“It is a holiday today, papa, and I want to go out for dinner,” I would plead as a child. And, he would take me and my mother out for dinner at Park Street, the mecca of night-outs then. Today, I hear the same plea from my son. But, do we go out for dinner or a family meal to Park Street anymore, like we used to just a few decades ago?
We cannot deny that there is a paradigm shift in the customer palate. People have started travelling across the globe extensively, opening up to newer experiences. Thanks to the internet and social media, new choices have emerged for the customer. As a result, old food joints with the same old food attract fewer loyalists. As chef Joymalya Banerjee, who runs Bohemian, one of the finest fusion restaurants in Kolkata, correctly points out, a denial to change can be one of the primary reasons behind the fall in footfalls. And, until very recently, with the opening of new-age restaurants like Mamagoto or Pa Pa Ya, we had hardly seen anything new taking place.
Some 20 years ago, Tibetan Delight or Hamro Momo near Elgin Road used to rule the momos market in Kolkata. But, today, Wow Momo's business model has revolutionised that segment. They have standardised the entire momo business and have opened up in almost every nook and corner of the city, offering innovative, unorthodox momos.
In the 20th century, the general business model has taken a 360° turn. Every business house is trying its level best to reach customers. And, this is one of the reasons behind the low numbers at traditional iconic restaurants and food streets, which took pride in saying that “we don’t go to customers, they come to us”.
“The actual reason is lack of time,” says columnist and food writer Jayabrato Chatterjee. “How many patrons today would have a full-course dinner spanning over three hours?” That is true; time has become the most precious item today. Also, people tend to do multiple activities in one outing. So, rather than visiting Mocambo in Park Street and waiting for an hour for their turn at the table, a neo-generation family would rather go to some mall. There, the kid would go and enjoy the video games as the parents do a bit of shopping. After everything, they would rush to the quick-service restaurants for a quick bite.
But, location plays an important role here. Till mid-1980s, Kolkata used to have joint families. But when families turned nuclear, the space crunch became evident. New areas and townships came up, so did new food joints. There are around eight good restaurants along the E.M. Bypass-Jadavpur Police Station route. So, it does not makes sense for someone staying there to travel all the way to Park Street just for food. Same goes for the residents of Salt Lake or New Town. This situation has compelled new-age restaurants to open their branches in the far ends of the city. For instance, Bhojohori Manna has branches in business hub Dharmatala to residential Gariahat.
With the introduction of new cooking techniques, the food market is becoming extremely competitive. Even ten years ago, people here had a pre-conceived idea that Japanese food was only raw fish and that Italian cuisine meant pizza and pasta. But, all that has changed with places like Wasabee (Japanese) and Serafina (Italian). Also, people have the option of enjoying beer in a microbrewery like The Grid, apart from the classic Olypub.
However, I would not say that the old cult joints are not doing business. They are still beautiful places churning out consistent lovely dishes. There is still a queue to get a table at Mocambo or Peter Cat, but there are also more restaurants quietly shutting down.
Except during the festive season, and barring a few cult joints, the madness is surely diminishing from central Kolkata and Park Street.
Indrajit Lahiri is a food expert in Kolkata.