That's How It Happened

Rowley Leigh had an interesting opinion piece in the Standard on Friday (sadly not online), about UK success in the Top 50 restaurants list. He hypothesises that the fancy expensive cooking going on, mostly in and around London, is merely a function of big city bonuses:

"It is all tremendously exciting but one cannot help thinking that this "renaissance" is a flimsy edifice, built precariously on the shifting sands of a boom economy."

He suggests that other less lauded restaurants, outside the World Top 50 are struggling to survive amid a culture of expensive refits, and rising costs. It is hardly a secret that many new restaurants fail to prosper, or that young chefs are over-worked. What Leigh ignores is that the UK restaurants outside the Top 50 list that most consistently garner critical and popular acclaim are those that already focus on serving brilliantly executed, but affordable food. Restaurants like Bacchus, Arbutus, and Acorn House have utterly different philosophies, but all provide Londoners with an opportunity to eat really well without breaking the bank. Even beyond these headline-grabbing openings are legions of established local restaurants, unencumbered by the high rents of the West End, serving authentic "cheap eats" to packed tables. Undoubtedly some restaurants will close if recession comes, but hopefully it will be those serving overpriced mediocre food, rather than the ones we actually like.