Restaurant operators in London are optimistic about business in 2010 despite a tough start to year, a survey has found.

According to the monthly Restaurant Barometer, which is carried out by Business Link London and questions more than 300 restaurant operators in the capital, nearly half of restaurants reported a drop in trade, footfall and customer spend in January compared with 2009.

While more than half (54%) of restaurants in London ran promotions in January to boost trade, 49% reported a fall in takings and 47% a drop in covers which were largely blamed on the adverse weather conditions during the month.

“The snow lost us a lot of business,” one operator said.

However, looking forward, 57% of London’s restaurants said they anticipate an increase in takings during 2010 compared with last year, with 70% expecting to keep on the same number of staff.

Consumer confidence appears to support the optimism of the restaurants, with 83% those surveyed saying they expect to eat out the same amount or more in 2010 than they did last year.

Ashley de Safrin, business adviser for the hospitality sector at Business Link London, said: “Despite a slow January, prospects are looking up for the restaurant sector. 2010 should give rise to increasing trade through more targeted marketing and innovation by restaurant owners.”

De Safrin added that reviewing marketing plans and the use of promotions would be vital.

“In particular websites are a cost-effective way to reach customers and increase bookings,” he said.

“While an encouraging 72% of our surveyed restaurants have a website for their business, this does mean that more than a quarter have yet to develop a web presence to both promote their business and take online bookings.”

Couillaud leaves Grosvenor House as Bord’eaux restaurant closes

Bord'eaux, the all-day French brasserie at London's Grovenor House, a JW Marriott Hotel, is set to close and will be replaced with an American steakhouse.

Headed by chef-patron Ollie Couillaud, who previously worked with Michelin-starred chefs Tom Aikens and Bruce Poole, the 160-seat restaurant opened two years ago.

However, Couillaud confirmed to Caterersearch today that he had left Bord'eaux yesterday and that the restaurant would be closing next week.

"I had a good couple of years at Grosvenor House, but this year business has been more of a struggle," Couillaud said. "To be honest an American steakhouse sits more comfortably within a Marriott hotel than a French restaurant."

Couillaud said he is currently attending meetings to discuss "some exciting plans on the horizon".

It is believed the new restaurant, which overlooks Park Lane, will be a JW Marriott Steakhouse.

Nigel Boschetti joins Grosvenor House on Monday, from the Lancaster London, as the hotel's new executive head chef and will oversee the opening of the new restaurant.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s heads the list of lost Michelin stars

Gordon Ramsay Holdings (GRH) has lost its Michelin star at its eponymous restaurant at London’s Claridge’s hotel.

The restaurant is the most high profile of 15 establishments to have lost their stars in this year’s Michelin guide to Great Britain and Ireland.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s first gained its Michelin star in 2002 under the leadership of former head chef Mark Sargeant, who left his position at the restaurant at the beginning of last year. He consequently left GRH last November.

A spokeswoman for GRH said the group was “very disappointed” to have lost the Michelin star but added that it plans to work “harder than ever to try to earn it back” next year.

“Last year was a very tough one for everyone. To suit the mood of the times we simplified our offering at Claridge’s, perhaps this explains the change in the restaurant’s Michelin status,” she said.

“The inspections that led to this change took place many months ago and things today at the restaurant are very different. We have an incredibly strong team in the kitchen and front of house and with consumer confidence returning , we believe we’re better placed than ever to recover and retain the status that we believe the restaurant deserves.”

Other restaurants to have lost their stars in the 2010 Michelin guide for Great Britain and Ireland include the Capital in London and the Vineyard at Stockcross in Berkshire, which have both been demoted from their two-Michelin-star status, following the departure of their respective head chefs Eric Chavot and John Campbell last summer.

