A high-end restaurant in Delhi has landed in controversy after a woman alleged that she was denied entry for wearing a sari. After the woman shared a purported video of the incident on social media, the restaurant, which was on the receiving end of a massive backlash, on Wednesday claimed that the incident was misrepresented. In a Facebook post, Anita Choudhary alleged that she was not allowed to enter the Aquila restaurant in Ansal Plaza here on Sunday because she was wearing a sari. “In a Delhi restaurant, saree is not considered a smart outfit. The name of the restaurant is Aquila. We argued over the saree, and a lot of excuses were made, but I was not allowed to enter the restaurant, because the Indian dress saree is not a smart outfit.
“I have never been insulted like this. I feel sad too.” He also posted a short video of his argument with the restaurant’s staff.
Choudhary, as per his Facebook profile, is a Creative Director at Doordarshan National. After Choudhary’s post went viral, the restaurant with a unique decor received an overwhelming response with people on social media as well as on food aggregator platforms like Zomato.
Describing the restaurant’s behavior as “bizarre”, a Twitter user wrote, “Who decides that a saree is not ‘smart wear’? I have worn a saree in the best restaurants in the US, UAE as well as the UK. Didn’t stop. And some Aquila restaurant in India sets a dress code and decides the saree isn’t ‘smart enough’? Vichitra (sic).” Another user wrote that his mother wore a sari up to the Alps. “Aquila restaurant in Delhi barred a woman from entering wearing a sari, which according to them is not smart wear. Shame Aquila Restaurants. My mother wearing a sari on the top of the Alps. They didn’t stop him for what he was wearing.”
“The restaurant isn’t smart enough! Staff terrible (Look at my outfit before I go in!?!) The food was terrible,” wrote one Zomato reviewer. In response to the allegations, the restaurant took to Instagram on Wednesday to clarify its side of the story.
According to him, the clip of “10 seconds” posted by Choudhary was part of a conversation that lasted “an hour”. “We chose to remain silent for now and are patiently watching the situation relating to the incident in Aquila on 19 September.
“A guest visited the restaurant and politely requested to wait at the gate as there were no reservations under his name. However, after we discussed internally where we could make them sit, the guest entered the restaurant and started fighting and abusing our staff. What unfolded after this was beyond our imagination, when the guest slapped our manager,” the restaurant wrote on its Instagram post. It also added CCTV footage of the incident, as well as a separate video showing the saree. Clad women are entering the restaurant.
According to the restaurant, the comment on the saree not being a “smart casual” outfit in the video shared by Choudhary was a way of “dealing” the situation. The statement said, “To deal with the situation and request the guest to leave, one of our gate managers made a statement on sarees not being part of our smart casual dress code and our entire team was responsible for it. Apologizes.”
Aquila apologized for the comment. “Aquila is a homegrown brand and every member of the team stands as a proud Indian. Our gate manager’s statement does not in any way represent the view of the entire team on dress code. Nowhere in our company policy is it stated that we will deny entry to anyone in ethnic wear.
Aquila said, “While we have every right to take steps for guest-by-violence against our employees, we have decided to maintain the peace so far, but in accordance with our policy of maintaining transparency with our stakeholders, we Issuing this statement.” .
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