Stan Honda, AFP, Getty ImagesAmaya has already won the heart of fabulous foodie Padma Lakshmi. And now it's winning over recession watchers.
Indian resto Amaya has moved past prix fixe to a menu that's dependent on the Dow
How the Dow goes here, so goes the daal.
I'm talking about Amaya, that rather fine, non-curry-in-a-hurry restaurant on Bayview, which -- get this -- has taken the ingenious approach of tying its prices to how the markets are doing. Not only has it proven to be a success, but this is one resto, I'll dare say, that's managed to find a silver lining in these dark-as-tamarind times.
"Business at Amaya the Indian Room and Amaya's Bread Bar [across the street] had dropped by about 20%," concedes proprietor Hemant Bhagwani. This, despite the fact that foodies have been in awe of this place since its inception, and that even a woman who'll make a foodie out of pretty much anybody -- Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi -- was in for dinner last year. Others who have stopped by include: Susur Lee, Jamie Kennedy, Bonnie Stern, Lucy Waverman, Christine Cushing, J. P. Challet, Cava's Chris MacDonald and Michael Bonacini.
"We didn't want to reduce prices," Bhagwani goes on. "We wanted to have fun while enticing people to come in." So, this is the deal: There's a three-course tasting menu for two in place that is tied to the Dow Jones. "It is," he explains, "priced at 1% of the trading average of the day."
And since the idea was introduced earlier this week? Well, about 95% of his diners have been opting for the Dow Jones plan. No surprise there, I guess.
Shinan Govani, National Post
Published: Saturday, March 21, 2009
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