Behind the restaurant boom: the urban delusion consuming our cities

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Behind the restaurant boom: the urban delusion consuming our cities

And what if you come to London, where rents are a rip-off, first-time buying is unimaginable, and freelancing in one of those creative industries beloved of Richard Florida means earning sod all? How does a twenty- or thirtysomething in those circumstances take up the lifestyle offered by the capital? By parking any idea of buying a place, starting a family and settling down. “They haven’t the money to grow up, so they go out,” suggests the Manchester University anthropologist Sean Carey. They queue for burgers, eat at concept diners and Instagram the results – perhaps it makes an unliveable settlement bearable for a while.

The new consumer is summed up by Gareth Grundy of Observer Food Monthly. He recalls a young woman who kept a list on her phone of all the new restaurants. “She was sharing a house and couldn’t really afford to eat out, but she kept trying to tick them off.”

Abigail Tan is smart. Her restaurant deserves to do well. But in the nicest possible way, I hope Britain’s future isn’t full of Tans. A concept’s fine for a night out – but it’s no way to run an economy.
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uggboy, Dec 23, 2014

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