Crisis reaches grade restaurants

Sao Paulo-the fall of almost 4% in gross domestic Product last year and a new retraction-about the same size-expected for this year wiped out restaurants where businessmen who run the country''s economy close business, generally at meals the best watered.
Rua Amauri, in the neighborhood of Itaim Paulista, which focused a large part of these establishments, is a lot more empty. In just one block, there are at least four restaurants closed.
Valet parking, which ran to get in and out of cars imported today spend their time making conversation waiting for customers.
Last Wednesday, in the middle of the week, close to the 13 hours, which in normal times would be a peak hours, tranquility prevailed in this stronghold of luxury restaurants.
"At other times, this time, would have 1 hour of waiting. Today the customer enters and already sit, "said John Santos, who for 13 years taking care of customers '' cars parking Forneria San Paolo.
"The closure of restaurants was a combination of high rental with drop in the movement, that''s for sure," said Denise Schirch. She chairs the Association of residents and Businessmen of Amauri Street and is a partner in the holding company of businessman John Paul, Component, which has three establishments in Amauri, of which two were closed.
One of them is the Dressing, which stopped taking as restaurant in 2014. Last year, turned event space. Now, even that works and the site is under construction.
The other is the luxury Restaurant Ecco, which closed the activities at the end of last year. In both cases, Denise stressed that trade points have not been delivered and that there are projects for the future.
"We''re waiting for things to settle down to draw a new proposal."
The group, the only one in operation in the street Amauri is Forneria San Paolo. "Forneria is an exception because it has an intermediate average ticket for the street, between R$ 90 and $ 100," said Denise.
She told me that, in this case, the movement of the restaurant until he grew up, about 5%, favored by the closing of the competition.
In Yellow, another survivor who also has a lower average ticket, the movement fell between 20% and 30%, calculates the Manager, Peter Manning. "This is the worst crisis," said he, who worked for 27 years in the establishment. For now, the plan to open branch offices was canceled because of the retraction of the economy.
To offset the fall in motion, the manager told me that cut the price of the parking lot, began to prepare meals for events and deliver home dishes. "To create a dish worth of Executive R$ 42. The problem is the expense. No one leaves home more, "said Meirelles.
Bonanza. For Marcos Hirai, Managing Director of GS & BGH, consulting firm specializing in real estate, the rents of the properties of the street were too expensive even in Amauri times of fat cows, but the situation was covered up because it came out a tenant and entered another. "But, with the crisis and the fall in the restaurants, the situation became untenable and many empty buildings. The greed of the owners was shot in the foot, "he said.
Denise Schirch pondered that the internal inflation of restaurants, which involves not only the rent, but labor and the cost of food and beverages, is much larger than the stamped on the official inflation index, the IPCA. In addition, at the moment, there is no room for the fancy restaurant to increase prices, even serving clients class and legal entities. "There are companies imposing spending limits."
Paulista. Off course the luxury, the centenary of King Filet, which is located on Alameda Santos, a block from Paulista and is also frequented by executives, politicians and football players, felt the movement. Manager accounts Vandy Freitas, who works at home in 29 years, the retraction was about 40%. "I''ve never seen a crisis like this."
To reverse the decline, the restaurant created a dish, called "chef''s Steak". The dish serves three people, with 500 grams of meat, two side dishes, salad and dessert by 132.30 R$. "But there are people who ask this dish for five. Are a few orders a la carte, "complained Freitas.
According to the Manager, the food costs pressure used to prepare the dishes is too large and would need a rate increase in the range of 15% to rebalance the cost prices. But, in the current economic climate, an increase in the price of the menu is infeasible. The last readjustment occurred eight months ago. The information is from the newspaper O Estado de s. Paulo.