Popular modern Indian restaurant Cassia in Fort Lane has been forced to close temporarily due to extensive flooding damage for the second time in nine months. Owners Sid and Chand Sahrawat are redeploying team members to a pop-up site to honour existing forward bookings – and any new ones.
The flooding on Friday night saw 140 customers evacuated at around 6pm when the prep kitchen flooring gave way and flooded the kitchen's restaurant and dining rooms.
The French Kitchen in Symonds Street will be temporarily renamed The Cassia Kitchen, opening for dinner service on Wednesday, February 8th. Bookings will be made available until Saturday, March 4th.
The restaurant already experienced flooding in March 2022, which forced the premises to shut for five weeks.
“We couldn’t believe it was happening again, the team acted quickly to let customers know what was happening and everyone was very understanding. Chand and I and the team are just devastated, we’re lucky to be able to move Cassia to The French Kitchen at Sid at French Café as a temporary solution and I just want to thank everyone for the dozens of messages of help we’ve had since Friday," said Sid Sahrawat.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all families and businesses affected by the flooding and a special thanks to all of our customers who were gracious and all left with minimal fuss”.
