Too much to swallow? Royal chef’s £320 fee to cancel meal

CHOSEN by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to take charge of the menu at their evening wedding reception in May, Clare Smyth declared the experience ‘completely surreal’, adding that it was ‘really fantastic’ to have worked with the royal couple.

Regrettably, however, some of Smyth’s would-be customers at her two- Michelin- starred restaurant, Core, have been left with a sour taste in their mouths.

That’s not because of any deficiency in the dishes served by Smyth, named the World’s Best Female Chef 2018, but because of the swingeing financial penalties levied on those having to cancel reservations through no fault of their own — sometimes in distressing circumstances.

Indeed, several of those who had hoped to enjoy Smyth’s exquisite cooking at the restaurant in Notting Hill, West London, have taken to social media to express intense dismay — and to warn others.

‘We had to cancel at the last minute as a close family member was taken into hospital,’ writes one. ‘When my husband phoned to cancel the table, he was told that we were going to be charged £320 as we hadn’t given 48 hours’ notice.’

Sympathy, adds this critic, was in short supply. ‘The restaurant pretty much said that was just too bad,’ she says. ‘We weren’t offered the option to rebook to use the £320 as a credit.

‘We do feel that the restaurant could have made some form of exception considering the circumstances.’

Another thwarted customer records cancelling when his wife, then eight months pregnant, fell ill. On telephoning Core to apologise, he was told that he would be charged a £150 cancellation fee. ‘It seems sad and greedy,’ he concludes.

His disappointment might have been still more acute if, like another would-be diner, afflicted by a ‘medical problem’, he had cancelled 45 hours in advance — only to be charged £130 as he had failed to comply with the 48-hour deadline on its website.

A Core spokesman says: ‘We have a standard 48-hour cancellation fee policy, which is clearly communicated when a reservation is made.’

Happily, there seem to have been no cancellations for Harry and Meghan’s reception at Frogmore.