Grace Dent: 'restaurants aren't going to die'

Speaking on a panel at a P&G Professional event in London this week, Dent, who is the restaurant critic at the Guardian, said she had noticed that consumers are pushing back against menu price increases.

"People are visibly angry about prices going up," she said. "But of course, the prices are going up. It's incredibly difficult, because [before] people wouldn't have turned a hair at getting their main course and realising the side of potatoes was £8. At one point they would be ‘easy come, easy go' and just pay it, but that isn't happening now."

Dent advised restaurants to "hold their nerve" and keep delivering a high standard of service. "If you've got great staff, do whatever you can to keep hold of them. It's going to be bumpy. With the greatest of respect, I think this hard time will clear out a lot [of restaurants], but the good ones will remain."

She added: "People love eating, it's the most primal, rewarding, lovely thing to do. And there's nothing lovelier than on a Friday night, whisking into a nice restaurant and having a lovely plate of food and talking to your friends."

Dent said the restaurants that she repeatedly returned to didn't necessarily have the best food but were places that made her feel at home. "It's not because of the sublime level of food, sometimes the food is just average, but the reason I'm in Wagamama and not another chain is because of the atmosphere, level of service and it's a place where you feel comfortable, and you know the rules and it's dependable and reliable."

She added that the greatest restaurants were the ones that meant the most to people, pointing to Brasserie Zedel (pictured) in London's Soho, the much-loved restaurant opened by Jeremy King and Chris Corbin which is now part of the Wolseley Hospitality Group.

There was outcry in the hospitality industry when King lost control of the wider restaurant group earlier this year.

Dent said Brasserie Zedel under its previous owners was a "safe place" and a "sanctuary" for thousands of people and noted how the service was reminiscent of the theme tune of the sitcom Cheers, being somewhere 'everybody knows your name'.

"It was pocket friendly, with loud music on a Saturday night and it felt like a scene," said Dent.