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 When I attended the first F & B Conclave organised by BWHotelier magazine at Le Meridien New Delhi in July last year, I was fascinated by the stand of EazyDiner, not because they were giving away a free EazyDiner coffee mug to every potential client but because it had been promoted by the well-known rude-food journalist Vir Sanghvi with some hoteliers and restaurateurs. I also knew that my hard- core F & B person Rohit Das Gupta had left a lucrative job in a hotel to join the start-up as Senior Vice President. I had then decided to check out their offerings, in-between the change of guard on the dais.
What also fascinated me was the ‘50% discount’ offered for making reservation through EazyDiner. I remembered ‘buying’ a ‘50% off’ restaurant deal through Snapdeal on an impulse a few years ago when one had not even heard of Snapdeal and being pleased with the offer. Later, I bought a few such ‘deals’ but could not use them so I discontinued their service and in any case, they went on to much bigger things, leaving food to then another unheard of name –Groupon.
But making reservation through the website and also the prospects of Vir Sanghvi’s Reviews on food in the restaurants (though I saw conflict of interest there) I talked to the marketing person who gave me a brochure listing the discounts, most of them being around 10%. That did not interest me and I felt guilty taking the mug after looking at the brochure and politely returned it and dumped the brochure.
Free Glass of Wine
It was a couple of months later when I came across their tie-ups with various restaurants including a genuine 50% off and 1 for 1 offers-some with 30% discount. But what got my attention was ‘a free glass of wine with a meal’ offer at several restaurants-there were 34 in Delhi alone. Similar deals are offered in Mumbai and Bengaluru. They serve a complimentary glass of wine as an incentive for people to book at the restaurant.
‘‘We feel that not only does it give great value for money, savings on the pocket-considering that if you take 4-5 people for dinner, you get a bottle of wine free, but it also promotes wine drinking across the country and motivates people to trying tasting wines,’ says Rohit Das Gupta.
The wines offered are- as may be expected-entry level imported wines normally sold as house wines, Prosecco or wines from Sula and or Fratelli. There is a good amount of Jacobs Creek thrown in too. The best offer seems to be at Varq, where the premium Prosecco Carpené Molvolti is poured. House of Ming gives you the French Little James Basket.
It’s interesting that the hotels which otherwise seem to turn up their noses at Indian wines, gladly offer a glass of the same. They may keep the Jacobs Creek for banquets but don’t mind serving the same free of cost under the scheme. The trend is similar in Mumbai where 25 restaurants have joined the scheme so far. Bengaluru residents can enjoy the free glass of wine at 12 so far.
Whatever be the country of origin, one can assume that the label is an approved one at each restaurant and that the customers can thus try different wines at different venues. As Rohit suggests, if the table for 5 people is booked, the client has the option of getting a full bottle of wine on pour or has the option to try different wines.
This is a good idea for softly promoting wine, Sirjee! For details of what is available where, please click the relevant buttons below. (Source: EazyDiner) For details visit www.eazydiner.com
Jai Ho!
Subhash Arora
Delhi Mumbai Bengaluru
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