Don’t worry about pollution, these restaurants in Delhi are serving purified air

Imagine this picture. You walk into an elite pub. Amidst loud electro-mix of music, you order some fresh air in starter. Yes, fresh air. While the fine dining scene in Delhi NCR has always been ruled by food, ambience and music, it’s for the first time ever pure and fresh air has suddenly become a parameter to hospitality.

Five friends planning a weekend hangout in Gurgaon had a tough time to decide where to head out. While the pubs at cyber hub were giving a great deal on drinks, there were only a few that could afford to dole out purified air. At a time, when smog has engulfed the whole city and its fringes, it’s good to choose a place where you breathe easy.

Twist in Gurgaon, The Hungry Monkey in Safdarjung, and La Bodega in Khan Market are among the few restaurants in the city offering pure air for their patrons.

It’s not that you walk in and start feeling the freshness in air. " ...in a few minutes, as they settle down, they feel that they can breathe easily and then many ask about the change. A few who are allergic to pollutants notice the change immediately, thanks to the air purifiers that we have installed in our restaurant. People are very conscious (about this) now and they appreciate it when we tell them that we have air purifiers. We decided to install air purifiers because the city has been battling pollution, and we knew it would only get worse after Diwali. We are coming up with a creative to be displayed on our social media pages to promote the fact that one can breathe fresh air here," Randip Dhingra, owner of Twist, a restaurant in Cyber Hub, Gurgaon told in a newspaper report on The Times of India.

Vibhor Jain, CEO of Atlanta Healthcare, which makes air purifiers, was amazed to see this niche market peaking up. While it was hospitals and bigger food joints earlier to subscribe to Atlanta’s air purifying mechanism, it’s now smaller cafes and pubs that contributing to its revenue generation.

At a time when Delhi is choking with abnormal smog post-Diwali and the government has announced closing of schools for three days, where would the fun loving generation head to. Eventually, they have a place to chill and breathe easy, without fearing about breathlessness and asthma.

"Last year, we realized that pollution is at its worst after Diwali in Delhi, and pure and fresh air is something that people need. This year, we thought we should install air purifiers, and keeping in mind the severe smog conditions in the city, I think we will keep them throughout the winter. People need masks and air purifiers right now. Through our social media page, we are letting people know that we have air purifiers and the response we've been getting is very good," Noah Barnes from The Hungry Monkey told the media.

As the air quality would keep dipping in the city, thanks to the lowering of temperature in winter, restaurants serving fresh air to patrons would definitely be counted niche.