It has been five months since the central government announced a lockdown on all manner of congress. Now bars are finally allowed to open. Since Wednesday in fact. During the last weekend this writer visited two of Connaught place’s premium bars: the apposite Lord of the Drinks; and the far more chill Unplugged Courtyard. It’s only fair, dear reader, to take you through our process. And it began at Lord of the Drinks. My cab dropped me a few stores away.
While I was navigating my way to the actual establishment, stores were closed en route, with nary an advisory on when they might open. Lord of the Drinks is open. One of Delhi’s biggest bar spaces in its heyday, Delhi’s largest and most populous watering hole is back in action. The action is subtle.
“Wednesday (the day bars were allowed to open) was very slow. Since then more and more people have been coming in. We are obviously following every measure set by the authorities,” says Surinder, who manages Lord of the Drinks, Connaught Place.
He admits business is slow, but it is also picking up day by day. Every possible recommendation by authorities such as the World Health Organisation is followed. From temperature checks to appropriate attire in the days of Covid-19 (masks to registering an okay Celsius). That’s our experience at Unplugged Courtyard, one of Delhi’s most popular outside-sitting destinations.
We are thoroughly examined and we get by. Restaurant manager Prakash Oli is resigned yet hopeful: “Obviously no one is going to start coming back all at once. Since we opened the restaurant, there’s been a steady increase. After we started serving alcohol there has been a spike, but again, in a limited fashion.” It is at Unplugged Courtyard that we encounter some hope as well. Geet and Swati, both 28, are definitely not dating, according to them, but they are also more certain about statistics: “Of course the number of cases are rising, but we are also taking all possible precautions.
All the restaurants are taking this issue very seriously, so we feel safer sitting inside than we do while walking to them.” “We are not worried to come out to certain places. Obviously every restaurant bar that matters will be following directives, and following those instructions just helps ensure our safety,” say the duo who prefer not to share their full names. For the record, they took their own vehicles to travel, including to this non-date. Delhi Metro doesn’t have the same Carte Blanche. Interestingly, Geet and Swati have more faith in restaurants and bars than they do in various authorities.
“Obviously every restaurant bar is going to follow every guideline because they want to start working again. That is what we tell our parents, and they agree.” “This is still a trial period, so we have to prove that we are following every rule and regulation, so that we can continue to operate,” says Oli. Surinder chimes in, saying that, “We have already instituted all the rules required.
We’ve cut down our occupancy from 198 to around 90 seats, and what we’ve seen so far is that everyone is following the rules.” On an average weekend day, pre-Covid, Lord of the Drinks would have hosted 300 patrons by the end of the afternoon, with a fairly robust turnover. Post Covid, the writer was there with 16 other people at 2:00pm on a Saturday. It was the first batch. However, as the evening progressed, more people trickled in. Dilli Challo. of government officials.
In a nutshell
On a weekend day, pre-Covid, Lord of the Drinks would have hosted 300 patrons by afternoon, with a
fairly robust turnover. Post Covid, there were 16 other people at 2:00pm on a Saturday.