Amaya’s Bazaar Global Food Bar shuts down—but the concept isn’t dead yet
After less than a year, Bazaar Global Food Bar, the casual Mount Pleasant restaurant that was part of Hemant Bhagwani’s Amaya empire, has closed. Bhagwani told The Dish that low weekday traffic and high rents are responsible for the closure; the family-oriented concept did well on weekends, but the place stood empty the rest of the week. But Davisville’s loss is Baldwin Village’s gain: Bhagwani has taken over the space formerly belonging to Jodhpore Club at 33 Baldwin Street and plans to open a new Bazaar in the near future.
Despite the low volume at his first location, he thinks that downtowners will take to the concept. The cut-rate rent, one third the cost of the Mount Pleasant location, won’t hurt either. Meanwhile, Bhagwani’s nearly completed an extensive renovation and menu change-up at the original Bayview location. The room will feature a heavy dose of reclaimed wood, while the menu is refocusing on traditional Indian dishes, albeit with an emphasis on local ingredients (think Upper Canada cream cheese lamb seekh kebab and asparagus kofta). The refreshed Amaya is currently in a soft opening phase with a grand reopening planned for mid-January.
