CHAMPAGNE parties and good times for the pinstripe-n-wingtip crowd have run out of fizz at Mumbai’s high profile lounge bars and watering holes. Naughty stock market jokes are drowned by the downgrade rattles. Pub-crawling investment bankers and stock analysts, who form the high net worth clientele, have deserted their favourite hangouts in India’s financial capital, leaving several of them teeter on the brink of closure or bleeding while some others have already downed the shutters.

As Dalal Street oscillates between uncertainties and insecurities, the majority of the city’s uber-rich watering holes are being hammered by slim bonuses of investment bankers, poor performance-linked incentives of stock brokers and relocation of corporate offices to the suburbs.

It’s a tough time for the pub and bar business in south Mumbai, unless, of course, the drink on your menu is really cheap, according to food and beverages experts in Mumbai.

At Not Just Jazz By The Bay (now known as Pizza By The Bay), a popular hangout of the city’s jazz lovers, sales growth has taken a decline.

Ganesh Shenoy, assistant restaurant manager, bemoaned, “Suddenly, the corporate and finance crowd for Tuesday and Wednesday lunches have disappeared. Now the majority of the crowd are college-going students.”

Just a stone’s throw away at Goeffrey’s, a popular pub at Marine Plaza hotel, the scene looks desperate. “The big-spenders from the finance sector are fewer in numbers. Our sales growth in Mumbai has dropped by almost 30-35 per cent compared with last year,” said Carl D’Costa, manager-food and beverages. Those crazy over-the-top parties and champagne are not flowing in the fancy taverns. Dragonfly, bar and lounge at the Express Tower had to shut shop in a difficult and cost-competitive environment.

“The food and beverage industry is in a slump because of the double whammy of higher ingredient costs and an economic downturn. The bar was missing in action due to the absence of the rich corporate and finance professionals,” said Ashok Pandey, manager-facilities at the Vong Wong restaurant, a sister-concern of Dragonfly. Some prominent lounge bars in south Mumbai such as Red Light, Polly Esther’s, Oba Club and Valhalla have also shut operations in recent months. “It’s kind of a breather now from an alcohol-soaked existence. Sure, there’s uncertainty in the air since IPOs have almost dried up and M&A deals have almost halved,” said a Mumbai-based investment banker who did not wish to be named.

While brokerage houses such as MF Global, Angel Broking, Alchemy Shares and stock brokers, Pioneer Investcorp (PINC) and Mata Securities, among others, have trimmed operations, bonuses have shrunk from double-digit numbers in the past.

“At Sports Bars across Mumbai, we are seeing a drop in our rich corporate and finance customers from 45 per cent last year to a meagre 15 per cent. These are uncertain times and we are not even sure of our jobs here,” said a senior official at Sports Bar, which is a Future Group venture.

meghnamaiti

@mydigitalfc.com