Shortage of staff closes successful Dublin restaurant

The owners of a Dublin restaurant which won favourable reviews and inclusion in the 2000 Michelin Red Guide say they have decided to close because of difficulty in getting staff.

Ms Tara Cremin, who opened Mange Tout on Baggot Street 16 months ago with her husband, chef Mr Brian Beattie, said they tried increasing the wages they were paying to waiting staff but were still unable to compete with larger restaurants and hotels.

She said competition in the labour market was making it difficult for smaller, quality restaurants to survive.

"The restaurant should carry eight staff. I've just been checking and we had 36 staff over the period," said Ms Cremin. "It's an employees' market. This is the reality of the so-called Celtic Tiger."

Ms Cremin said she had placed advertisements in newspapers and sought staff from abroad using the Internet. Originally they had sought only trained "fine dining" staff but found they kept moving to other jobs.

Waiters were being paid £200 per week and were receiving a similar amount in tips, she said. "I think that's good money." The restaurant opened for lunch and dinner. More recently she started to train people but says she couldn't find people interested in the job as a career.

"The last six months have been a struggle. In November, we had to phone 42 customers who had Saturday night reservations and tell them we were not opening because we had no staff."

In recent weeks the restaurant has been "borrowing" staff from a co-operative competitor. "Saturday night was our last night to trade. We told the landlord on Monday."

Ms Cremin said the venture had been profitable, had received good reviews and sufficient custom, and was closing without losses having been incurred. The premises previously housed L'Ecrivain and Peacock Alley.

"I know its not only the dining industry that is suffering, but it's very hard. We put our heart and soul into the business and had a good, regular customer base."

Letters explaining the reason for the restaurant's demise have been sent to regular customers.