Writer and socialite Shobhaa De recently spoke about the immense popularity of Shilpa Shetty’s Mumbai-based restaurant, Bastian. She revealed that the restaurant reportedly has a turnover of Rs 2-3 crore every night, with patrons spending lakhs for a single night out.
Speaking on Mojo Story, Shobhaa said, “The kind of money in Mumbai is astonishing. One single restaurant in Mumbai has a turnover of Rs 2-3 crore a night. On slow night, the turnover is Rs 2 crore and on weekends it is Rs 3 crore. I walked into that restaurant to see it myself because when I heard these numbers… I said this can’t be true.”
When asked by Barkha Dutt which restaurant she was referring to, she added, “It’s Bastian. It’s the new Bastian. It’s on the top. It is 21,000 ft square feet, it’s not even reality. You walk in there and you feel ‘where am I?’ You have a 360° view of the city.”
Shobhaa also revealed that the restaurant serves 1,400 people in a single night, with guests arriving in high-end cars. “They do two seatings, each of 700 people and they cover 1,400 people in one night. They have a waiting list of people waiting downstairs on the road in Dadar, which is like the heartland of old Maharashtrian conservative area in Mumbai. There are people coming in Lamborghini and Aston Martin. You name it. Who are these people? I have no idea,” she said.
Talking about her personal experience at Bastian and how she didn’t spot a familiar or famous face, Shobhaa added, “I was in a state of shock. I didn’t know a single face in all 700 diners. There were young, and they were ordering bottles and bottles of the best in line tequila for the table. Each table was spending in the lakhs but they were complete strangers.”
Shilpa partnered with restaurateur Ranjit Bindra, the founder of the Bastian brand, in 2019. She now co-owns multiple restaurants across India and has a 50 percent stake in the brand. Shilpa, in a chat with Kunal Vijaykar, accepted she is among the biggest restauranteurs in India.
Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra are currently embroiled in a fraud case, accused of cheating a Juhu-based businessman of Rs 60.48 crore. The Bombay High Court recently rejected their plea to travel to the US and other countries to expand their restaurant chain overseas. The court stipulated that they must first deposit Rs 60 crore before pursuing permission to travel abroad.
