Cafe Zoe Raid Not A Raid, Say Owners

Lest you start to worry, Cafe Zoe’s owners say the report on the “raid” at the Lower Parel restaurant and bar on Friday, June 8, published in today’s Mumbai Mirror, was overblown and inaccurate. “It’s not as bad as it sounds,” said Jeremie Horowitz, who owns Cafe Zoe along with Tarini Mohindar and Viraf Patel. “[Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant] Dhoble was very cordial, he wasn’t rude. We asked our guests to leave early, he checked our licences, and fined us for overcrowding and for DJ’ing.” Horowitz says even though the police confiscated his DJ console—which Horowitz mans himself—it was returned the next day. The fine, he says, was also substantially less than the Rs12,500 indicated in the Mumbai Mirror report. The cafe is open for business as usual.

Worli nightclub Shiro was also raided on Saturday, June 9, in violation of the overcrowding rule that stipulates only 166 people are allowed per 1,000 square feet in a restaurant or drinking establishment. According to this report in the Hindustan Times, the club only had a licence “to conduct an orchestra” and not one “to function as a discotheque”. Shiro’s parent company JSM Corporation, were unavailable for comment. And if you’re wondering who might take the first stance against ACP Dhoble, two sisters, who were among the women detained at restaurant Masala Curry in Andheri on Tuesday, June 5 on suspicion of being prostitutes, have taken Dhoble to court for wrongful detention and defamation, asking for Rs1 crore each in compensation.