20 � squaremeal.co.uk

RESTAURANTS + BAR S

ILLUSTRATION: GEO PARKIN

Recent research suggests that leisurely lunches do the business when

it comes to deal-making. So sling away that sarnie WORDS BEN MCCORMACK

W

hatever your

opinions

on Brexit,

few would

disagree that when

it comes to the art of

the long lunch, our

continental neighbours

beat us hands down.

My own happiest

memory of this was 10

years ago in Reims, when

Rémi Krug took me for

lunch at his favourite

restaurant. �ere, in the

art deco splendour of La

Brasserie du Boulingrin,

we feasted on pigs' trotters

and drank Krug Grande

Cuvée (one of his favourite

food and wine matches).

All around us, it

seemed as if the whole of

Reims was lunching - and

taking two hours away

from their desk for the

task. It was clear from all the

backslapping, handshaking

and air kissing that if you

wanted to do business in

Reims, a long lunch at La

Brasserie du Boulingrin was

the only way to do it.

So it was with tristesse that I recently

read a report that nearly half of British

workers are too busy to leave their desks

for lunch. �e study also found that 40

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

per cent of British workers believed lunch

with potential clients was a crucial factor

in closing a deal, with a third admitting

they would be more likely to sign a

contract if they were treated to a meal.

Perhaps even sadder

was the third of workers

who said that when dining

out for lunch, they bolt

down their meal in under

an hour. (Why bother

leaving your desk?) It's

a false economy. When

you eat with other people,

you're sharing more than

just food: you show that

you value their time and

what they have to say. It's

no surprise the flagship

interview of the Financial

Times is called Lunch

with the FT.

But it's not just soggy

sandwiches al desko that's

replacing the long lunch.

JP Morgan's Corporate

Challenge, a 3.5 mile

run-cum-networking

event, signed up more

than 31,000 people this

year. Deloitte has its

Ride Across Britain, a tour

de finance involving a bike

ride from Land's End to

John O'Groats; and property

company JLL runs the UK's

second-largest one-day

triathlon. Call me a prude, but nothing

would be less likely to get me to sign a

deal than seeing a Lycra-clad associate

dripping sweat over a contract.

Still, although the European-style

long lunch is in decline, one of Britain's

great gifts to global gastronomy, the full

English breakfast, is on the seemingly

unstoppable up as a way to do business.

Yet even if the old adage of breakfasting

like a king is true, don't forget to also

lunch like a prince. Or simply follow my

own adage: breakfast like a king, lunch

like a king, dine like a king. It's much

easier to remember and happier all round.

IT'S NOT JUST SOGGY

SANDWICHES AL DESKO THAT'S

REPLACING THE LONG LUNCH

LE 40 WINKS

The decline of the long lunch wasn't the only

report to catch my eye recently: a respected

Gallic think-tank has said that French

businesses should encourage sta� to make

time in their 35-hour working week to take

a 20-minute daily nap after lunch, claiming

it boosts productivity. All the more reason

to leave your desk for a boozy lunch if you're

going to get a power siesta at the end of it.

Perhaps this is one European directive we

should adopt while we still can.