Food a' la carte for thought

DINING

Restaurants are looking beyond food and ambience to lure and retain customers.

Visit Olive, a plush restaurant in Western Mumbai, and you could find people gazing intently at photographs adorning the walls. Like Olive, another upmarket restaurant in Western Mumbai, Zenzi, too has regular art exhibitions.

Restaurants are now wooing customers with spreads to tickle not just the appetite, but the mind as well, with events that may be termed "delicacies" of quite another kind.

On Thursday nights, Zenzi comes alive either with live performances by upcoming bands, or inhouse DJs with ear-worthy music ""enough to double the Thursday night customer count to 170.

Then there are monthly movie screenings, which involves a cover-charge deal. Sunday has free Salsa lessons; of the 40 odd dancers who turn up, around a third stay back for drinks and dinner.

In all, Zenzi's revenues are up some 30 per cent. Mumbai's Out of The Blue restaurant has a W-Day lunch, a discount lunch buffet for women on Wednesday afternoons, complete with Tarot card readers and handwriting analysts.

Every woman gets a free gift "" a bottle of wine, spa memberships and so on. Weekdays get 300 customers, resulting in revenues of Rs 1.5 Lakh, while weekends get about 500 customers, translating into Rs 2.25 lakh. But Wednesdays bring in as much money as weekends, sometimes even more.

Then, Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality's cafe chain, Mocha, too has regular play and poetry readings and musical performances. Plus a short film festival on the first Sunday of every month, where customers pay Rs 100 cover charge, redeemable for equivalent food or beverages.

It also has a Backpacker's Club, a forum for people to discuss travel, that offers travel discount deals. "Events haven't helped us increase footfalls or revenues," confesses Riyaz Amlani, CEO, Impresario, "but definitely helped us build long-term relationships with our customers."

On weekdays, a Mocha outlet earns about Rs 65,000, going up to Rs 90,000 on weekends. Events are for long-term brand attachment.

Zenzi partner Sharad Mathur, though, is happy to get instant returns. "Events add to the hype of the place and generate greater footfalls," he says, even if some prospects remain indifferent to the idea.

"People go to a restaurant to eat, to a theatre to watch a movie and to an art gallery for art," contends Rahul Akerkar, managing director and executive chef, Indigo, a South Mumbai restaurant. "Events are gimmicks," he scoffs, preferring to focus on the core business of serving good food.

That's the business, agrees Amlani, but adds, "Events help you define your restaurant's USP and your target audience."

He could point to Hardrock Cafe, which has gone by psychographics rather than demographics to lure customers, and has made its way into many a mind as a brand.