Putting blast behind, German Bakery reopens in Pune

German Bakery, the eatery that came into focus after a bomb blast that killed 17 patrons and injured over 60 others in 2010, has been formally reopened at the posh Koregaon Park area here with the owners hoping to erase the terrible memory.
Renovated at an estimated cost of Rs 1.5 crore, the eatery was thrown open to customers last evening by a new management, whose earlier plan to reopen it on February 13 was deferred due to a technical issue as Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) insisted on submission of a structural audit report.
"We have now submitted the structural audit report and got the nod to restart the eatery. All signs of the damage caused by the explosion have been removed during the renovation process, as we do not want the patrons to remember the unpleasant episode," said Vijay Shevale, who has taken over the management of the bakery on a 25-year lease from the Kharose family who owns the place.

Shevale said about 40 new food items have been added to the old menu that had made the eatery popular among young people and foreigners staying at the nearby Osho ashram.
The normal ambiance of the new look eatery is, however, laced with the hard reality of a security set-up that includes a metal detector, installation of 16 CCTV cameras and deployment of guards.
A sessions court here last month convicted one of the accused Himayat Baig in the bomb blast case, awarding him death sentence. The blast had occurred at the bakery on February 13, 2010.