Victorians have never been shy about asking for what's euphemistically known in the restaurant trade as doggy bags.
Call it a sign of the economic times, but more are asking now even though Victoria has yet to feel the recessionary punch clobbering the U.S. and provinces to the east.
New York restaurateur David Pogrebin says more and more clientele are doing what was the unheard-of back in their free-spending days. They're requesting doggy bags for their unfinished steak-frites, which in flusher times would have gone to the dumpster.
Nor are New Yorkers' pampered pooches likely to find in their dog bowls what their masters brought home. People are getting a second meal out of last night's restaurant dinner.
"Up until recently, people haven't been asking for doggy bags," says Don Monsour, chairman of the Victoria branch of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association, whose members report the number of customers asking is definitely on the rise.
People are increasingly trying to economize, according to Monsour -- perhaps in anticipation of bad times to come.
"One way to economize is to take extra food home," he says.
Another way is to drop a notch in the restaurant hierarchy. Family restaurants are doing well compared to higher-end ones, according to Monsour. So are fast-food outlets.
Aaron Miller, operations manager of Ric's Grill Steak, Seafood & Chop House, finds people are watching their dollars more. The rationale is: "I'm taking home what I haven't eaten. I've paid for it."
Younger people -- particularly women -- are now more likely than their too-proud boomer parents to ask for a doggy bag, according to restaurateurs. Caf脙漏 Brio's Greg Hays has long been an exception. If the high-end restaurateur can't finish a steak he has ordered, he takes it home.
"I love a cold steak for breakfast. My son and I fight over it," he says.
Miller has had to up his order to meet the new demand for what he calls to-go containers. Food-container suppliers have told Monsour they're seeing larger orders.
"My common sense tells me [the economy's] not as bad as it's portrayed," says Frederique Philip of Sooke Harbour House, one of the few local restaurants with an international reputation. Still, she's feeling the recessionary pinch. Business is slow.
"We're going to have to be more creative to lure people in," Philip says.
Local restaurateurs are doing just that with everything from price-reflected smaller portions to multi-course meal specials. The Oak Bay Marina Restaurant came up with the multiple-course special in response to worrisome October figures coinciding with a tanking stock market. Manager Lesli Ellis says a portion of their local clientele is older with fixed or investment income. The meal special launched in January has been such a success, the restaurant is carrying it through May.
People are still coming to the Marina for special occasions, Ellis says.
Milestone's Pat Allabarton sees no drop in birthday and other celebratory dinners.
What's down is casual dining, according to Allabarton, manager of the city's highest-volume restaurant. Where people once said, "Let's go out for a bite," they're now saying, "Let's wait until your birthday." Before last summer, they would have dined out both times, she says.
Both Allabarton and Miller are seeing fewer office workers sitting down for a weekday lunch. What Miller has noticed is a spike in to-go meals. People phone in their order, pick it up, and take it back to eat at their desks. He suspects this trend reflects increased workload with downsizing of employees.
