Communal Meals
One interesting conclusion of a report on communal restaurants, which has just been published by the London Council of Social Service, is that there is likely to be a continuation after the war of the habit of feeding communally. Nearly every one of more than a thousand habitual diners at British Restaurants in London, whose answers to questions are included in this report, expressed a wish to see the service continue, one in seven being emphatically in favour. The report shows that, of the regular clients, about 40 per cent. formerly went to commercial restaurants ; but any com- plaint that the custom of private establishments is endangered by the new competition rather loses. force when it is recalled. that 9 per cent. of London's restaurants have closed since 194o, and there was a gap to be filled. But some part of the 9 per cent. results from competition. As to the social texture of the diners, it was found that the proportions for age, sex, and occupation differed very little from those of the war-time population of London. The average profit of the group of restaurants examined was one halfpenny on a shilling turnover ; slight losses were incurred by some which did not cater for more than zoo-30o persons daily, but these could mostly be covered by an increase of a penny on the charge for the main dish. There is no doubt, however, that if the civic restaurant is to take on any of the attributes of a club, as sonic clients desire, better premises will have to be provided.
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