Overbooked venues, Covid scare push NYE parties indoors

Celeb spotting at late-night NYE bashes may be a thing of the past as more and more stars are choosing to party privately with their close social circle. While over-crowded venues, carb-heavy hors d'oeuvres and lack of privacy have put a dampener on NYE club-hopping as a whole, the fresh Covid-19 scare too has made Kolkata’s party lovers - famous or otherwise - go back to partying indoors. Here’s how Kolkata made the most of year-ender house parties:


No control over food, music


“I always prefer house parties over going out to clubs or pubs on any occasion. Especially on New Year’s Eve, house parties can be much more personal and cosier. I really don’t have the patience to stand in a queue to get a drink or wait for hours to get food delivered to my table. This time my brother-in-law Sunil Chettri was in town and he avoids going to any crowded places to chill. Additionally, my family members could join the party as it was on my terrace and my parents would never go out to party,” said Shaheb Bhattacharjee who hosted a party on his terrace for the 31st night.

For actor Bonny Sengupta, it’s the personal touch that matters. “In pubs or clubs, you have no control over the music. Besides, at packed venues, you can hardly talk over the noise. But at house parties, you can talk and there is always enough space to shake a leg. Apart from that, the COVID scare is back again, so we avoided going out to public space this time,” said Bonny.
Singer Paroma Banerji has always been a fan of partying indoors. "I always prefer house parties with my extended family and friends and it's been like that since my childhood. I find it cosier and a lot more personal," she said.

Bring your own carbs
Calorie-conscious revellers are a big reason why the age of house parties refuses to die down. “In our friend’s group, people are conscious about calorie intake. For our NYE bash, we did the menu keeping the health factor in mind and which is not possible when one goes out to a party. Drunk driving is also a problem late at night and house parties can also be quite budget-friendly,” shares Indranil Sarkar who is in the tourism business.

Whole roasts, fusion snacks were a rage
“For Christmas house parties people ordered turkey and roast chicken. While classics like biryani, chaap or noodles did well, people ordered innovative snacks like cheese cherry pineapple, shredded lamb with chillies, chicken with boiled peas etc. The number of guests at the year-ender house parties ranged from 50 to 80 people maximum,” says Ranjan Panda who owns a city-based catering business.
Surojit Rout, who owns a continental dine-in near Ekdalia confirms whole roasts were one of the biggest sellers this year. “Turkey, duck and whole chicken roasts did really well for year-ender part orders. We also got some orders for our whole bhetki roasts,” he said.

Food festival menus were a hit
Debaditya Chaudhury whose Asian restaurant chain has a delivery-centric model confirmed that the brand saw a 30 to 40 per cent hike in party-sized orders between December 25 and 31. “We are hosting an Oriental duck festival at the moment and every single day for the past week, we’ve received a flood of orders for duck meat appetisers, noodles and meifoon," he said.
“Quirky finger foods like chicken satay, prawns with stir-fries, gandhoraj pepper chicken, and chicken scotch egg were popular for house parties this year,” says chef Aditya Paith.
Box for popular NYE house party hits:

Bruschetta al Pamodoro
Rosti
Baked Bengal bhetki
Bakgkok style thai curry

Courtesy: Sunaina Bihani