Rising Dining Costs Due to Restaurant Theft

When you leave a restaurant, you might ask for your meal to go or something to take home, but there's this growing issue of diners taking other things home that they did not do. This. I know. Bloomberg Pursuit's food editor Kate Krader explains there's a rise in culinary kleptos Nice. And that is costing all of us at the dinner table. If I'd known that Kate was cool with pilfering small things from restaurants... We had dinner at one Club Row a little while back in London. They have this beautiful cobalt blue cutlery. I might have taken might have taken a fork or a knife. Kate, you're alright with this? I love that you I love that you still remember the details of that, and that wasn't on my radar, but I'm glad we should have checked your pockets. Wait. Are you two pilfering from restaurants restaurants? When Are you you going go to to these these cool cool outings outings without with me? You do. You have, I should say. I have. Yeah. Let's put this. I'm scared straight. I know. I... It was a big, big admission for me, but I have been known to get caught up in the moment of being in a restaurant and thinking that a spoon looked especially attractive or, in one case, even a jug. I I did manage to abscond with, like, a big ceramic jug, but that was a while ago. I'm scared straight now. Wait. So, apparently, this is a bit of a problem. I had never heard of this before. A friend of mine was dating this woman, and they had gotten banned from several restaurants around DC because she kept stealing things, and they knew she was stealing them. She was stealing, like, the little, like, aluminum or a metal thing that you put the ketchup in or, like, a, a cup or they were stealing glasses, and they kept catching her. And they banned her from several restaurants. I had never heard of this, but apparently banned from restaurants. Oh, I'm gonna have to do a sequel and talk to your friend. That's a lot. That's that's farther than it usually goes, to be honest. What what motivates people to do this? You can speak from your own personal experience, but as you've talked to folks reporting out this story, why why do people feel compelled to take something small or a jug, I guess, your case, off the table? Yeah. Exactly. It's it's super interesting. I did talk to a lot of, psychiatrists or a number of them, And people take them because they get caught up in the moment because sometimes there's alcohol involved, but there's also a sense of entitlement that comes when you eat at restaurants. You know, you're being so well cared for. Someone's taking your order. Someone's serving you food. Someone's cleaning up after you. And so then if that cobalt blue fork knife looks really good, you are... All of a sudden, you think, oh, I should have this memento. A lot of people justify it as a souvenir. I see. And as you know, I I totally understand that mentality. But if you start to think about it for a minute, especially in this landscape for restaurants where margins are increasingly tighter, food's more expensive, labor's more expensive. It really... It costs money even if you are taking, like, a leather menu cover. Like, that... It adds up. So, I'm gonna be more thoughtful now. And, David, I hope you are too. I will be. I will admit, I did go on a diplomatic trip to India, and we ate at this very famous restaurant where they have these giant naans, and they're so messy and so many people come in there with suits. They give you, like, this full body bib napkin, and there was a little bit of alcohol involved. And we did all try to take them out, and two out of the three of us got caught. But I did make it out with mine. But I felt so guilty for months. I like You're part of the club now. You're looking to get rid of it. Every time I looked at it, I felt so horribly guilty. But you make a list of other fun things or funny or not funny that people have stolen from restaurant. They run the gambit from artwork to six foot tall trees, butter knives, toilet paper, and chefs at Quality Bistro in New York told you that customers have gone as far as unscrewing light sconces from the bathroom wall. Crazy. That's, I mean, that's not That's the same. I agree. That's a bridge that's a bridge way too far even for me. I would never walk into a bathroom and try and take away something that is... Especially that's nailed down, this really excellent restaurateur in Miami, Will Thompson, who... Somebody told me a great story about stealing their super chic martini glasses, said that, people take down... People take anything that's not nailed down, and that doesn't even stop them sometimes. And I think that's true. Also, if you get it in your head that you want something, and especially as alcohol is involved, you know, or something's uninhibiting you, you think, oh, that looks really good, and that would look really cute in my house. What did restaurateurs tell you about what you mentioned a moment ago, which is the the way that this affects their bottom line? I guess there is a a school of thought, like, this restaurant must have an infinite number of forks or spoons. They could replace one, surely, if I were to were to take it. What did they say about the effect that it actually does have if you if you take one of these things? Right. Yeah. That's a really good point, Dave, because, definitely, people justify it as a victimless crime. You know, they look around. You don't see the owner. You know the server. You you don't count the server as someone that you're stealing from. And so you think, oh, there's, like, spoons on every table. There's glasses on every table. But the bottom line, it starts to add up at this, great restaurant in New York called L'Amico. They lose a couple thousand dollars every year based on things that get stolen, including cute little spoons. And beyond the cost, there's also a time element when you try and replace it. And so if you're running short on plates or glasses and you can't get them replaced for weeks, that's, that really starts to be a problem. But you've also written about how related and not related that restaurants are starting to stay open later. Can you talk to us about why that is? And in my mind, that kind of increases the risk of this guy... Kinda... These kind of shenanigans are gonna happen if we're all staying out later drinking more. Segue. That spoon starts to look really good. That was an excellent segue. Oh my gosh. That was like skating on... You were like Missy Copeland. Alright. Alright. Alright. That was amazing. Come back anytime. It's true. It's... Okay. Thank you. It really... It's an excellent trend that we are really delighted to report on. Matt Kronsberg, who's one of our star writers, noticed this trend of places staying open later. And as you probably know, during... As a result of the pandemic, all of a sudden, 05:30 became the hot time to eat, and nobody wanted a late reservation and places were deserted. But now as a result of several things on both sides of The Atlantic that run the gamut from the Odyssey, you know, showing twenty four hours and people trying to stay up for two AM screenings. And here in The UK, the World Cup, some of those games are played at midnight and even one and two in the morning, and so pubs got licensed to stay open later. And all of a sudden, people realize, you know what? I'm not... Like, the world doesn't end if I go to eat... Out to eat at 9PM. And in fact, it's really fun. You know? Like, there's just, a fun factor that's back certainly in New York City, and you feel it in London too. And it really manifested a restaurant in a dining room later at night. New York, London. Christina has moved here recently from DC. I'm just gonna go out and say not many late night restaurant spots in in Washington. Kate, is this happening in other places? Is it catching on in places outside of New York and London? You know what? Other places haven't been so badly hit like Miami's always been. Much more of a late night place literally in a place like Madrid and Barcelona. It's, it's something that you see. But, yeah, I know. I think in LA, people are starting to rediscover their late night habits. And the thing is once you start, once you realize, like, oh, going out at 09:00, 09:30 isn't gonna kill me, then you sort of get... You sort of think, oh, this is really fun. And, you know, it's fun to be out kind of late, and it's, it's something... It's making a difference. Restaurateurs like it because it's next return at their table or at their tables, and so they're making more money. And, and there's also, down in New York, this restaurant, Semma, that's super popular, especially it's got high end Indian food. A lot of Indians, the owner, Ronnie said he's seeing a lot of demand from his Indian clientele for a later populate... For a later reservations. And it's not even that they can't get in at 06:00 or 06:30. It's that they wanna eat at 09:30.