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Credit Crunch.... what credit crunch

An Invitation to Treat at Zebrano at The Establishment


There were no signs of the credit crunch at Zebrano at the Establishment on Wednesday 9th July 2008 as Zebrano launched Invitation to treat - the initiative where the customers pay exactly what they want for the food they ordered with no recriminations. Don Cameron (Managing Director) reports, “We launched our new Tapas menu with Invitation to Treat, allowing customers the freedom to pay what they feel the food is worth. Our average tapas dish is priced at £4.38 and when we did the totalling up we were paid an average of £4.57 per dish, and the extra revenue will go towards our infamous staff Christmas party. The fact that our customers paid roughly the correct price is great feedback, showing me that we are serving great food and our customers are very fair people. Whilst everyone is talking about the recession and credit crunch, we wanted to given even better value to all our customers so they can continue to afford to have a great time and ‘Invitation to treat’ is one of our initiatives to achieve this. “

Among the more traditional tapas offered, such as Tortilla Española (Spanish omelette) and Gambas Al Ajillo (Prawns in olive oil, garlic and chilli) diners could experience dishes from more specialised regions. Such dishes included a casserole from Segovia consisting of new potatoes, lamb and spices in addition to specially sourced ham from Serrano and olives. However, no matter how specialised the dishes were, Zebrano’s customers still had total control of their prices showing that Zebrano customers not only have good taste, but a great idea of value as well.

Comedian Peter Cook once owned the venue at 18 Greek Street so it has often been described as cutting edge; when Peter Cook owned ‘The Establishment’ the comedy broke all rules and many taboos. Zebrano at the Establishment is also pushing the boundaries and many have described the current owners as mad to trust customers to pay a fair price. Diner Mel Johnson says "we were attracted to book a table because we new we had nothing to loose and if the food was not good we would definitely have not paid very much for it, but the food was excellent. Some of the best tapas I have tasted in London. It was obvious that they had gone to a great deal of effort and everything was really well prepared, I think I had 4 or 5 dishes and paid £20”.

Invitation to treat launched Wednesday 9th July and will be available every Wednesday from 5pm. Customers will be given an itemised list of food they ordered with a blank space in place of the prices and total. The customers will fill in the total themselves and that will be the price charged.

venue information: Zebrano at the Establishment

Date Posted: 14 Jul 08
Posted By: Paul Caffell
Keywords: None

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