Protest crowds thin, party street gets mojo back after a month of low footfall
Times of India | 15 September 2024
Kolkata: The city’s food and beverages hub throbbed back to life with waiting crowds getting considerably bigger outside some Park Street restaurants on Saturday evening.
After a month of low footfalls, restaurants on Park Street, central and south Kolkata saw a return of revellers over the weekend as protests slowed down a trifle. While attendance improved by around 25% at central Kolkata restaurants, Park Street had a ‘near normal’ crowd on Friday and Saturday evenings.Footfalls had dropped by 30% on an average across Park Street restaurants since Aug 9.
“After a while, attendance was normal and we had a full house at both restaurants almost throughout the evening on both Friday and Saturday,” said Rajiv Kothari, owner of One Step Up and Bar-B-Q on Park Street.
Down the road, Peter Cat and Mocambo, too, witnessed familiar waiting crowds and a full house on Saturday. “While footfalls had not dropped drastically, it had slowed down over the last four weeks. Things started improving from last weekend and this Saturday evening, we had a normal waiting crowd. It is heartening to see things returning to normal. At this rate, we should see a further rise in footfalls next weekend and the pujas should see good crowds at restaurants,” said Nitin Kothari, owner of Mocambo and Peter Cat.
After a month, Songhai and Manthan in central Kolkata had a busy weekend with 85% attendance on Friday and Saturday evenings. “The rise in footfalls was sharp compared to last weekend. We had been affected badly since the protests repeatedly paralyzed traffic in central Kolkata over the last one month. Even though it may take some more time for the mood to change for the better, we expect a gradual rise in footfalls now,” said Sudesh Poddar, owner of Songhai and Manthan.
Restaurants inside shopping malls had seen a sharp footfall drop over the last one month. Oh! Calcutta and Mainland China had seen a 30% drop in footfalls. They saw a 10% recovery since Friday, said Anjan Chatterjee, owner of Speciality Restaurants that owns Oh!Calcutta, Mainland China, Café Mezzuna, Riyasat, Sigree and Asia Kitchen, among others. “There has been a marginal increase in footfalls but it is not yet significant. The mood is yet to change but we are probably witnessing the beginning of a revival,” added Chatterjee. He said that though footfalls at malls have started climbing, they are not yet ‘translating into restaurant visits’.
Some like Oasis on Park Street, though, are yet to see a turnaround. “We have seen a sharp 30% drop in footfalls for over a month. Even though last weekend was better, the last two days did not see any rise in footfalls,” said Oasis owner Pratap Daryanani.