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Journalism of Courage
Feel like eating in your favourite restaurant but know you won’t get a reservation? Want to eat out but have nothing to wear? Have guests suddenly descend into your home demanding dinner? Don’t panic, Sunil Saraf’s Meal on Wheels (MOW) is your answer, your salvation. One call to MOW and food from 10 of Mumbai’s finest restaurants will be at your doorstep within the hour — at the price of the eatery, with no delivery charges added to the bill.
The idea had been brewing in Sunil’s head when he first came across a similar service in London, called Room Service. And last year when he heard that a similar service had started in Delhi — and was a resounding success — he decided to stop dragging his feet. In October 1997, Sunil introduced MOW to Mumbai and in the short span of four months he already receives 200 orders a day. More than 30 per cent of his customers order from him at least once a week. And soon, 10 more restaurants and three additional caterers will be added to his menu card. Currently, MOW isopen from 11 am to 11 pm and you can order from China Garden, Gallops, Gaylord, Copper Chimney, Chopsticks, Trishna, Fountain, Bombay Brasserie, Khyber and Revival. But getting this impressive list together was not easy. Initially, restaurants were apprehensive about his service but now he finds new eateries are actually approaching him. "They get extra business with no extra overheads," he explains. "Plus, once an order is placed, the restaurant has no fear of cancellation." And by now, he has learnt to sift hoax calls from the real thing.
MOW operates with a team of 10 delivery boys and six people in the office. On days when there are special events being telecast, he finds these numbers do not suffice. "During the Miss India telecast we were inundated with orders. In any case, dinner time is always more hectic than the lunch service," says Sunil. To balance that out, he has special lunch offers for office goers.
He also hopes to find the time to lead a more balanced life. Most days he works till 10 pm– this is after he has put in a full day’s work at the family concern. MOW is not a great money-spinner for Sunil, so his day is spent behind a desk in the family’s transport company. "MOW is a great way to earn extra pocket money. But it will never be my main business. MOW just recovers its costs by the commission we charge our member restaurants," says Sunil.
Not surprisingly, food is a major passion with Sunil during his time off. He dines out about three times a week and his favourite restaurants include China Garden, Khyber and Golden Dragon. He also frequents restaurants at the Leela Hotel.
He basically frequents the restaurants that he endorses. "I am choosy about which restaurants I work with. There should be more choice in cuisine and not too many restaurants with the same cuisine," he says.
Sunil believes that people are becoming adventurous in their eating habits, which is why he is hoping to include Vietnamese and Korean food to his menu card. And some day, when business has grown, hehopes to take on the the Bandra-Versova area, too. Today South Mumbai, tomorrow the suburbs. For Sunil, good food is just a short drive away.
