Italian eatery shuts on Valentine's Day diners
A fully-booked, top-end Italian restaurant shut its doors suddenly on Valentine's Day yesterday, prompting a last-minute rush among disappointed couples to find alternative dining.
A sign outside the Daluca Cucina Italiana restaurant in Central said its lease had expired with no option of renewal.
One disappointed customer who reserved a table on Thursday night, hours before the closure, said he was given no hint by staff that there were problems.
'They said they were fully booked between 7pm and 9.30pm on Valentine's Day and showed me a list of all the names who had booked - there must have been at least 30 couples,' the customer said. 'My girlfriend and I are disappointed, we were looking forward to the special Valentine's menu which offered a free glass of champagne.'
The customer said he was called by a neighbouring restaurateur who had got hold of the Italian restaurant's reservation list and offered him a table.
'It's not what I wanted, but what can I do?' he said.
While the future is uncertain for upmarket fine dining restaurants, it is a different story a few streets away where cheaper restaurants were expecting good business last night.
Cafe de Lan Kwai Fong supervisor So Nai Sing predicted sales would jump by 20 per cent on Valentine's Day.
He said the lights would be dimmed after 6pm and the interior would be set up to create as romantic an atmosphere as possible.
Meanwhile, Tsim Sha Tsui's Sun Fat Restaurant, which offered a romantic set dinner for two at $88, was also hoping to corner the market of married couples with children.
'For some it will feel out of place to bring kids to romantic dinners, but many families in Hong Kong are tightening their budgets,' a staff member said.
