Pharmacy swallows bitter pill
Once, mere mortals were forced to book weeks in advance, standing in line behind the likes of Kylie Minogue and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.
Today the Evening Standard easily booked a table for two for lunch at Damien Hirst's Pharmacy restaurant only two hours in advance.
No surprise, then, that its owners today revealed sales at the fallen star of the London celebrity circuit had slumped by 29 per cent in the first nine months of 2002 compared with the previous year.
The figures filed by the Hartford Group showed just how serious the restaurant's decline has been with the company admitting "inconsistent service delivery" and "no clearly defined point of difference within its market". Hartford is pinning its hopes on new superchef, Michelinstarred Hywel Jones, to turn around the struggling site. City analysts believe Jones will be given a few years to make the restaurant work. But if he fails, this prime piece of Notting Hill real estate is likely to be turned into a trendy bar.
