Top French restaurants have seen profits fall as much as 50% in the first three months of 2009. In the meantime, sandwich sales are booming. The BBC's David Chazan reports from Paris.
COMMENTS
1. Watch the interview with the French restaurant owner at 00.52. It sounds like he says: "That's why we introduced this new manure, this cheap manure". Of course, he means 'menu'. That's what happens when you put the stress on the wrong syllable!
2. I usually have a sandwich from Paul for lunch. They're not cheap (€3.50) but much better than the standard "jambon/beurre". The "moelleux poulet/curry" and the "tomate/mozzarella" are my favourites.
ARTICLES
• French restaurants feel the crunch (BBC News)
• Top French chefs turning to fast food because of financial crisis (Telegraph)
TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: More empty tables; tourists with less money to fork out; fewer business lunches. The sit-down lunch is an institution in France. Many offices still close for an hour, but thousands of restaurants here went bust last year, and many others are being forced to tighten their belts and slash prices because the economic crisis is eating into their profits. This restaurant now offers a two-course lunch for under five euros. Haute cuisine it’s not. Today, there’s coleslaw as a starter and the main course is goulash. But at this price no-one’s complaining and the place is packed.
RESTAURANT OWNER: People worry about their money. They don’t come as often as before. That’s why we introduced this menu, this cheap menu.
REPORTER: This restaurant in a prime location was completely deserted in the middle of the long French lunch hour. The owner didn’t want to go on camera, but he said he doesn’t know how much longer he can stay open.
REPORTER: Now, with the credit crunch biting hard, more French people are doing what they once would have sneered at, and munching a sandwich.
FRENCH MAN: I think I go to the restaurant sometimes but no so much that (sic) before.
FRENCH WOMAN: Even before I ate sandwiches, because I can’t afford restaurants—not unless my lover is paying.
REPORTER: And sandwich outlets are proliferating. Could this be the future of the French lunch? David Chazan, BBC News, Paris.
