Dunedin curry house Mela Eatery feels the heat over request to serve alcohol

A Dunedin eatery seeking a new liquor licence has faced staunch opposition over its ties to a beleaguered and since-closed establishment at the same premises.

Mela Eatery opened at 11 The Octagon last year following the ordered closure of Eleven Bar, which was the subject of a raft of issues, from breaches of Covid-19 protocol and alcohol licensing laws, to allegations against management of drinking and drug use while on the job.

The application for the licence was heavily opposed by police, the medical officer of health, licensing inspector, and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) Otepoti during a Dunedin District Licensing Committee on Thursday.

It was also a chief concern among the opposing agencies that a former co-director of Eleven Bar, Prakeesh Khattri, is married to the applicant for the liquor licence Yuba Khattri, and is also employed as a Mela Eatery chef.

They also called into question the suitability Yuba Khattri, who was convicted of drink-driving in July last year, resulting in her manager’s certificate being suspended for 28 days.

Yuba Khattri participated in the hearing via an audio-visual connection from Portugal, while her 21-year-old daughter, Susmita Khattri, who works as a manager at Mela, spoke on her behalf before the committee.

The committee heard arguments from the opposing agencies, the applicant, and the applicant’s counsel Werner van Harselaar.

Susmita ardently distanced Mela from the previous establishment, while van Harselaar described the newer eatery as “essentially a curry house”.

“It’s my view that a curry house with just normal drinks, and with reduced hours, is actually a better thing for the Octagon than what other thing could have been there, or what was there just not long ago,” he said.

Susmita said the inability to serve alcohol was impacting the eatery’s profits, as some customers turned away when they learned they were unable to purchase it.

“What they want on a sunny day is to have a curry with an alcoholic beverage sitting outside in the Octagon, so we’re actually losing customers more than gaining right now,” she said.

The owners of Mela Eatery in Dunedin are meeting opposition in seeking a new liquor licence. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Susmita said there would be four duty managers available at Mela, including herself, with all managers required to undergo training courses, including ServeWise.

Alcohol licensing inspector Tanya Morrison noted that two of the listed duty managers for Mela also worked at another restaurant, Mornington Thai, which was connected to another former director of Eleven Bar, Naveen Malhotra.

She said the fact the applicant had not alluded to the connections with Mornington Thai signalled a ‘lack of candour’ from the applicant.

Morrison said she would like to take it in good faith that Prakeesh Khatri would remain solely in the kitchen as a chef - “but the fact that he has a current manager’s certificate — I believe if push came to shove if some emergency arose, that he potentially could step in”.

“The husband-wife is a tricky situation, as I’m sure we can appreciate. The licence might be in one person’s name, in this case Yuba’s, but I don’t think you can avoid or expect that Prakeesh will be silent,” she said.

Alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Steve Jones said the community that frequented the Octagon was vulnerable when it came to alcohol-related harm.

He said that while Susmita had shown “wisdom beyond her years,” throughout the hearing, it was unfair and indicated a lack of suitability, despite location issues, that the licensee had put it upon her 21-year-old daughter to present as the applicant.

“Someone who, through no fault of her own, lacks the experience to present at this forum.”

He said there was a clear lack of candour in regards to the application, and still questions arising between suitability issues and relationships between unsuitable associates.

In his closing statements, van Harselaar said the application should be granted, and he did not understand the police point of ‘lack of candour,’ and had concerns about the use of the term ‘associates.’

“To me, it’s a loaded term in terms of someone who knows someone who knows someone. There is no real connection in terms of what’s sort of happening between upstairs, downstairs, and also what happened in the past.

“Trying to draw them together is, I think, inappropriate.”

He said that granting the liquor licence would be for the greater good of the Octagon.

Committee chairman Colin Weatherall said a decision would be announced in due course.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin