Gaylord’s Iconic Bakery Will Shut In Two Weeks: Here’s Why

In two weeks, you’ll no longer be able to buy a chocolate tart or croissant from Mumbai’s iconic Gaylord’s Bakery and enjoy it seated in the restaurant’s outdoor seating area. The Bombay High Court has directed the restaurant to demolish it’s bakery as well as the outdoor seating area, saying that the structures are illegal and are a safety hazard.  

The Problematic Bakery 

The bakery structure has existed since 1956 and has long been a popular spot to pick up freshly baked goods. 

The court issued the directive after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) told the bench that the bakery and seating area had been built without necessary permissions and we’re safety hazards. It added that they would obstruct fire trucks in the case of an emergency. 

The Plea 

In the court case, the restaurant’s representatives challenged the BMC saying that in 1958 it had paid a penalty of Rs. 204 to get the awning, fencing and the use of the open space regularized.  It added that they had paid revised license fees and produced letters from the district collector’s office which stated they had permission to run the bakery after they paid the fees. 

Nevertheless, the court ruled in the BMC’s favour, saying whether it had “rightly or wrongly been granted permission for such structures in the past, the restaurant, in its current form, violated the BMC’s compulsory open space rules.”

However, don’t lose all hope. The bench told the restaurant it could apply to the BMC to regularise or reinstall structures in the area. It has told the BMC to reply to the restaurants application within four weeks.