I know I’m talking to many different types of restaurateur, but I hope that all of you are passionate about what you do. If you’re not, then give this to someone that is! You can ignore this information and blame the recession, or the weather, or the government for not doing better.

Hopefully you’re still with me! Now, I can tell you about how to create ambience, and a more memorable experience for your customers. Your customers will then become ambassadors for your business, and word of mouth is the most powerful way of increasing your trade. And the magic word is? Candlelight. Eighty three people out of a hundred prefer a restaurant with candlelight to one without (Clearcraft survey 2006). If you don’t have it, then eighty three out of a hundred people may walk by. They may never taste your fantastic food, because they weren’t drawn in by the magic of candlelight. So it seems pretty simple doesn’t it.We stick some candles in the restaurant and we’ve got instant ambience, instant success. Well maybe, for one night. But if you’ve chosen the wrong ones, you may have saddled yourself with a whole load more work, and expense, that you hadn’t counted on. Worse still, your staff may get fed up with them, stop using them, and suddenly you’re back to square one and out of pocket. Remember, the aim of the exercise is to get more people in, and keep them coming in. Not all candles are the same.

Traditional Wax Candles
They may be either large pillar candles like those you get in a church, or the classic dinner taper, for which you will need an elegant candle stick. These tend to suit classic dining rooms and old country inns. Generally, you are better off paying more for a good candle than trying to get the cheapest.

Many Chinese manufactured candles, are made of whipped wax, which means that the centre of the candle has a lot of air mixed into the wax. This centre burns away very quickly, and soon you have an ugly, large smoky flame, that is almost invisible inside a wax pillar, until the whole thing collapses. You can tell a whipped wax candle from a solid candle by comparing the weight of each one in your hand. The whipped one will be much lighter. Test the manufacturers claimed burning time. If a 120 hour burn time is stated on the candle, but after 60 hours it looks rubbish, the candle flame has disappeared inside the candle or it has simply turned to mush, then you only get half the claimed value.

Tea lights
The second type, and probably the most commonly used type of candle is the humble tea light. You must again be sure you buy a quality item. Many tea lights say they burn for four hours when they quite often don’t last. And even if they did, four hours is barely enough for an evening service, particularly in winter. If you do put tea lights on your tables, your valuable customers, the ones that really count (that’s all of them by the way), will know that you think they’re worth about four pence. Also you can end up throwing so many away, half used, or worse still, half spilled over your table, linen or caking up the inside of your candle holder. This can be a real problem. I hear it over and over again. People that use them regularly quite simply say “ I hate tea lights! There must be something else!” And of course, there is...

Oil candles
Generally they consist of a glass body, and a wick. When filled with high quality, sootless paraffin (Ordinary paraffin or kerosene simply will not do), they provide a clean, long lasting and very economical candle light.

There is no waxy mess, and also no waste. They tend to come in many different varieties, and because the fuel is available in many colours, you can match your style and décor. The only maintenance required is re-filling, which may need to be done daily, weekly or maybe as little as fortnightly. The running costs are typically around one and a half pence an hour. Some can cost as little as a couple of pounds each to buy. Once you consider the costs saved on wax removal, and wastage of half used candles, an oil candle is often more economical and always more pleasing on the eye.It would only be fair to mention that on the down side for an oil candle, the wicks can be a little fiddly to set up the first time, but on the other hand, you can get just the flame you want, where wax candles cannot be adjusted. They can also be easily moved around. This may seem an insignificant point, but if you have a family with young children, you do not want them playing with fire so you want to move any candles away.A lit wax candle will quickly deposit a trail of wax behind it at the slightest touch.

Put something rather better than that in front of them and they will feel a whole lot more valued. So, once you have your candles there are a few common sense things you need to remember, to get the most benefit from them. Firstly, remember to light them! You don’t have to light all of them, but see which ones look best from outside, and are likely to do the best job at attracting people inside, and light those. If you don’t have a large window, where people can see diners, put them in your entrance area. Secondly, always light the candle when someone takes a table.Never wait to be asked by your customer to light the candle as this will quickly become a point of annoyance. Similarly, if a candle blows out, or runs out, relight or replace it immediately. Finally, light a few candles in areas of the restaurant that do not have diners in as this will make the whole of your restaurant more inviting. Ambience is right up there in peoples mind as what makes a restaurant or particular meal memorable and if your restaurant doesn’t have it, in spades, you could lose out in today’s challenging market. Choose the right candles and follow these simple rules and you will be in the best position to grab those  customers.

Clearcraft
Tel: 0845 345 5123
www.clearcraft-catering.co.uk