Although hemmed in by the perpetual emergency of strikes and governed by a superstructure that is unpromising at best, there are also a young few who seek to define the city’s aspirations of a cosmopolitan way of life. Transformation is inevitable and evident – not only the physicality aspect of the city at large but also the logic and lenses through which people understand themselves and their society’s new social categories such as fashion, art or music. The savvy youth in the capital and their investments have found legroom in this space. They are increasingly eschewing government jobs or even private 10 to 5 for a more liberal personal entrepreneurship and what has become more of a conspicuous trend is these people getting together to open eateries of myriad genre.
And this phenomenon is hailed by a certain section of young urbanites that have begun to replace the eat-at-home culture by eating out. Compared to a decade ago, Kathmandu has adapted substantially to Western tastes: onion and minestrone soup, Mexican tacos, quiche, Japanese sukiyaki, borscht, Italian Pizzas and soy burgers with almond layer cakes. To wash all of these offerings down, there are a host of cocktails from a range of places to choose from. To top it all the mainstream media pays tribute every week to Kathmandu’s good food movement; one more reason to invest in eatery in the capital.
“Eating out is not westernization but a sort of cultural metamorphosis that urban culture is going through,” articulates 32-year old young investor Rajan Shrestha. He partnered with his family members Arati Jyoti (26), Prafulla Singh (24) and Surhid Jyoti (30) to start The North Gate restaurant in Lazimpat few weeks ago.
After living in London for 8 years, Prafulla and Rajan felt that the distaste for life akin to renting a phase. They decided to came back and do something in Nepal rather than waste time in the foreign land.
“There is a lot of support here in Nepal as we have family and friends here and that makes working here a lot easier,” they express in unison.
“We had some knowledge about food and drinks as we worked part time at various restaurants in London plus Arati took care of the interiors; our Italian friend Antionello decided to help us with the food and as a team we had an expertise we could capitalize on,” they say claiming that consistency towards achieving perfection is what they aim to do.
Similarly a member of this young furor is Lakhey, Durbar Marg. Dipesh Ghaley (27), Bhel Mani Pradhan (28) along with Binit Amatya (21) and Karna Gurung (27), bunch of former school friends take pride in their multi purpose bar at the prime location.
“I have heard tales about how hard it is to live abroad,” expresses Dipesh. “And here we are a bunch of young, innovative and hardworking people and we have a good PR in Kathmandu, so what’s the point of going abroad?” he adds. For him the main idea behind making things lively is constant innovation and as a team they have divided the work as per their expertise; having worked at a corporate house, Bhel looks after the finances; Binit the logistic; Karna is into operations and ever so friendly Dipesh designs and implements the marketing strategy.
Almost every evening for 12 years, a group of school friends Raymon Shrestha (30), Pritam Manandhar (30), Amodh Bhattrai (29), Namrata Shrestha (27), Mahesh Man Shakya (27) Sagun Sharma (29), Prajwol Bajracharya (30), Alok Bajracharya (30) and Praveen Singh (30) hung out together at a restaurant called Enigma. When that closed down forcing them to look for another place to hang out, they decided to open the Attic Restro Bar at Mahesh’s family property in Tej Bhawan.
“This restaurant just happened because things fell into place,” says Raymon in a rather surprised tone. So many of them were involved in it that often there were clash of ideas; but they knew each other well enough to get past these differences. In the end, it appears that an open hearted healthy argument that makes Attic an exemplary teamwork.
“So many people are investing abroad but that’s a rather lop-sided perspective, there is ample that can be done in Nepal,” he concludes reeking with inspiration for those who want try to do things here.
Max Khatri (25) who partnered with Nirmal Kulu (27) to open The Factory eatery at the Sagarmatha Complex in central Thamel draws immense inspiration from the place called Top Club in the Yiwu town near Shanghai. So much so that it is synonymous to ‘fun’ for him. It is also an ambitious vision which he wishes to accomplish someday.
“We are the young generation of Nepal and so far the most modern one as well; we have the drive, the passion and the ambition to achieve it,” he says.
“9 out of 10 restaurants do not last for more than 2 years. To achieve that sustainability in the market requires constant innovation even after an initial hype that is a big challenge, with enough dedication I think we can achieve it,” says Max.
Often understood solely as a ‘fun job’, restaurateurs too are wary that any business won’t be sustainable for long, given the “loyalty” of their customers, but try to beat the risk factor with long celebrated friendships. Albeit it may pass off as youth being smothered in the haze of a rather insecure Kathmandu fad to open restaurants at prime locations, they seem to have chosen to invest in Nepal rather than someplace else. If the trend of youth initiative catches on to other arenas, it would definitely work wonders. The mood is in the air.
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