The mango season has come to an abrupt end thanks to a series of surprise rains that have
lashed the state over the past few days, but hardly anyone is complaining. The
untimely rains have done good to rescue the state from the clutches of the heat
wave, that had made it almost unbearable to step out in the afternoon. The
monsoons may not be far away and it is that time of the year when some business
establishments bite the ‘off-season’ bullet, while others, who find even this
time of the year to be a good time for business, continue to stay open.
Asheen Lobo, partner at properties such as Tao, Wok n Roll,
Cohiba, Margarida and Fat Panda is unfettered with the approaching monsoons as
all his properties will be staying open throughout. Lobo says, “It is only the
properties along the beach belt that are affected by the ‘off-season’, so to
say. The dividing line between a peak-season and off-season has faded away. The
only difference is – during the peak season you have more of international
tourists, while during the monsoons, it is the domestic tourists that keep the
business afloat. In fact, sometimes, the sales figures look better in the
monsoons than in the peak season.”
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In Calangute, known as perhaps first the authentic Tex-Mex
restaurant in Goa, Habanero also has no plans of downing its shutters. Rohan
Ghotage, the owner of Habanero that is also going to be open throughout, adds
in, “The line between season and off seasons has now completely faded. From our
last years experience we have seen a significant inflow of domestic tourists in
the monsoons as well. We see comparable business even in the off-season or
sometimes even better than the season.”
In Vagator, Waters Beach Lounge & Grill recently had its
season closing party. Situated in close proximity, Antares, in a departure from
their last year’s decision are going to stay open for the monsoons. While the
location of Antares gives them an unparalleled advantage of a breathtaking
view, it also makes them an easy victim of strong winds and heavy downpour. In
their first season, Antares experimented with the decision to stay open but
soon realised that the property was not immune to the damages caused by the
weather. This year, the property seems to be better equipped to brave the
monsoons and has hence decided to stay open throughout. We also heard that akin
to their practice every year, Thalassa is going to down its shutters
temporarily.
The
last we heard, Baba Au Rhum in Anjuna is shut for monsoons but another source
pointed out that the reason for temporary closure could be renovation works,
and not monsoons. Artjuna, best known for its cafe serving international dishes
concentrating on health and wellness, believes that the monsoons are just a tad
bit less busier than the peak season, making it still a good time to be open
for business. Moshe Inbar of Artjuna says, “We decided to change the name from
off season to green season since it became busier in the past five years. There
are fewer foreigners but Indian
