An express Oriental experience

And her business plan is equally unconventional. After four years of success, she decided to sell her thriving business and start all over again with a home delivery-cum-catering service for Oriental food. And, Kanta8217;s two-month-old baby 8212; Cantorian To ward off bad luck, she changed the spelling from Kantorian to Cantorian. 8212; is already a rage with the best hostesses in town.

But like most success stories, hers too had an unusual start. quot;After my divorce, I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands. So, I decided to do something,quot; she says, matter-of-factly. And it had to be food, because cooking came naturally to her. As she used to travel abroad frequently, she knew that there was a big market for a pizza home-delivery service. And so, Pizza Express was born in her kitchen. quot;I started working from home and in a month I was making a profit,quot; she says, quot;The demand just kept on increasing by word of mouth.quot; Besides the USP of a home-delivery service, what worked was that Kanta was very particular about the final product. She searched hard for the right cheese, experimented till she arrived at the right sizes 88221; and 128221; bases which have become a standard now and personally baked every pizza.

But soon residents of her building raised objections and she had to move out. When she decided to set up shop, operating as a single woman too posed problems. quot;People think they can take you for a ride. And I was the nervous kind. But now I am tough, since I have learnt it the hard way,quot; she says.

Despite her misgivings, the idea caught on really fast. In a couple of years, there were 10 Pizza Express outlets in the city with franchisees literally dropping into Kanta8217;s lap. But, expanding also meant that Kanta couldn8217;t personally check on quality. quot;People started telling me that the pizzas weren8217;t as good as before,quot; she says. Pizza Express had also grown to be a partnership between three, and that too wasn8217;t working out. Though she was doing well, Kanta started thinking about selling out. quot;I couldn8217;t deal with my partners and the way they functioned. It was a really difficult decision because I had created Pizza Express. But, it was time to let go,quot; she recounts. And in 1996, she sold her share.

Within a year Kanta was back in the kitchen but with a different recipe. This time she tried her hand at authentic Oriental cuisine which includes Korean, Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese food. Oriental because Kanta, a Sindhi by birth, was born in Saigon and lived there for 14 years. quot;I have eaten the original food and it is my favourite cuisine. And except for China Garden and Golden Dragon, nobody has the real Chinese here. But, I do serve some Indian Chinese like Haka noodles and Manchurian, as people want this,quot; she says.

All that Kanta retained of Pizza Express was the first shop she had bought in Tardeo and that is where Cantorian is today. Because of the lack of space, it is not a restaurant, but just an outlet for home delivery and party orders. She delivers only to South Mumbai and has also set up a bigger factory in Worli to cater for parties. Though Cantorian is only two months old, with a little bit of press advertising and word of mouth, it has become quite popular. quot;Workwise I have jumped from the frying pan to the fire. It is so busy,quot; she says with a contented smile. She works seven days a week as she insists on checking every order before it goes out. Her next stop is Bandra, but after she has trained her cook to perfection. quot;Right now, I have to be here for every order which goes out. These people haven8217;t picked up the finer points yet. For instance, they won8217;t know the difference between oyster sauce and rice wine sauce,quot; she says.

And though she would love to open a restaurant, she is wary of getting into a partnership and decentralising work again. And that8217;s the only traditional aspect of Kanta 8212; she has to know what8217;s going on in her kitchen.