Kolkata, Jan 2 (PTI) The city's fine dining restaurants and cafes witnessed more than 20 per cent increase in table occupancy during the Christmas-New Year week compared to the corresponding period last year, a top official of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India said on Thursday.

"Throughout the week from December 24-January 1, footfall started from 11:30 am and picked up pace from 2 pm, continuing till 1 am. Even on weekdays, people waited for hours to get tables in prominent eateries in the cuisine hubs of Park Street, Sarat Bose Road, and elsewhere in the city, including shopping malls," Hotel and Restaurant Association of Eastern India president Sudesh Poddar told PTI.

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"By overall estimate, the table occupancy was 15 per cent higher across restaurants and bars from December 24-30. The crowd increased on December 31-January 1, and the table occupancy escalated to 20 per cent. We are expecting the momentum to continue throughout January, particularly during the holiday season from January 23-26 and the weekends," he said.

Nitin Kothari, owner of iconic Peter Cat, Mocambo, and new Peter Hu? restaurants, said, "From 11:30 am to 1 am the next morning, crowds waited patiently. While one group of patrons left at around 12:30 pm, another group of guests occupied the tables. This is how we rotated the crowd smoothly, and it went on till we closed down. Had 1am not been the closing time, the rush would have continued till the next day, particularly on December 25, 31, and January 1."

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He said all three restaurants recorded a 15-20 per cent rise in table occupancy during this Christmas-New Year week compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

At Flurys, the nearly century-old iconic cake and pastry joint, Rajesh Singh, national head, said, "The average increase during the entire Christmas-New Year week was 20-25 per cent more than the previous year."

"The Flurys Park Street tearoom has had patrons waiting consistently since morning on all the days. Our other tearoom-cafe outlet on Purna Das Road has also had a very steady flow of customers," he said.

"Park Street, being the flagship outlet, had the maximum sales, almost 30 per cent of overall sales Flurys does across all outlets," another official of the confectionery giant said.

Azra Golam of popular restaurant chain Aminia said the eatery witnessed heavy footfall during the December 25-January 1 period.

"The Christmas-New Year week sale was propelled by around 20 per cent growth in footfall and 10-12 per cent growth in revenue compared to the previous year," Golam said.

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