After almost two pandemic years, cafes and pubs in Chennai are going beyond inventive menus to retain customers, by fostering communities with weekend activities, curated services and banding behind a cause
Arjun Mohan has stories to tell — real life stories, of strangers in the city becoming best friends, of self-professed experts humbled by happy amateurs, of revelry and camaraderie. Having organised regular pub quizzes — among other things — in multiple cities for over a decade, he is a staunch witness to the community-building power a local pub can possess, should it choose to.
In Chennai, he has been hosting the Thursday night pub quiz at Watson’s, T Nagar, since 2018. “I used to conduct them in Bangalore, and when I moved to Chennai, Watson’s gave me the go-ahead to do it here as well,” he says. And so, he has, for every Thursday barring flood or pandemic, with a community of quizzers that has only grown more faithful post-lockdown.
Fraternities do not necessarily need to be built over food and drink, but it certainly does help. Which is why pubs, lounges and cafes like these are trying to build an identity that goes beyond their culinary offerings.
As Jaffar Sadiq, manager of Watson’s Chennai, points out, “We want our identity to be more than just a food and drinks place. We have salsa nights on Mondays and karaoke on Wednesdays, besides quizzes and either local or visiting DJs on other nights. Each of these events draws a specific set of people, who keep coming back for it.”
After the COVID-19 lockdowns, the crowds are back almost with a vengeance, making up for lost time and making new memories with renewed gutso. This is what Arjun calls a “post-pandemic shift”: while many participants earlier used to be people who moved to Chennai for work and were looking for new friends and activities, now it is predominantly the same people coming back to strengthen pre-existing bonds.
This human connection is key, for more reasons than one. Take the city’s standup comics, for instance. Says comic Aaquib Jaleel, “While online shows during the pandemic have been good for networking and for ensuring that the art form survives, most comics — including me — have been constantly craving real facetime since the pandemic started.” The reasons are many, from picking up facial cues to getting spurred by the crowd’s audience — comedy, even as a solo act, is by its nature a two-way craft.
In Chennai, one of the first spaces to restart comedy open mics after lockdown was Burgerman. Navneeth S, founder of Aragora Comedy that conducts these events, is grateful: “They do more than just give us a space to stand and perform. They have been publicising our LOLing Tuesday events consistently on social media; they follow up with us if the schedule falls through; they do not mind if on some days, we have an audience of just four people.” While comics are queueing up every week, audience members are slowly growing, but “our primary audience members are the people who just walk in to Burgerman. That is why their brand name and their support is important to usnone of our previous venues have been this proactive with their support.
While this looks like progress, there is plenty more to be done. Srikanth Natarajan of The Chennai Scene, who organises, publicises and supports independent artistes in the city, is torn between the sheer relief of seeing his friends back on stage, and wanting more. “While there are a number of pubs who let people perform, only a few invest in making sure a gig goes well, with a proper stage, lighting and equipment. Chennai has very few venues dedicated to music performances, where talent can actually thrive and grow. But through the unlock, and with our feedback and needs in mind, places like Black Orchid are slowly coming to save us.”
Eco-friendly buddies
As the city’s events calendar inches towards normalcy and more diners start to step out, Cafe28 in RA Puram bears witness to old friends meeting new ones every day — planning upcycled wardrobes, swapping lunch recipes and discussing vegan products.
True to the ethos of Earth Story, Dhaval’s long-running eco friendly store in Adyar, Cafe28 intends to give a leg-up to vegan food startups of the city. The counters are currently taken up by six city food brands including Aakaariya and Co, Lyfe by Soul Garden Bistro, Eat With Lilly and Green Mowgli. Between them, the food entrepreneurs offer everything from gelatos to vegan kheema pav and a host of gourmet burgers, with mock meats and vegetable options. There is also a clothes-swap area, a gelato counter and a simple table that can seat up to six or eight people at a time.
Needless to say, the city’s vegan community has begun to throng — not only because of their loyalty to Earth Story’s products and eco-conscious markets, but also because of the events conducted at Cafe28. “We plan to host open mics regularly. We have already done one, and also conducted a clothes donation drive,” says Dhaval.
For Niveditha S, founder of Eat With Lilly, the food court is the next step of her food entrepreneurship journey, designed to help her build a steady base of patrons. “We already have quite a few repeat customers: some people have favourite items that they come back to for their regular lunch or dinner,” she says. “Between the sandwiches, the burgers and the Buddha bowls, you can plan out your entire day’s meals here if you want to,” she adds over a glass of thick blueberry smoothie and vegan Christmas quiche.
Other lounges in the city, too, have been doubling up as a platform for the city’s music or standup comedy circles, either by hosting regular sets of established talent, or open mics for new folk, one way or another helping build and foster fraternities.
One of Arjun’s fondest memories is of “a table of grey-haired ladies, sitting back with cosmopolitans, absolutely destroying intense teams who were used to quizzing on competitive levels. They were very quick with the tricky music questions. They were laughing,” he recalls. “If you try to take these quizzes too seriously, you won’t have a good time.”
Aaquib’s words about standup can also be applied to other fraternities: “It is nice to see that the scene did not disintegrate completely during the pandemic. Having people come together and help us set up a community again, is great to see.”
