2016 saw the birth of The Grid. A brew-pub spread across 10,000sq ft in Topsia had raised many eyebrows as one could only imagine this place to shut down in a few years because it neither had a prime party location nor it had Bolly music. Cut to 2021, The Grid has completed five successful years and has put Calcutta on the party map of the country. Film stars, sportsmen, celebrity chefs to Calcutta’s party people — everyone has their share of memory here, while sipping on their bestselling craft beer Caldera. t2 chatted with Gaurav and Ritika Karnani, founders of The Grid, and Tanmoy Roy, corporate head, F&B division, on the journey, learnings, upcoming projects and more.
Congratulations on The Grid turning five! How does it feel?
Gaurav: Honestly, we don’t feel it’s been five years! Almost 95 per cent of the staff we had during pre-opening are still working with us. So, we have a huge attachment with everyone and it feels like the first day every day.
Ritika: We feel the same energy, vibe, enthusiasm there.
How did you manage to keep the enthusiasm alive without making it monotonous?
Gaurav: We always wanted to make this a high-energy place. We wanted a place that transforms every four hours and that’s what we have managed to achieve. And during the pandemic, we have seen Grid is doing well during afternoon too, so there’s potential.
What would you say is the biggest achievement?
Gaurav and Ritika: Recognitions that we have received nationally. During INCA (India Nightlife Convention & Awards), whenever we go, whether we win or not, almost every F&B outlet knows us and that feels so great! Many brands and people decided to open here seeing The Grid. Then changing the party culture in the city, winning India’s best microbrewery award in 2019. To build such an experience for our guests which thrives on mutual trust and love. The birth of Caldera is one of the biggest achievent.
Have you noticed any trend during the pandemic phase?
Gaurav: A total crowd shuffle! We have seen faces that we never saw in the last five years. A totally different crowd is coming, mostly the younger lot.
Tanmoy: People in college who usually have a time deadline are probably the happiest because of the time restriction. They are beginning to party early and are home by a decent time. Then a lot of kitty party groups are coming.
There were a lot of myths which The Grid has broken...
Gaurav: So many! I can’t recall how many people thought it was a wrong decision to open a place so huge in Calcutta because the saying was “Log itna kahan hai”, then it was followed up with Topsia being a location. Everyone thought it was a wrong decision to open here because it was away from the prime Park Street-Camac Street location and no one would travel so far. But we believed in the location since day one. This was a well-connected place where people from Salt Lake side to the other parts of the city could come. Then, something like “who will have beer”, whether the beer culture would work or not is something we addressed too. Another myth we busted was a place doing so well that doesn’t play Bollywood music, a concept that was not so popular five years agos. We were also the first to start a trend of classic cocktails and we also started naming dishes after a place. Like Gymkhana Noodles was an inspiration drawn from Gymkhana.... We never gave in to the concept that a place cannot run without third-party aggregators and dance floor. We have no designated space to dance but everyone jives where they are.
What do you attribute the success of The Grid to?
Gaurav: Definitely having a consistent team, who are nothing less than family. We have never gone overboard with our menu or making too many changes. We have lately included some new dishes, but 70 per cent of the menu is the same. We want Grid to be a legendary place where food becomes iconic. Food has to be consistent for years. Any place with this kind of footfall and rush, usually tends to get affected in service; we have tried to stick to our service standards.
Not to forget, the very first article that came out in t2 made it a gate-crash situation for us. We had not done any other article anywhere but that article did it for us. (Smiles).
What are your biggest learnings in the last five years?
Gaurav: Baadam khane se buddhi nahin aati, thokar khane se aati hai, we have got a lot of that (laughs). Last year we had to shut our operation for a short period for no fault of ours but not delving into it. Even after that our biggest take was our guests believed in us and they came back and we picked it up from where we had left.
Did you face any challenges?
Tanmoy: We had to understand what kind of people would work, what kind of crowd is the right one. So crowd control was challenging.
Let’s talk about the upcoming banquet. What’s happening?
It’s called The Almond, which is 30,000 sq ft completely pillarless. It would hold around 1,000-1,200 people and is located in Sector V. The food trials have started and by November we will open it. The chandelier will be one of the highlights of the place along with many other concepts.
From 2016 till now, the market has changed. Many breweries have opened. How are you dealing with the competition?
Gaurav: I don’t see it as competition, I see it as the market increasing. Let there be more places.
Gaurav and Ritika Karnani
Craftbeer: Caldera
Cocktail: Rosy Gimlet
Mocktail Davidoff Coolwater
Grub: Gymkhana Noodles
Healthy bowl: Prawn bowl
Platter Indonesian
The Grid images: B. Halder