Author and columnist Shobha De recently made an appearance on journalist Barkha Dutt’s podcast Inside Out and made startling claims about Shilpa Shetty‘s luxury restaurant brand Bastian. According to her, the Dadar outlet called Bastian – At The Top, earns approximately Rs 2-3 crores every night which are frankly unbelievable numbers.
During the conversation with Dutt she painted a vivid picture of Mumbai’s nightlife scene and the incredible spending habits of patrons. “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 nights, 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,” she said.
High end cars and the best bottles of tequila
Shoba De described her experience there as surreal saying, “You walk in there and you feel ‘where am I?’ You have a 360° view of the city.” Bastian – At The Top sits at the 48th floor of Kohinoor Square which has the distinction of being one of India’s tallest commercial towers. According to De, The restaurant itself sprawls across a massive 21,000 sq ft of area and remains busy through the week; getting busier on the weekends.
During her visit to the restaurant the author was astonished to find that she could not spot a single familiar face despite the fact that everyone seemed to be affluent and spending lakhs in a single night saying, “I was in a state of shock. I didn’t know a single face in all 700 diners. They 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.”
Reportedly, the restaurant serves 1,400 people everyday with guests arriving in luxury cars and willing to wait to get a table at the Bastian. According to De, Lamborghinis and Ashton Martins were a familiar sight at the location. “They have a waiting list of people waiting downstairs on the road in Dadar, which is like the heartland of the 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.
Shilpa Shetty’s entrepreneurial ventures and legal troubles
In 2019, Shilpa Shetty collaborated with restaurateur Ranjit Bindra who is the founder of the Bastian brand, to become a co-owner. Today she holds a 50 percent stake in the company with multiple successful outlets in business and future plans for more in the works. Bastian – At The Top was inaugurated in 2023 and has been a highly sought-after location for fine-dining and night-life experiences, its exclusivity also adds to its allure.
Last week, Shilpa inaugurated a new Bastian outlet in Goa and a Bastian Beach Club is set to open in Juhu soon. In an interview with food critic Kunal Vijayakar, she agreed that she was one of the biggest restaurateurs in India.
However, it is not all sunshine and roses as Shilpa Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra have been hounded by legal troubles for several years now. Currently, they are embroiled in a fraud case where they stand accused of duping a Juhu-based businessman of Rs 60.48 crores according to Indian Express. Their plea to travel abroad for expansion of their restaurant chain was rejected by the Bombay High Court on account of this case. They were ordered to first deposit the amount of Rs 60 crores before trying to obtain permission for overseas travel.