The Higher Taste Hare Krishna Restaurant, a landmark food outlet on Willis St. in Central Wellington, will end its 12-year run as a venue for Indian vegetarian cuisine.
The move comes at a time when the restaurant is struggling to keep its doors open in the wake of the Covid outbreak, as working from home has become the vogue and customer flow to the restaurant has dipped.
Says Jagjeevan Das, president of the ISKCON temple in Newlands, who runs the restaurant: “One of the factors that has pushed us to make this move is that our catering business has always been good and has been growing as well. We already have a commercial kitchen in Newlands, which means that we can start catering [operations] on a large scale from there.”
Over the years, the Hare Krishna restaurant in the CBD has built a loyal, mixed client base across communities, drawn by its distinct ethnic cuisine shorn of onion and garlic. Lunchtime guests usually consist of office goers from surrounding localities such as Lambton Quay, Featherston St, Customs-house Quay and Hunter St.
The footfalls have reduced in the wake of the pandemic and people working from home, resulting in the restaurant having to downsize and shed staff.
Nevertheless, Das has soldiered on.
The decision to close is prompted by the arrival of a buyer ready to operate a restaurant out of the same premises, under a different brand.
Hare Krishna regulars are sad to see the restaurant close in its present location.
“The atmosphere in the place is relaxed and soothing. The menu offers a variety of Indian vegetarian dishes, spiced according to the individual palate. The service is always friendly,” says a regular customer.
A popular favourite, among many other items, is “adhi shakti,” a brand of herbal tea.
The take away and catering operations will be supported by a grocery shop, proposed to be set up next door to the temple in Newlands, which will cater to the needs of the wider community while sourcing vegetables (imported from Fiji) to run the food business.
However, this is an idea that has been unsuccessfully tested in the past. The grocery did not stock onions and garlic, and while Das says it did not take off because of a “lack of support from the community,” he also admits the strict onion-and-garlic-free diet regimen followed by hardcore Hare Krishna devotees is a challenge for the wider community to adapt to.
“Unless somebody gets initiated and becomes a full-fledged Hare Krishna devotee, only then will they [refrain] from eating onion and garlic.”
Another hurdle is pricing. The grocery will be competing with other Indian provision stores as well as the big supermarkets which pitch their prices lower.
Das plans the grocery to be a “one-stop shop for vegans and vegetarians.”
The Hare Krishna temple premises in Newlands is set to become the hub of a three-pronged business operation that will revolve around catering, take away and home delivery.
Das is wary of the Covid-related constraints that lie ahead.
“We are not free of Covid yet. Who knows how long it will linger?”
But that is a question that haunts businesses at large at the present time.