Michelin star deletions:

London
The Capital – Kensington & Chelsea, Chelsea
Aubergine – Kensington & Chelsea, Chelsea
Ambassade de L’Ille – South Kensington
Assaggi – City of Westminster, Bayswater & Maida Vale
Foliage (at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel) – Hyde Park & Knightsbridge
Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s – Mayfair
Richard Corrigan at Lindsay House – Soho

England
The Vineyard at Stockcross – Newbury, Berkshire
Bath Priory – Bath, Bath & North East Somerset
Le Poussin at Whitley Ridge – Brockenhurst, Hampshire
Christophe – Channel Islands, Guernsey/Fermain Bay
Nathan Outlaw – Fowey, Cornwall
Seaham Hall – Seaham, Durham

Scotland
Ballachullish House – Ballachullish, Highland

Republic of Ireland
Mint – Dublin, Ranelagh

Grosvenor House put on the market for £600m

Grosvenor House, one of London's most iconic hotels, is on the market for up to £600m.

The 95-year lease of the five-star, 494-bedroom hotel is being marketed by CB Richard Ellis. It is the largest single hotel asset to ever come on to the European, Middle East or Asian market.

The hotel is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), but Marriott has an agreement to operate the property as a JW Marriott Hotel for 24 years.

"We are expecting global and widespread interest in the property, which was the first hotel to open on Park Lane," said a spokesman for CB Richard Ellis.

Initial interest is expected to come from major institutions or high net worth individuals. The weakness of sterling and the way the London hotel market has held up during the recession is likely to create considerable interest from prospective overseas buyers.

"This is a major London asset and there has always been interested buyers for such properties in the past," said hotel industry consultant Melvin Gold. "Despite more difficult economic times, I would expect that still to be the situation today, although the field may be more limited than a few years ago."

Reports have suggested interior design and development management company Candy & Candy is interested in making a bid for Grosvenor House and the adjacent serviced apartment block, with a view to creating a giant luxury residential scheme.

However, with Marriott holding a long-term lease on the property, it is unlikely that Grosvenor House will exit the hotel market.

RBS has invested more than £130m in the refurbishment of all the bedrooms and public spaces at Grosvenor House, which includes 4,000sq feet of banqueting space.

Earlier, the hotel revealed its plans to close Bord'eaux, its 160-seat all-day French brasserie, and replace it with a JW Steak restaurant.

Chef-patron Ollie Couillard left Bord'eaux last week and said the restaurant would close sometime this month.

"Ollie played an important role within Bord'eaux and was a gracious and very charismatic chef who everybody at the hotel adored," a spokesperson for Grosvenor House said. "His French style of cooking would overly complicate the simplicity of JW Steak and he is pursuing new opportunities. Everybody parted on good terms."

Nigel Boschetti joined Grosvenor House on Monday, from the Lancaster London, as the hotel's new executive head chef and will oversee the opening of the new restaurant.

Hélène Darroze’s Paris restaurant downgraded to one Michelin star

French chef Hélène Darroze has lost one of her two Michelin stars at her eponymous restaurant in Paris in the 2010 edition of the Michelin guide for France.

Darroze, who is one of France’s leading female chefs, opened a restaurant at London’s Connaught hotel in June 2008 for which she gained a star in 2009.

She has been dividing her time between the two restaurants in London’s Mayfair and on the Left Bank in Paris where she held two Michelin stars for seven consecutive years.

The 2010 Michelin guide for France awarded a total of 58 new stars bringing the total of Michelin-starred restaurants in the country to 558 – nearly four times as many as the UK and Ireland’s 141.

The only establishment to have been awarded the top accolade of three Michelin stars is Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse in the Languedoc region in the South West of France, which brings the total of three-starred restaurants in France to 26.

A total of 47 restaurants celebrated their first Michelin star raising the number of starred establishments to 455, while 10 restaurants were raised to two-star-level, bringing the total to 77, including Gordon Ramsay’s eponymous restaurant au Trianon in Versailles which retained the two stars it gained last year.

Gordon Ramsay Holdings handed back control of the restaurant to the hotel last year after it produced a loss of £1.78m in just eight months of operating.