A survivor's game

Faced with a government austerity campaign and some jitters about the economy, many high-end restaurants in Beijing were challenged to change or die. Ye Jun reports.

The past year has been especially difficult for high-end restaurants in Beijing. Many top Chinese restaurants either closed down or have tried to reinvent themselves for a downscale market. At the same time, some middle and low-end eateries have sustained good business. The closing of Maison Boulud at Qianmen 23 on Dec 8 came as a shock to many gourmets in Beijing. Just three months ago in September, New York-based founder Daniel Boulud himself was in town to celebrate its fifth anniversary. The restaurant had a good reputation and won plenty of media awards for both food and service.

Recently its managing company put up a notice, saying the restaurant lost a total of 245 million yuan ($40 million) by the end of 2012. It has been widely posted on Sina Weibo micro blogs and WeChat. The notice says the reason the restaurant lost money is because costs far exceed income.