problem" in an interview with British television show This Morning, saying it is something that needs to be addressed across the industry.
In the UAE, it is something many restaurants have to grapple with. "It's frustrating to begin with, but especially during these times when we are running at a limited capacity and we block reservations. To not have those people show up has a massive effect on the business," says Brian Voelzing, group executive chef at Lincoln Hospitality, which oversees La Serre, The Loft at Dubai Opera, Distillery and Taikun.
At Downtown Dubai gastropub Distillery, for example, the Friday brunch is currently permitted to serve 42 guests, and if 10 of those don’t turn up, that’s a large chunk of business that the restaurant has missed out on.
“We try to engineer the menus in such a way where we don't have wastage. But if you think you’ve got 42 people coming in for brunch and you're preparing food platters and 42 don't turn up, then you are left with extra food,” Voelzing says.
“If you think you're going to be busy, you're going to have staff either need to work overtime, or you're bringing extra staff in when they may not be needed. It’s not very fair to the business or to the staff.”
The policy at Distillery and all the restaurants Voelzing oversees is to call ahead to reconfirm a booking, but even that step doesn’t prevent people from having a last-minute change of plan. “Sometimes people don't answer. Sometimes they confirm and still don't turn up,” he says. “Of course I realise that there are always going to be situations where emergencies come up and people can't make it, that's completely understandable.
"But if they haven't turned up 15 minutes after the booking and we do call and they say, ‘Oh, we've decided to go somewhere else’, that’s when it becomes frustrating. You think people would have the courtesy to just call at least an hour ahead and let us know.”
What can restaurants do to prevent this from happening? It’s the age-old question that many have asked, but few actually have the answer to. Restaurants generally take reservations on good faith alone, and wish to keep it that way, but there are a growing number in the business, such as Kerridge, who believe the only way to stop no-show bookings is to take payment in advance.
"I do think we are moving towards a marketplace where there will be a lot more in the way of credit card details being taken, very similar to if you book tickets for the theatre or cinema or an airline," he told Sky News.
Some places in the UAE already do this, for instance, Greek restaurant Avli by Tashas requires credit card details for tables of four or more, and will charge Dh100 per person for a late cancellation or no-show.
However, it's a system Voelzing believes could alienate customers. “A lot of restaurants in other areas do [take credit card details in advance], but that will be hard to do in Dubai. I find most people [in the city] are very hesitant,” he says.
Taking a deposit or holding credit card details is commonplace for large bookings or parties taking over specific areas of a restaurant, but for a weeknight table for two, it becomes a little more tricky. “I think calling the guest ahead of time is really as far as we can take it right now. That’s the situation, it's very difficult,” he says.
Monique Lindsay, general manager of Reform Social and Grill in The Lakes, Dubai, decided to take a different approach as the restaurant reopened after the Covid-19 shutdown, scrapping bookings altogether. "When we reopened, we had the 30 per cent capacity rule, which went up to 50 per cent," she explains. "I decided not to take any bookings, simply because it's obviously not at full capacity and there are limited tables in the restaurant and I didn't want to upset anybody."
Lindsay says taking bookings meant she would need to ensure a table was free at least 15 minutes or so before a customer arrived, but walk-in customers may see those empty tables and question why there is no space for them. Given the community nature of Reform, Lindsay says she felt a first-come, first-served approach was better to avoid customer disappointment and the restaurant missing out owing to no-shows.
“Everybody understood when we explained to them,” she says. “They were open to just turning up.”
Now things are getting back to full capacity, Reform has started to take bookings again, and has experienced a few not turning up. “When you have a no-show, there’s an impact," she says. "You’ve prepared the ordering levels for the food, then you have wastage. You've prepped staffing levels because you know how many guests are coming, so you have accommodated to make sure the guest has a wonderful time at your restaurant.”
Like Voelzing, Lindsay says Reform calls all of its customers on the day of reservation to reconfirm, and notes how easy it can be to forget a booking you made well in advance, especially during a global pandemic. But what might seem like a small slip of the mind for a diner reservation can have a huge impact on a business.
“If restaurants do book themselves completely out, which I do know happens in Dubai as you are often told a restaurant is fully booked, you could end up turning customers away for nothing,” she says. “I don't think customers fully know the implications of what not just calling to cancel can do.”
The good news is, however, that people seem to be wanting to eat out as restrictions across the country continue to ease. Both Lindsay and Voelzing report a steady return of diners. "I think it's been very positive," Voelzing says. "We've been very pleased with the turnout of guests we've had. But there's still a long way to go."
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
BIOSAFETY LABS SECURITY LEVELS
Biosafety Level 1
The lowest safety level. These labs work with viruses that are minimal risk to humans.
Hand washing is required on entry and exit and potentially infectious material decontaminated with bleach before thrown away.
Must have a lock. Access limited. Lab does not need to be isolated from other buildings.
Used as teaching spaces.
Study microorganisms such as Staphylococcus which causes food poisoning.
Biosafety Level 2
These labs deal with pathogens that can be harmful to people and the environment such as Hepatitis, HIV and salmonella.
Working in Level 2 requires special training in handling pathogenic agents.
Extra safety and security precautions are taken in addition to those at Level 1
Biosafety Level 3
These labs contain material that can be lethal if inhaled. This includes SARS coronavirus, MERS, and yellow fever.
Significant extra precautions are taken with staff given specific immunisations when dealing with certain diseases.
Infectious material is examined in a biological safety cabinet.
Personnel must wear protective gowns that must be discarded or decontaminated after use.
Strict safety and handling procedures are in place. There must be double entrances to the building and they must contain self-closing doors to reduce risk of pathogen aerosols escaping.
Windows must be sealed. Air from must be filtered before it can be recirculated.
Biosafety Level 4
The highest level for biosafety precautions. Scientist work with highly dangerous diseases that have no vaccine or cure.
All material must be decontaminated.
Personnel must wear a positive pressure suit for protection. On leaving the lab this must pass through decontamination shower before they have a personal shower.
Entry is severely restricted to trained and authorised personnel. All entries are recorded.
Entrance must be via airlocks.
MATCH INFO
Wales 1 (Bale 45 3')
Croatia 1 (Vlasic 09')
UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
MATCH INFO
Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20Znap%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarted%3A%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Uday%20Rathod%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%241m%2B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EInvestors%3A%20Family%2C%20friends%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
Facebook | Our website | Instagram
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Company%20Profile
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
