Combo Meal

Mumbai eateries play host to live bands and stand-up comedies in order to draw audience.

To go with the balmy evenings and the festive spirit of this time of the year,Juhus popular nightspot Aurus introduced Sundown in 2009. It saw some popular international DJs entertain guests of the restaurant-cum-lounge on Sunday evenings,between November and February. With the picturesque view of the sun setting into the ocean for a backdrop and electronica music to go with it,the festivals instant popularity made it an annual event. Sundowns third edition,which kick-started on November 20,saw a considerable increase in its footfall this year. The trend of live acts in the citys eateries has been on the rise. Many people prefer to do more than just a simple dinner when they head out during the weekends,and now they have the option to club the meal with live entertainment, explains Vicky Singh,director of Dish Hospitality,which owns Aurus.

Aurus,however,has been hosting live acts ever since it launched. Only that now,it finds company in many more city eateries. Restaurants like Out Of The Blue in Powai and Bonobo in Bandra have been hosting live bands and stand-up comedies,which are the recent rage. Andheris Grillopolis and even the tiny Versova restaurant Oro,periodically have stand-up comedy. The recently-launched restaurant Casa Mia in Ghatkopar claims to be the first to bring the concept to Mumbais central suburbs.

We have been mixing food with entertainment for quite some time now- we have had plays,art exhibitions and painting workshops,apart from the usual music nights, points out Ambar Mahajan of Out Of The Blue. But given that more people,and not just the elite,are taking to entertainment,we opened our Powai outlet,recently ,with space separately chalked out for such live acts.

While Out Of the Blue likes to give fresh and lesser-known talent a chance,planning programming based on auditions,Aurus and Grillopolis prefer to bank on renowned names. To most,thespian Alyque Padamsee has retired. But at Grillopolis,we bring him in to perform occasionally, grins the owner Sahil Sharan. Bonobos Nevil Tambadia,instead,goes for a healthy mix,where he often allows new talent to open the act for the evening before the popular ones takes over.

Each of these eateries is also clear about first establishing itself as a restaurant. If we host our DJ live acts on Saturdays,we stand the risk of being dubbed as a nightclub,disappointing some guests. Therefore,we schedule them for Friday, says Singh.

Tambadia,however,is also wary of the quality of the acts at various eateries that have adopted the concept. It is possible for a lot of derivative stuff to seep in if the management does not have the flavour for live acts in their DNA. In such cases,the quality suffers and the concept loses popularity. If one has the passion for good programming,it reflects in the patronage, he says.

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