Doggy bags are just ‘not French,’ says hotel union

Plans to oblige restaurants to offer doggy bags to all diners who do not finish their meals have been criticised by chefs who say the move will waste money on a ‘non-French’ idea.

An MPs’ committee backed the plan to adopt the US practice to cut down on waste and will debate the issue this month but leading restaurateur Hubert Jan attacked the plan saying “it was not in the French culture”. Mr Jan, restaurants president of the hotel union UMIH, added: “It is rare to see this. It comes from the Anglo-Saxon world but when you see the state of restaurants there it is more understandable.”

Mr Jan said French restaurants were aware of the need to cut waste, for commercial and environmental reasons, and tried to size portions appropriately. UMIH carried out a test in 2014 when it sent 10,000 boxes to members to see if they would be used. The result was a flop.

But the restaurants Connexion spoke to were not worried.

One Michelin star La Ribau­dière in Bourg-Charente, Char­ente said: “Clients, both foreign and French, have asked us to pack up uneaten portions, and it is never a problem. It is something which has always happened here and we are happy if clients are happy.”

Bordeaux’s La Tupina, famous for hearty south-western dishes, also had no problem. Assist­ant manager Fleur Dubarry said: “We have always done it – it is a bit délicat for a restaurant to refuse to help a client take food which they have paid for.”

She added that better packaging due to the rise in cycle courier services for take-outs, made things easier now.

“For some dishes it is a problem figuring how they will get out the door without it spilling everywhere, but we manage.”