No-shows cost top restaurant £3,000

OWNERS of a top Edinburgh restaurant said they lost out on £3,000 in one night – after being hit by a barrage of late cancellations and no-shows.

Bosses at Dine, Edinburgh, said say the restaurant is suffering “unsustainable” losses over food and staffing costs due to people not showing up for their reservations.

They said credit card charges for bookings will now be introduced – after losing nearly 80 bookings in the space of a week.

Around £3,000 in revenue was said to have been lost on Friday night by the restaurant after it was unable to fill 60 per cent of its tables – despite being fully booked.

The award-winning brasserie and cocktail bar was opened nearly six years ago by Paul

Brennan and Stuart Muir in a site above the Traverse Theatre.

It comes at a time when demand for tables has soared due to limited capacities due to social distancing rules and curtailed opening hours.

In a post on Saturday night on the restaurant’s Twitter account, Mr Brennan said: “Why do people think late cancellations and not showing is acceptable?

“Today we had 24, yesterday 29, 17 on Monday.

“The additional food costs and wages is unsustainable when we are trying to rebuild a business and save jobs.

“Credit cards on tables of 4+ from Monday.”

A response from restaurant 21212, which is run by Paul Kitching and Katie O’brien, said: “We are all feeling that pain.

“We don’t want to take deposits and card details.

“We just want people to do the right thing.

“Why can’t they? I just don’t understand. Who are these people that think nothing of it?”

Other Edinburgh businesses to have hit out over similar problems recently include Aizle, in the west end, Roseleaf, in Leith, and The Bow Bar, in Old Town.