Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal to charge minimum spend to solo diners

Solo diners at Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal in London’s Mayfair may be charged a minumum spend to protect the business from lost revenue due to empty seats.

The two Michelin-starred restaurant, which opened in September 2022, initially priced its tasting menu at £155 per person and £195 for a ‘chef’s special menu’, featuring Kaluga caviar and Bresse pigeon.

From 17 August, the five-course tasting menu will be priced at £165, while the seven-course menu will be priced at £195, bringing the “minimum spend” for solo diners to £330.

If solo diners book within 48 hours of their required booking time and there is availability at the restaurant, they will be welcomed “without a minimum spend” on the four covers available, the restaurant said. It added that if the demand for solo dining exceeded availability of tables the restaurant may request a minimum spend of two times the minimum menu price, which can be made up through beverage spend such as taking a wine flight.

Victoria Sheppard, chief executive at Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, told The Caterer: “We are only 11 tables, a new independent business (owned by myself and Alex Dilling) and have an intimate dining room.

“We have many solo diner requests that could easily amount to 50% of our available tables. We have 20-25 staff on our payroll (and a maximum of 34 covers with all tables at full capacity), increasing supplier costs and London rate and rents therefore we have to be considerate to our overheads. We have implemented this to ensure the longevity of our business.”

She added the policy started in mid-June due to “a surge in solo demand that was impacting our business”.

“If we didn’t implement this, revenues would be down up to 25% and empty seats left in the restaurant – often only to be followed by larger groups wanting to book tables allocated to solo diners.”

She cited increasing supplier costs, rising salaries in London and Brexit-inflicted staff shortages as added pressures to the business.

This article was amended on 25 July 2023 to reflect the revised policy of the restaurant