The comfy leather couches, the doodled white walls, the quirky memorabilia… it is time to bid adieu to Smoke House Deli in Calcutta, situated on the fifth floor of Quest mall. The European restaurant known for its creamy pastas and delish cocktails has shut its doors after three years. t2 says goodbye with the two franchise owners Manjri Agarwal and Abhilasha Sethia... 

It all began when... 

Manjri and Abhilasha: We got an excellent opportunity with this space at the Quest mall. Sanjiv Goenka blocked a space for us from the first day and has been a great believer in us. We thought the franchise route would be the best way as it would give us an opportunity to learn how to build a restaurant and run it. It was our first restaurant and having done several things in the food arena (organising food workshops at various star hotels, writing a cookbook to restaurant reviews and food articles), it seemed the right way forward. We are lucky we could convert our passion into work. 
 
How did you balance your other hats? (Manjri was the YFLO chairperson and also looks after Khandani Rajdhani, while Abhilasha is the LSG president and a driving force behind The India Story)

Manjri: I think the more you have on your plate, the better organised you are and you manage your time well. Each aspect in life teaches you different things and somehow even help in other fields. I learnt leadership skills during my YFLO tenure, Rajdhani taught me people management and Smoke House taught me how to focus on the end result.
Abhilasha: I have learnt leadership skills during my LSG tenure, emerged a stronger person and The India Story taught me to organise events on a huge scale and to work on different verticals and to remain calm while doing all of this! 

The most popular food festivals were... 

Manjri: The Pizza festival and the Burger festival. In fact, we still get requests for many of the pizzas, especially the MYO (Make Your Own) pizza we did for kids.

Abhilasha: The most popular ones were the Sizzler and the Burger festivals. The sizzler was a big hit, so we decided to add it to the main menu. 

Lessons learnt from the experience...

Manjri and Abhilasha: Whatever you do, give it all you got, your heart and soul, and you will never have any regrets. 

What’s next? 

Manjri: I have launched my own brand in Bombay — Hitchki. It’s located in Kala Ghoda. 
Abhilasha: After my LSG term ends this year, I’m going to focus on TIS and spend some time with my family! 
 
A goodbye message to SHD fans...

Manjri and Abhilasha: Thank you for being a part of our delectable journey. Continue to tantalise those taste buds in our lovely city. 

Smoke Signals

Bestseller item in veg and non-veg: Peri Peri Rubbed Grill Chicken + Citrus Pimento, Bourbon BBQ Chicken Sizzler in non-veg; Shitake and Field Mushroom Stroganoff and Cottage Cheese Steak with Ratatouille in veg. Boss-Style Spaghetti (top) and Chilli Crusted Bekti + Lemon + Thyme were also popular.

Bestseller dessert: Philly Cheesecake 

Most popular promo: #What’sSmoking promo which we used in a variety of campaigns to show what’s hot.
Highest bill at the restaurant in three years: Rs 20,000 for 
a table for three

Average spend per person: Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500

A notable food trend in three years: Pizzas are very popular. Customers are very particular about the size of our burgers and sandwiches. They find them too big and usually request servers to cut them into half. Taking this into consideration, we had introduced sliders.

The best and worst thing about being in the F&B industry: The best is that competition is tough and keeps you on your toes and pushes you to innovate. The worst is that the barrier of entry into this business is very low. 

Customer peeve: At this moment, it’s about SHD shutting down.

Celeb regulars: June and Kiran Uttam Ghosh.

Deborima Ganguly
Pictures: Pabitra Das
What will you miss most about Smoke House Deli? Tell t2@abp.in