Chef Darian’s Blog

The Credit Crunch

November 13, 2008 on 11:42 pm | In Uncategorized | No Comments

Well, in case no one in America knew, the financial crisis that has hit the US has really hit Europe pretty hard lately. As an American it has been a little tough. We get blamed for a lot of things and this is no different. I promised myself that I would not post political viewpoints on my blog. This will be no exception, although you must know that America has been blamed for this whole mess. You get a lot of abuse (complaints really) from Europeans about this. Thank goodness I have broad shoulders and can carry the burden (as if I caused the whole problem)! The hospitality industry is not immune from the fallout. People don’t travel if they have no money and they certainly don’t go out to each! Ouch! That hits home when you work in a restaurant. There are many hotels in the area that are closing their restaurants during the holidays. It is cheaper to give your employees a paid vacation for 10 days then to pay gas and electric, food bills, and so on, just to stay open. Oh what a mess!

I went to Belfast this week and it was pretty gloomy there. Actually, it was just as I had imagined it. Everyone was very nice, don’t get me wrong, but it was not the cheerful Dublin that I live in. It just looked gloomy. Only a couple of blocks south of the Europa Hotel there were many shops that were closed up. Tourism is not as big there as it is in Dublin. I know that the war there over the past few decades put a stop to that and it is taking a lot to get tourists back. The economy is not helping.

Anyway, back to me…….I see that restaurants are now doing whatever they can to lure customers back. Whatever it takes. This brings me to my point in all of this. You know that favorite restaurant of yours? The one where the waiters know what you want to drink and have it ready for you when you go in…..well, please show them your appreciation for that. They need it now more than ever. It is a way of saying “thanks for taking care of me and now I will help take care of you”. You have no idea how hard they might be struggling and in a day they might have to close their doors. I know that here I see regular customers and they know that we are grateful that they keep coming back. We try and show them that too. A little extra here and there lets them know that we really do appreciate them hel