Sayang the rich for downgrading from $80 to $50 per pax lunch woh!
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Feeling the pinch
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi and Shuli Sudderuddin
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
</TD><TD vAlign=bottom>
High-end restaurant Lawry's the Prime Rib, which is expecting its expense-account diners to opt for cheaper meals, has started offering a set lunch which costs $49.90, compared with its regular lunch set that costs about $80 per person.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Singaporeans have not been unaffected as economic storms hit the United States, Europe and parts of Asia.
The Sunday Times looks at how, slowly but surely, the financial crisis is affecting the way people live, work, eat, shop, play and do business here.
<HR width="50%" SIZE=1>
EAT
Corporate customers go for cheaper wines, no-frills meals
Restaurants may still be crowded but the tills are not ringing as merrily as before.
Customers have become more cautious with their spending since the financial slowdown, said restaurants, and the hardest hit are those which depend on corporate clients.
At Vietnamese restaurant Viet Lang at the DBS Arts House, where the majority of customers are white-collar workers from the Central Business District, earnings have dipped 15 per cent since the financial turmoil in the United States.
'Banks used to hold corporate events with us for about $45 to $65 a head. Now, they hold them for $25 to $35 a head and will decline extras like free-flow drinks,' said Ms Winnie Goh, marketing manager for Wellborn, the holding company for Viet Lang.
Bank staff who used to hold discussions in large groups at the restaurant are now seldom seen, she added.
Saint Pierre, a French restaurant in Central Mall, said its corporate clients from banks have been spending less, especially on wine.
Said manager Arica Chan: 'They are still holding corporate events and ordering food and wine, but they now go for moderate packages and second-tier wines instead of the best.'
Mr Ivan Haller, general manager of Senso Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in Club Street, said many customers have started changing their dining habits.
'Now, they go straight to the table instead of having an aperitif, and they choose $150 bottles of wine over $400 ones,' he said.
Mr Michael Ma, chief executive of the IndoChine Group of restaurants and bars, said Singaporeans are watching their spending.
While his restaurants' takings have not been affected, the number of inquiries for corporate events and functions dropped by about 50 per cent recently.
'I think we are likely to see two effects - fewer celebrations and functions and less corporate entertainment,' he said.
True to what restaurant owners are reporting, some banks and companies say they are indeed making a concerted effort to cut back on spending.
In late August, Citigroup sent a memo to its staff worldwide to cut costs. This includes a ban on employees holding meetings outside the office, to cut down on the cost of refreshments bought outside.
At least one other locally listed company has also alerted its staff to watch their expense accounts.
Said an employee who declined to be named: 'At a recent contact lunch with a client, there was so little food ordered, unlike before.'
At least one restaurant is preparing for further fallout.
High-end prime rib restaurant Lawry's the Prime Rib is expecting its expense-account diners to opt for cheaper meals.
To prepare for this, it has started offering a set lunch which costs $49.90, compared with its regular lunch set that costs about $80 per person.
Other restaurateurs are also trying to maintain their bases of regular customers. Mr Haller of Senso Ristorante thinks good service is key. He said: 'We must handle customers with a silky glove so they will keep coming back.'
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Feeling the pinch
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi and Shuli Sudderuddin
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
High-end restaurant Lawry's the Prime Rib, which is expecting its expense-account diners to opt for cheaper meals, has started offering a set lunch which costs $49.90, compared with its regular lunch set that costs about $80 per person.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Singaporeans have not been unaffected as economic storms hit the United States, Europe and parts of Asia.
The Sunday Times looks at how, slowly but surely, the financial crisis is affecting the way people live, work, eat, shop, play and do business here.
<HR width="50%" SIZE=1>
EAT
Corporate customers go for cheaper wines, no-frills meals
Restaurants may still be crowded but the tills are not ringing as merrily as before.
Customers have become more cautious with their spending since the financial slowdown, said restaurants, and the hardest hit are those which depend on corporate clients.
At Vietnamese restaurant Viet Lang at the DBS Arts House, where the majority of customers are white-collar workers from the Central Business District, earnings have dipped 15 per cent since the financial turmoil in the United States.
'Banks used to hold corporate events with us for about $45 to $65 a head. Now, they hold them for $25 to $35 a head and will decline extras like free-flow drinks,' said Ms Winnie Goh, marketing manager for Wellborn, the holding company for Viet Lang.
Bank staff who used to hold discussions in large groups at the restaurant are now seldom seen, she added.
Saint Pierre, a French restaurant in Central Mall, said its corporate clients from banks have been spending less, especially on wine.
Said manager Arica Chan: 'They are still holding corporate events and ordering food and wine, but they now go for moderate packages and second-tier wines instead of the best.'
Mr Ivan Haller, general manager of Senso Ristorante, an Italian restaurant in Club Street, said many customers have started changing their dining habits.
'Now, they go straight to the table instead of having an aperitif, and they choose $150 bottles of wine over $400 ones,' he said.
Mr Michael Ma, chief executive of the IndoChine Group of restaurants and bars, said Singaporeans are watching their spending.
While his restaurants' takings have not been affected, the number of inquiries for corporate events and functions dropped by about 50 per cent recently.
'I think we are likely to see two effects - fewer celebrations and functions and less corporate entertainment,' he said.
True to what restaurant owners are reporting, some banks and companies say they are indeed making a concerted effort to cut back on spending.
In late August, Citigroup sent a memo to its staff worldwide to cut costs. This includes a ban on employees holding meetings outside the office, to cut down on the cost of refreshments bought outside.
At least one other locally listed company has also alerted its staff to watch their expense accounts.
Said an employee who declined to be named: 'At a recent contact lunch with a client, there was so little food ordered, unlike before.'
At least one restaurant is preparing for further fallout.
High-end prime rib restaurant Lawry's the Prime Rib is expecting its expense-account diners to opt for cheaper meals.
To prepare for this, it has started offering a set lunch which costs $49.90, compared with its regular lunch set that costs about $80 per person.
Other restaurateurs are also trying to maintain their bases of regular customers. Mr Haller of Senso Ristorante thinks good service is key. He said: 'We must handle customers with a silky glove so they will keep coming back.'
