Trooping into Cafe Mezzuna in Forum to try out the new range of cocktails on the beverage menu, we don’t miss a chance to catch up with Anjan Chatterjee. He tells us why Hoppipola has clicked in Calcutta, how the second Cafe Mezzuna in the city has surprised him and all about the new innovations on the Mezzuna menu. 

Post-chat, when the cocktails start arriving and we get busy admiring the presentation, we suddenly find Mr Chatterjee missing in action. Has he gone for a smoke break? But why is he taking so long? And just then, he walks out of the kitchen with a plate of pasta in hand. “I’ve cooked this for you myself, you must taste it,” he smiles. We immediately dig into the Spaghetti in Pesto Sauce with Zucchini and Tomatoes. It’s truly the most amazing pasta dish we’ve ever tasted, and that in spite of it being totally vegetarian! 

The Speciality Restaurant boss takes stock of his recent offerings in Calcutta.

Hoppipola completes three months in Calcutta. How has it fared here?
Hoppipola met my expectations totally. The best part is that in Calcutta people are very young at heart, so even people who are 47-48 are going out and enjoying in Hoppipola. It is eat, drink and play… so it is the play section that is getting people hooked. 

Historically, we have been more of a GenX brand… we are a very researched company. So first we experimented with Cafe Mezzuna, that’s more all-day dining, leveraging the youth that’s coming in. So Mezzuna is food and beverage, and there is a market for beverage and food. We experimented with Hoppipola in Bangalore, which was doing very well, so we did the second one. Then we did Bombay and then the second one there. When we planned to bring it to Calcutta, Acropolis was just coming up, it got delayed and the delay helped us, so we put both our new brands — Asia Kitchen by Mainland China and Hoppipola — there. 

What can we expect next?
A second Hoppipola in Salt Lake Sector V very soon!

What worked for Hoppipola in Calcutta?
Drinking at a five-star is becoming absolutely criminal…. I don’t know why they are keeping this kind of a margin. The kind of pricing we have done is working. Now, people might think low cost is low quality, but I always believe low cost is not equal to low quality. Which is proven by Mezzuna. Which is proven by Indigo airlines… they have positioned themselves as low cost, but is it low quality? They are the best airline today. So the average age of the customer being 25, everyone has to understand that the realisation from the customer has to go down. An LIIT in a five-star costs you Rs 2,500-3,000, we sell the same LIIT for Rs 700. And at Speciality Restaurants, we have never compromised on the quality, market going up or down. 

But you have some competition now, from places like Shisha Bar Stock Exchange…
People go to these places because there is a play on the liquor prices. But we don’t do that, our prices are already rock-bottom. 

How is Acropolis working for you? 
It was a challenge to open Hoppipola in a new mall like Acropolis as opposed to an established one like South City, but I had an intuition. I had a lot of faith in the mall developer. It was an entrepreneurial risk I took, to not open in the most happening part of town. Also, one has to see the catchment area… the area that Acropolis caters to has a huge potential. It was the same story when I opened my first Mainland China on Gurusaday Road; people thought I had gone mad, to open a restaurant in Ballygunge. So I started destination dining in Calcutta. 

And how is Cafe Mezzuna in South City doing? 
Touchwood, very, very well. The liquor licence is expected immediately after the elections. I was a little apprehensive whether Mezzuna will catch the imagination of the Bengalis, because South City is a predominantly Bengali crowd. But it has actually. Non-veg sale there is almost double that of Forum. 

Smita Roy Chowdhury
Pictures: Rashbehari Das