Tables empty at Gulshan eateries a month after terror attack

Restaurants in Gulshan have been deserted since the terror attack on Holey Artisan Bakery, aimed at foreigners.

It has been more than a month since Islamist gunmen seized the upscale cafe inside Dhaka’s diplomatic zone and killed 20 hostages.

Saltz is a seafood restaurant on Gulshan’s North Avenue, and near the Australian High Commission.

On Thursday, all its tables were empty.

It delivered food to a Turkish customer around 1pm.

“He would come here before to have lunch. But he does not come here physically now after the attack, though he orders sometimes,” said manager Rafiqul Islam.              

The restaurant’s tables would earlier be filled with foreign and local diners during lunchtime, he said.

The numbers  started dropping after Italian aid worker Cesare Tavella was shot dead in the area.

But sales have dropped almost wholly after the bloodbath on Jul 1.

Meraki, an Eurasian eatery, is located nearby.

It was also empty. On Monday afternoon only one customer walked in, floor manager Md Kamal Sharif told bdnews24.com.

“We had customers even after the Gulshan attack. But with security being so strict … there are several checkposts on the way here. So people don’t take that extra trouble to come here.”

Gulshan, one of Dhaka’s richest areas, used to be alive at night with restaurants bustling with diners, the sound of young men and women having a good time. Some would stay open until 2am. 

The slaughter of hostages at Holey Artisan Cafe, 17 of them foreigners, in an attack claimed by the so-called Islamic State changed all that. 

Some avoid the area altogether due to large number of security checkposts.

A waste of time and highly irritating- these repeated security checks, said a woman eating at The Glasshouse Brasserie, also in Gulshan.

But she wished this would pass. "But it would take time." 

"We have stopped the buffet dinner because diners are scarce. The foreigners who would flock to our restaurant in droves are all gone," says Glasshouse's floor manager Rakibul Hassan.

He says the eatery has lost Tk 600,000 since the terror strike at Holey Artisan Bakery. 

"Looks like this month will be no better than July," said Hassan.

Dhaka's posh zones - Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara and Uttara- have 60 hotels and guesthouses and upto 500 restaurants. Nearly 100,000 people are employed in these establishments, says the trade association.

Those at the Village restaurant would gasp for breath during 'peak hours' before now. Sixteen employees there have been asked to go on leave from September.

Its executive manager Mehdi Hassan complained of a 90 percent drop in sales on a daily spending of Tk 65,000.

"Can't keep all my staff after sustaining such losses, so we have asked 16 of our employees to look out for other jobs," he said.

That has made life uncertain for Village chef Harun Molla, in the trade for 37 years.

"I am in a huge crisis. Everything has gone topsy-turvy. I am looking for a new job but it is not going to be easy."  

It is no different at the Abacus Restaurant opposite to the Village. "We have space for 250 people, but here now, you can see only 10 people having lunch," said executive manager Habibur Rahman Chowdhury.

"It used to be so crowded, especially with foreigners. Now it is all so empty most of the time."

Chowdhury said no employee has so far been retrenched or asked to leave. "But if the situation does not improve, how long can we keep all the people!" he asks.

At Khana Khazana restaurant in Gulshan's North Avenue, hordes of foreigners would descend at peak hours. But that has completely changed.  

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, one could spot just one diner. Cashier Shishir Khandkhar said only five people have so far come for lunch.

"There are days when nobody comes. The roads look like ghost-paths at night. No question of getting diners," he said.  

"We are working to restore confidence among our clients," said Md Nazmul Haque, secretary of the Nizam Group that owns the restaurant. 

Shah Alam, who owns Gulshan's Meraki restaurant, is worried over bills.

"We need to pay Tk 100,000 for power, gas and water. Fixed costs for running the restaurant exceed Tk 2 million. We can manage this downturn for one or two months, but not for long," he says.

Hotels and restaurants with a Tk 140 billion turnover contribute close one percent to Bangladesh's GDP.