and Snowhite. Some of the other oldest and still existing establishments include Ram Chandra & Sons (since 1935), Novex (since 1937), Dhoomi Mal Gallery (since 1936), Vaish at Rivoli (since 1939), Indian Arts Palace (since 1935), Mahatta & Company (since 1947). Most of the rulers of the Indian princely states had their local homes in the nearby areas around King's way (modern-day Rajpath), and would frequent shops for designer clothes, artefacts, shoes, and pianos. Regal cinema, the first cinema in Connaught Place, opened around this time and went on to host popular concerts, theatre groups, and ballet performances. The Odeon and Rivoli followed the Regal, while the Indian Talkie House opened in 1938. Initially only Indian snacks were available in the area, but gradually restaurants opened in the plaza, with names like Kwality, United Coffee House and others offering Continental and Mughlai cuisines. Wenger's, the confectioners, was one of the first shops in Connaught Place, the firm also owned the largest restaurant in New Delhi on the first floor of their present A-Block outlet. Originally established in 1926 as Spencers in Kashmere Gate, Wenger's was owned by a Swiss couple and introduced Delhi to pastries and homemade Swiss chocolates, though in its early years it too was patronised mostly by British officers, Indian royalty and some foreign-returned businessmen, for Delhi was still the city of classical taste within the walled city. Over the years Wenger's started another shop right beside their previous one in Connaught Place's A Block, which earlier belonged to Harnarains, a Pickle brand that has been in existence since 1860s. Harnarains currently operates under the name Harnarains International. Davico's across Connaught Plaza, and the Standard restaurant was popular for decades before fading away. Another old timer, the Embassy Restaurant, opened in 1948. New Delhi's first luxury hotel opened in 1931 on Janpath and eventually became a haunt for the royalty and a place for political discussions. It was here that Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Lord Mountbatten met to discuss the Partition of India and the birth of Pakistan. Residents gradually moved into first floor quarters, which were almost full by 1938, but it was another decade before the plaza became the busy marketplace that it became later, as World War II started and the Independence movement reached a feverish pitch. Markets experienced dwindling sales, but post-independence business began to increase in the