A cash crunch amid a boom in the food industry

Chennaiites have never had it so good when it comes to eating out

For a city that has a food and beverages industry the size of that of the rest of the State, and an unimaginable variety to tickle anybody’s palate, eating out is now a part of life.

“Earlier, there used to be a time when people used to go out only to celebrate an occasion. Now, going out to eat is a part of life. Over the years, their palate has matured and like people want to go to new places or do new things. They want to try new foods. The whole business is seeing an upward trend,” said Prateek Kalra, F&B Director, Taj Coromandel.

And cost does not matter any more. Saraswathi, who hangs out a lot with her friends, says that for the millennium generation, with increased spending power, the options to eat out are innumerable. “You can even walk into a five-star hotel and have something that could suit your wallet at the pastry outlet or coffee shops,” she said.

There are more and more places to hang out, with big names too opening up. At the Phoenix Market City in Velachery, their food and beverages outlets have consistently witnessed an increase of 20-25 per cent in footfall every year.

“There is a demand for every kind of food. At least 50 per cent of the customers walk in with a pre-set idea of where to eat. The rest just love to try out what is new. This month, we have a food festival focussed on fine-dining places alone,” said a source.

Not just walking into restaurants, but ordering in too is increasingly popular. M. Ravi of Namma Veedu Vasantha Bhavan said that over the last few years, the city had become more multi-cultural. “When there are different kinds of food on offer, people will naturally want a taste of everything. A lot of youngsters buy food using apps and we are adapting to that demand too,” he said.

Kotturpuram resident Mahalakshmi Selvam and her husband go out to eat at least once a week, sometimes more.

“We look for ambience and quality of food. If we want to try a new place, we look at reviews online,” she said. In the course of her life, Ms. Selvam said she has seen a huge difference in the concept of eating out. “When I was younger eating out was a rare thing. That has completely changed, especially in the last five years,” she said.

K. Damodaran or ‘Chef Damu’ as he is popularly known, however sounded a note of caution. “The habit of eating traditional home-cooked food is on its way out. More and more people are taking to junk food. They do not see the nutritive value of home-cooked food. Youngsters must keep in mind that our food is of much medicinal value, especially due to the condiments we use. It is ok to eat out for a change, occasionally. Otherwise, it would affect our health.

Across generations, eating out has become an integral par