As dining-in became a norm during lockdown, Mumbai’s popular eateries had to re-strategize to keep the kitchen running
The photo is for representational purpose only
A perfectly ironed table cloth, neatly laid out cutlery and a bunch of extremely alert servers – that was how fine dining looked in Mumbai – pre-pandemic of course. While the pandemic is far from over; restaurants and eateries are opening up. However, the safety protocol and the government mandate still restrict them to welcome patrons in full capacity.
As we complete one year of lockdown, the F&B sector, among others, were badly affected during the pandemic. People were skeptical to order food and some restaurants had to shut down as well. Now, slowly as everyone has started to navigate their way through the ‘new normal’, even restaurateurs and city hotels found a safe and hygienic way to serve food to their customers.
Delivering delicacies.
As dining-in became the new norm, restaurants which didn’t have a home delivery option ventured into it. Ka Hospitality, which runs fine dining restaurants such as Nara, CinCin, Hakkasan and Yauatcha, also took the food delivery route. Karyna Bajaj, Executive Director at Ka Hospitality shares, “In 2019, when we opened Nara, Colaba and started deliveries from there, we realised that there is a huge untapped market for deliveries, especially for brands like us. Through Scootsy, we established that there is a delivery market for premium and fine dining restaurants and since then we always had plans to start deliveries for Hakkasan and Yauatcha.” This plan got fastened as pandemic hit and they started delivery for the latter restaurants as well.
Karyna Bajaj
Similarly, Slink & Bardot was launched in 2017 and Souffle S'il Vous Plait which was launched in December 2019 did not have delivery options available. For Nick Harrison, the co-founder of both restaurants, prior to the lockdown, tapping into delivery was a backburner conversation. They had plans to start it eventually but he says, “As the lockdown continued to get extended, we understood it was to become our primary revenue stream. Beyond this, it was also a means to sustain our connection with our loyal clientele. The support we received especially when we first started was truly touching.”