I first discovered Côte back in 2010, three years after the first restaurant opened. My in-laws were in Brighton, and my wife and I met up with them and went out for a very successful meal which included rillettes, calamari and a perfect steak with bearnaise and chips. Delicious.
As soon as I was back in London I found the nearest Côte, which was in Soho, and tried it out. The experience was just as good as in Brighton. Quality French food at a reasonable price. I recommended it to anyone who would listen.
Then something changed. My wife and I visited the Soho outlet in 2014 and instead of quality we got dried, overcooked steaks and bad service. A few months later we returned and confirmed our research results: The quality had declined.
Our first thought was that they’d done the dreaded Excel spreadsheet analysis and seen an opportunity to optimise. I have a sneaking, albeit unfounded, suspicion this coincided with the business being acquired by a private equity fund around the same time. But even if it was a culinary failure the buyout was a financial success. The number or restaurants expanded from 40 to almost 70 and profits grew from £12.8m in 2013 to £16.2m last year.
I still go to Côte. They have a restaurant in Islington, close to where I now live, which has great ambiance and service and a decent brunch. But I haven’t risked buying their steak again. So I guess I’m still making them money.
Côte is again up for sale according to The Sunday Times. This time the price tag is £200 million. I hope whoever buys it knows how to appreciate both Excel and a rare minute steak. With bernaise.