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Restaurants, cafes in Pune offer weekend menus on weekdays to attract foodies
PUNE Squeezing time from work-from-home routine and going out for brunch or lunch has become a new trend where youngsters are finding space to chill out with friends during the weekdays
PUNE Squeezing time from work-from-home routine and going out for brunch or lunch has become a new trend where youngsters are finding space to chill out with friends during the weekdays.
With weekends only parcel service available – restaurants and cafes are focusing on utilising time allotted to them during the weekdays.
In Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) limits, dine-in is allowed only till 4 pm.
“We have included breakfast on our menu card. The idea is to attract customers in the available time. We have also introduced light cocktails in our afternoon course. People also don’t prefer hard drinks in the afternoon. Nothing like the weekend crowd, but we are managing to keep things moving with new innovative ideas,” said Karan Kripalani, owner of Hippie@Heart.
The live music or bands which were popular features for weekend evenings have now become popular during afternoon hours.
“In Kalyani Nagar, many bars and cafes have changed their weekday menu and provide dishes which were earlier reserved only for the weekend,” said Rohan Deshmukh, resident of Kalyani Nagar.
Few people are opting to visit cafes to beat the boredom of work-from-home and continuing work with a sip of coffee.
“I generally come to Starbucks at 11 am and spend time here. I am doing this at least twice a week. Even a few important meetings of our office take place at coffee shops,” said Kalyani Sakhare, who works at a real estate firm at Balewadi high street.
Many restaurant owners do feel that timing should be extended till 10 pm for dine-in on weekdays.
“We are ready to follow all norms set by the PMC and continue with seating arrangement with 50 per cent capacity, but the timing should be extended. On weekends, we understand crowd increases, so we don’t have any problem continuing with set regulations,” said Sarvesh Jadhav, owner of Austin 40 café house.
