Jamai Shashthi crowd back in Kolkata eateries – Times of India

KOLKATA : After a Covid-induced two-year lull, Jamai Shashthi was celebrated with gusto across Kolkata’s restaurants which saw footfalls soaring past the pre-pandemic level on Sunday.
Many had long queues forming before lunch time and the crowd swelled even in the evening. The city’s restaurant hub — Park Street —remained crowded throughout the day even as some restaurants started serving earlier than usual.
Sale volume at most city restaurants crossed the prepandemic level due to a pentup urge to eat out which is now being fulfilled, said Hotel and Restaurants’ Association of Eastern India (HRAEI) president Sudesh Poddar. “Over the last two weeks, footfalls have been 100% on weekends and more than 80% on other days.
In terms of volume, there has been a 5%-7% rise in both food and liquor sales compared to May 2019. So, we are in a very good space now and the Jamai Shashthi crowd underlines the encouraging trend,” said Poddar. “The crowd was overwhelming and it was good to see people streaming in to celebrate the occasion which had not been done in last two years. We started early and tried to hasten our service to reduce the waiting time,” said Siddhath Kothari, director of Mocambo, Peter Cat and Peter Hu?
“The pandemic saw a surge in home deliveries, which, we had expected to come down as things turned normal. But even after a rise in footfall, deliveries continue to remain high which is a boost for us,” he said.
Occasions like Jamai Shashthi have been helping the footfall to rise, said Oasis owner Pratap Daryanani. Outlets of Mughlai chain Oudh 1590 remained filled to capacity on Sunday afternoon and evening. “The crowd has been coming back since early April. There was a lull in midMay when the mercury soared but with the weather improving subsequently, footfall is high again. This was easily the most crowded Jamai Shashthi that we had in several years,” said co-founder Shiladitya Chaudhury.
Outlets of Chapter 2, also co-owned by Chaudhury, remained crowded on Sunday. “Home deliveries have been supplementing the high footfall which is a benefit that we have been enjoying since the pandemic,” he added.