“There has definitely been a clean-up in the F&B space. Only the long-haul players have remained. Anyone who thought that ‘restauranting’ was a fancy and glamorous profession, has exited the business. The restaurant business, unlike popular perception, runs on very thin margins.”

This observation by Japtej Ahluwalia, co-founder and executive director at Pricol Gourmet, set the tone for Monday’s panel discussion.

Titled ‘Leading Diners Through The Pandemic’, it was the fifth in the Conversations series under The Hindu Group’s ‘Tamil Nadu Smiling’ campaign, and featured respected names from the State’s restaurant industry discussing their profession’s present and future with an optimistic outlook.

Keen insights

The panel comprised Japtej as well as Jegan S Damodarasamy, executive director at Sree Annapoorna & Sree Gowrishankar Group in Coimbatore, and Chindi Vadarajulu, creative chef and founder of Pumpkin Tales and Zhouyu in Chennai, and chef at Latitude49 at the Grande Bay Resort and Spa in Mamallapuram.

Each panellist, owing to the age and scale of their establishments, was able to provide a distinct insight into the situation.

Jegan explained the challenges of a chain, that has been “doing things a certain way” for decades, to change its functioning and structures.

He also pointed out, optimistically, how people are still willing to walk up to a trusted restaurant for a favourite dish.

“I had expected deliveries to become a much larger part of our operations, but people are clearly more open to takeout: they are willing to step out and patiently stand in lines with social distancing.” Japtej also added, “We are now seeing a 30 per cent increase in footfall month-on-month.”

Unviable seating limit

Each restaurateur agreed that the 50 per cent seating capacity ceiling mandated is not profitable. Jegan said, “Unlike a restaurant like Annapoorna, when you go to a fine dining restaurant, you don’t expect to bump elbows with people.

It already has well spaced seating, and fewer customers. For the latter to drop their customer count further is a big ask,” he opined, adding, “These differences should be taken into account in an SOP.” Japtej added to this, saying, “If restaurants don’t function at 80-85 per cent capacity, they don’t even break even.”

Fine dining

Chindi explained how diners in more open, spacious restaurants like Latitude 49 were more relaxed and tended to stay longer than those in city establishments. Japtej, whose Pricol Gourmet owns Double Roti, Soy Soii, Savya Rasa and more in Chennai, Gurugram and Pune, agreed with Chindi, and added that though restaurants in places such as Puducherry and Auroville are awaiting the return of tourists.

All three panellists, however, agree that baked goods are seeing a spike in demand, and old favourites in their menus continue to be more popular, as against new or experimental dishes.

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