A Michelin-trained chef, whose two Nottingham restaurants closed this year, compared business to being in the ring with Mike Tyson. James Crossman, who has been in the industry for 25 years, said: "It felt like we were one of Mike Tyson's early opponents - you haven't got a leg to stand on but you're going to try and finish the fight."
Mr Crossman was the executive chef at Petit Paris in Kings Walk, which closed down in April, and Paris Bar & Restaurant in High Pavement, which shut suddenly at the end of June. He said he was heartbroken for the 40 staff who were made redundant at the two restaurants.
The closures came during "a hell of year," in which his wife Beck was diagnosed with cancer. The 41-year-old said the two restaurants never fully recovered from Covid and combined with his wife's illness, he had no choice but to take a step back from the business in April. "It felt like my mind was going to explode with pressure," he said.
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Mr Crossman blamed the pandemic and knock-on price rises for the demise. He said: "Every single price doubled across the board. The energy prices were mental, costing £13,000 for one month over the two businesses. It had been less than half before.
"With the ripple effect from Covid, then the fuel crisis and the energy crisis, and cost of living crisis, everybody is feeling the pinch. It's in your face all the time so people don't go out, you're constantly being reminded that everything has gone up so much."
Petit Paris, where Mr Crossman started his career at 17 before going to work for Gordon Ramsay in London, saw numbers drop from 180 on a Saturday night to half that amount. "We had to go up a pound or two - I was always scared to do that. As soon as you put your cost onto the menu the customers are not going to come. You try not to make out to the public that it's a struggle - it had just come to a point when you are continually losing money.
"This had gone on for two years, trying and trying. It came to a point where it was impossible and it broke my heart. I gave everything to this. I am a passionate chef and have been for 25 years but this has really hit me for six."
Some of the staff complained that the 80-seater Paris restaurant closed just before pay day but Mr Crossman said it hadn't been his decision. He found out in a phone call from one of the four investors, one of whom was his uncle, Antony Crossman.
"I was told there wasn't any money to pay them. I knew nothing until I got a call the night before. They had invested £100,000s in Paris and then four months later Covid comes. I have lost face, not money. I had shares for my talent but I never invested any money."
He paid tribute to the Paris staff and said they had "performed heroics" during difficult times. Mentioning by name, head chef Russ Crisostomo, sous chef Alex Hopkinson, general manager Beckie Gilbert and restaurant managers Gary Simpson and Barry Hartwright, he said: "They really did everything and my heart massively goes out to them in the situation the company had to put them it. It’s horrible, heart-breaking."
Mr Crossman, a father of 16-year-old twins, said he feared for the industry as a whole, especially independently run businesses. "The margins are so small. It's an almost impossible scenario unless you're doing big numbers."
The experience has left him "petrified" about going into business with a workforce again. Instead he is planning to go it alone, with a bespoke catering company, and to venture into teaching catering at a secondary school.
Antony Crossman has been contacted for comment.
