Adieu Qualia. Mumbai’s Top Fine Dine Destination Shuts Down Due To The Pandemic

Another one bites the dust… In the last one-and-a-half year of the pandemic, many of Mumbai’s top eateries have shuttered down permanently. And sadly, to that list a new name gets added. Chef Rahul Akerkar's restaurant Qualia, which was one of the best fine-dine restaurants in the city, shut down.

They closed operations on August 31, 2021. The restaurateurs issued a statement to announce the same.  It read, “We’ve really tried to keep things going but can no longer sustain it. The recent all-clear to finally start a very restricted dine-in service has seen things turn around dramatically, but sadly it’s too little too late. We were convinced that keeping going during the first lockdown would only benefit us once things returned to some semblance of normalcy in a vaccinated world as people pushed on through into the ‘post-COVID era’.”

They did everything in their might to keep business running, right from rent renegotiation to salary cuts to skeletal staff, to staying at the premises to ensure people’s safety and many more changes. They tried and tested and reinvented but couldn’t break even.

Though after the first lockdown when things opened up, things were looking bright, the second lockdown was harder as compared to the first one. It came to a standstill and cash flows dried up. They couldn’t even afford to pay their employees. They eventually had to shut business down.

In a short span, Qualia rose the ranks and became a Mumbai fave. It was the IT place to dine, and bagged many awards in the first year of being itself. Not only the management, but fans of this eatery are saddened too.
What about you? Been to Qualia? Do share your memories of the place in the comments section below.
Where: World Crest, Ground Floor, Lodha, 402, Senapati Bapat Marg, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400013 (Now shut down)

Image Courtesy: Facebook/qualiabombay