Here in London we are incredibly lucky: each and every month we’re guaranteed at least a handful ofsensational new restaurants. The problem? Hype travels fast and before you know it, you’re having to promise the Pope your first-born child for a table for two six months in advance. What’s worse?Word tends to stick, so even though The River Café, for example, opened 37 years ago, you can say sayonara to its chocolate nemesis cake just about any Friday night until the end of time — unless your name carries some Hollywood sparkle.
I know, it’s a tough life, but there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Launching late this summer, Last Resort is a new platform by Charlie Darwich and Ziad Hariri that will allow Londoners to ‘buy’ unwanted restaurant reservations from those who no longer need their bookings and do not wish to lose their deposit, if one is applicable. The cost? According to Hariri, ‘To put your reservation up for grabs on our platform is free. There will be a 99p service fee incurred by the purchaser in order to secure the reservation. To secure a restaurant with a pre-deposit, you just need to pay back the seller their deposit, plus a 10 per cent service fee for the app.’
Following killjoys making big money buying up and selling reservations in New York, is there a risk the app could be exploited? ‘There is no means to profit off our app, unless you’re a pure foodie,’ says Hariri. ‘When a “sale” goes through you are simply avoiding a cancellation fee, or a lost deposit.’ A win-win? Possibly. Now, let’s manifest hangovers for those with Sunday lunch bookings at Cafe Cecilia...
