Heartbroken Capital- Why Many Hangouts & Eateries Are Dying

Steep rentals, Covid norms have hit both fine dining restaurants and street food hubs hard

- Chayyanika Nigam, Aishwarya Paliwal & Ajay Kumar

When the Full Circle Bookstore and Café Turtle announced it will bring the curtains down on a 20-year old iconic Khan Market landmark, many thought this was just a one-off. Well, it wasn’t.

Today, owners of many shops and restaurants in the Capital are saying that operating such outlets isn’t a viable business option any longer –thanks to the Coronavirus and the long lockdown. They cite the new guidelines of reduced operating hours, ban on serving alcohol, no waiver in licence fees from the authorities and most importantly, steep rental charges, as the reasons driving this sense of doom.

SKY-HIGH RENTALS

At least 20 restaurants, popular outlets, shops, cafes and bookstores have either shut shop or are on the verge of closure, if the on-going negotiations with the landlords over rent fail.

Whether it is Connaught Place, Khan Market, South Extension or Hauz Khas, owners are demanding waiver of rent during the lockdown and lowering of rent at least till March 2021, failing which their very survival will be under threat.

Priyanka Malhotra, director of Cafe Turtle, one of the restaurants to move out, told Mail Today that it was difficult to do business in Khan Market amid high rentals, cost overheads and salaries. “Mehar Chand Market in Lodhi Colony will be the new hub for both Full Circle bookstore as well as Cafe Turtle. With almost one-tenth of rental as compared to Khan Market, it’s a clear destination,” she said.

Apart from Cafe Turtle, other popular food joints that have made an exit from Khan Market include the 16-year-old Asian cuisine restaurant Sidewok and Smoke House Deli – which opened six years ago.