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The Pukka
Brasserie at 89 Streatham Hill, London SW2 is attracting customers in
a new way this year, as instead of holding food festivals and the
usual in-house promotions, the owner Kazi Akther Uddin has decided on
tribute acts upon the advice of a marketing services consultant, who
also provides him with publicity promoting the entertainment.
Originally a
curry chef, with long experience in the preparation of fine Indian
cuisine, Akther progressed to owning the Bengal Brasserie in Hither
Green in 1989, before moving his business to Streatham. His previous
summer and autumn food festivals with Goan and British Raj themes had
been very successful, but as an Elvis enthusiast himself, he wanted
to try out a tribute evening, and his very first Elvis night in May
was absolutely packed out. "We had to move tables so that some
of the customers could dance," he says. "I was so pleased
with the result, and my customers so enthusiastic, that I decided to
try other tributes, and was advised that as we have very much a
family atmosphere, Abba and The Beatles were the next ones to try."
'Frida' from
the Abba tribute - a female duo with 'Agnetha' - lived in Streatham
until she was 7 years old, and the local press became interested when
they were told, so as with Pukka's first ever Elvis tribute, the
restaurant had excellent front page and inside page press coverage
for Abba in August, which helped to sell that evening in a month when
sales for all restaurateurs are slow due to the holiday season.
In September
Pukka is holding a Beatles tribute night - Lennon and McCartney -
which has already aroused great interest, while in October a more
traditional evening of Bollywood is planned, and then Elvis returns
in November.
While Pukka's
regular customers - a mix of Indian, British, European and African -
benefit from special banqueting nights on Tuesdays, and half-price
cocktails on Thursdays, plus an extensive A La Carte menu offering
high quality Bengali, Indian, Nepalese, Pakistani and Sri Lankan
dishes, the new entertainment programme has already considerably
benefited the restaurant. Akther says that this proves that even a
70-cover restaurant like his can increase its client base provided
that it chooses the right type of entertainment for its ambience and
customer profile, at an acceptable price per person.
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