What: 10th Anniversary Celebrations
Where: Bon Appetit, 109/26 Hazra Road and AD-34, Sector I, Salt Lake
When: May 7. A sundae festival will be on till May 31
What started out as a small cafe in a garage with one staff, three tables, six chairs, one hotplate, a mixer and 11 dishes, is now a popular cafe brand with two outlets. Bon Appetit — a favourite hang-out of college-goers thanks to its light bites, reasonable prices and the campus-canteen vibe — is set to turn 10 on May 7.
Chef-owner Rahul Arora decided to leave his job at ITC Hotels in Delhi, came back to Calcutta and opened Bon Appetit in 2008. Apart from the two Bon Appetit outlets — on Hazra Road and Salt Lake — he now has two more ventures — Paranthe Wali Galli and Cafe Pranah. Rahul took t2 through his decade-long journey.
How did the first cafe come about?
I wanted to start something on my own after I returned to Calcutta. Initially, I wanted to start a catering business. I had only Rs 25,000 with me and took a loan of Rs 25,000 from my mother to start Bon Appetit in a garage. I started cooking and had one staff to do the dishes and cleaning. After a year, we shut it down because we needed a bigger space. That’s how the cafe got its current shape. Initially, my father thought this was stupid but eventually he got convinced.
While the Salt Lake outlet is the first one, I opened the second one in Hazra four years later. In fact, the place (the building that houses Bon Appetit in Hazra) is very close to my heart, as it was our family home earlier, and the place where the cafe is used to be the courtyard. I have so many memories… I have played there as a child.
Now that you look back, how has the journey been?
Quite a roller-coaster ride! From being a six-seater all-veg cafe with 11 dishes to having a menu with over 180 items, the journey has been amazing.
What are the plans for the 10th birthday celebrations?
The 10th anniversary is a big landmark in our journey. So we will price all our hot beverages, sodas and iced teas at Rs 10, which was the price when we started. We want to give a whole day of discounted prices to our customers.
The first 10 customers will get Bon Appetit coffee mugs. Others will get a small notepad as a token of appreciation, along with a complimentary candyfloss and a slice of cake. We have also planned a sundae festival beginning May 7, for which we have picked up some classic flavours and tried to convert them into sundaes.
What are the oldest and newest additions to the menu?
The oldest are Chocolate Sundae and Iced Tea and the newest is Red Velvet Devil Milkshake.
Text: Nandini Ganguly
Pictures: Pabitra Das
