While the snow falling Sunday afternoon made the city begin to look a lot more like Christmas, the inside of a restaurant in the city’s Allandale neighbourhood transformed into a bright and welcoming Christmas market.
Nawab's Indian Cuisine, located at 70 Essa Rd. near Burton Avenue, hosted its first ever Christmas Market, said owner
Vimochana Attili, who along with her husband Kiran opened the East Asian franchise back in July.
While the market was intended to include between eight to 10 different vendors, many were unable to make it due to the snow that closed down parts of the highway north of the city, while others from the south opted to stay off the roads just to be safe.
Despite that, those who did make it out still managed to help bring with them a little bit of the festive spirit, with guests and vendors being asked to bring a donation of a new, unwrapped toy or a non-perishable food item for Christmas Cheer.
Visitors, she said, were treated with hot chocolate and goody bags containing sweet treats as well as the opportunity to take their photo in a 360 degree, spinning photo booth. Restaurant patrons, she added, also received 20 per cent off their order.
“We always love (a) Christmas Market and to celebrate Christmas. We celebrate every festival. Whenever we have a new festival, we started doing (a) market. Recently we did a Diwali Festival Market and this one is a Christmas market,” she said. “We just love supporting the community and want to be part of the community by doing events like this.”
Incorporating the charitable component into the event, she added, is an important part of their business.
“We want to give (back). Recently we did for the Bradford Christmas. It’s very important for us to do. We have been participating in many community events with (different) charities. We love the idea that everyone is doing something and we want to be part of it as well,” she said. “We like to encourage other businesses to do it too … and to help the people who don’t have (much) at this moment so they can celebrate Christmas too.”
