Given the success or failure of restaurants lies in getting
enough butts on the seats, are nudists restaurants represent a bad business
model if it can’t get enough – naked or not?
By: Ringo Bones
After being open for just 15 months, Paris’ first ever
nudist restaurant plans to close next month after it can no longer “get enough
butts in the seats” for economic viability. The restaurant is called O’naturel
and is located in the city’s 12th arrondissent opened to much
fanfare back in November 2017, but just over a year later, a dearth of
customers is forcing the pioneering restaurant to close its doors. Mike and
Stephane Saada, 43-year-old twins, launched the concept – despite not being
nudist themselves and in the videos shown of the restaurant in operation, the
waiters appear to be fully clothed.
Unlike nudist beaches operating in Europe, which only attract
naturists during the warm summer months, O’naturel was designed to offer “the
pleasure of dining naked all year in the capital in the respect of naturist
values” according to the website, which is still live. The owners said of the
closure: “we will only remember the good times, meeting beautiful people and
customers who were delighted to share exceptional moments.”
Diners were shown into changing rooms on arrival, where they
could store clothes and mobile phones and cameras – strictly banned in the
restaurant – in lockers. Guests were also given a pair of slippers, though
women could leave their heels on if they so desire. The experience was open to
everyone, whether “initiates” or those “who want to try”. Yves Leclerc,
president of the French Nudist Federation, said when O’naturel first opened: “it
is like we’re on holiday, but it’s even better.” However, some eventually
complained that the presence of clothed waiters was not in the spirit of a
nudist restaurant. It had a better run than London’s The Bunyadi, which was
admittedly only a pop-up venture. Given that France has stricter nudist rules
than the more libertine Dutch – i.e. lack of “all age nudist camps” on French
soil, the lack of loud bratty kids would also be O’naturel’s unique selling
point in providing a “sedate” and relatively quiet nude dining experience.
