Meal On The Move

While it8217;s easier for people like Chougule to duplicate their ops 8216;8216;Our wine company already has offices in these metros, so it was not tough to research the market and preview demand8217;8217;, others had to work harder. 8216;8216;Besides scanning the potential market growth, one has to delve into the city8217;s eating habits and eating out experiences, so you can give them what they want,8217;8217; explains Shek. When Wang was doing the rounds in Delhi, he picked up peculiar nuances too. 8216;8216;Not only do Delhiites have harsher taste buds and like their food spicier and tangier, they also have a much higher intake of salt8212;probably the highest in the country,8217;8217; analyses Wang. Adds Singh: 8216;8216;Even as we are charting up a new menu with more vegetarian options for our Mumbai clientele, our Delhi outlet has a highly carnivorous menu.8217;8217;

8216;8216;Catering to a city-specific clientele is mandatory,8217;8217; feels 29-year-old Amlani, whose Mocha is coming up in Delhi8217;s Greater Kailash in a month and Pune8217;s Koregaon Park by the next. The Delhi outlet will also have a book store, a lending library and an auditorium, 8216;8216;to reach out to the city8217;s art connoisseurs and patrons of culture,8217;8217; says Amlani who dealt in shoes before turning his attention to restaurants. Singh was especially insistent on keeping the 8216;feel8217; intact. Delhi8217;s Olive Bar 038; Kitchen is sprawled over a larger area, but has retained much of its original team8212;including interior designer Nozir Wadia, music group Pulsar India and chef Dev Malik.

Though Delhi is a favourite destination, many like starting closer home8212;read Pune or Goa. After his sabbatical over an alleged drug controversy, 22-year-old Farhan Azmi is getting back to work by taking his Cafe Basilico to Pune8217;s Koregaon Park. 8216;8216;With the expressway, Pune has become more accessible and we are targeting corporates who are either shifting there or who visit Pune regularly,8217;8217; says Azmi. For Ketan Kadam, 29, opening nightclub Fire 038; Ice in Pune was more about brand recall. 8216;8216;As a brand we were already established because of the Fire 038; Ice roadshows we conducted there,8217;8217; says Kadam. But, he confesses, 8216;8216;We preferred to remain close to Mumbai because we could always be round the corner to handle any errors we might make from our first branch venture.8217;8217;

Goa, on the other hand, is a great haunt for its perennial tourist clique. Exciting enough for Amlani to transport Mocha to the beach city for a season. For Meldon Da Cunha, 45, of Trafalgar Chowk, too, hometown Goa seemed the natural next stop. 8216;8216;It8217;s like flaunting your baby on home ground and dressing it even better,8217;8217; chirps Da Cunha.

Be it keeping up with competition or providing value for money Basilico8217;s Pune prices will be lower than in Mumbai, maintaining quality is imperative. 8216;8216;You are accountable to guests visiting the various restaurants across the country and you cannot give them a chance to complain about a dish being inferior in one outlet vis-agrave;-vis the other,8217;8217; asserts Anjan Chatterjee, 44, of Speciality Restaurants.

To ensure this standardisation across the six Mainland China outlets in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Chennai and the two Oh Calcutta! outlets in Mumbai and now Kolkata he8217;s planning Delhi branches of both in the next six months, he8217;s opened a catering institute. The restaurant staff is recruited after a rigorous training session from here. 8216;8216;We even make sure the thickness of the noodles is the same everywhere,8217;8217; he says.

While everyone might not go to the extent of a training institute, they don8217;t compromise either. 8216;8216;It8217;s ultimately your baby and your brand name, so you can8217;t afford to go wrong,8217;8217; says Shek, who8217;s in Delhi three days of the week and on the phone with them thrice a day when in Mumbai. It8217;s the same with Singh. Though with their Mumbai branch well-established, Singh feels, 8216;8216;I8217;ve made myself redundant here.8217;8217; Wang too has settled in Delhi for now, while son Edward holds court in Mumbai.

The stress levels, a manic rigmarole and an unending timetable have kept Rahul Akerkar from taking his Indigo elsewhere. In fact, though his new venture in North Mumbai got scuttled six weeks prior to the launch, Akerkar is not complaining. 8216;8216;It8217;s hard enough to keep up a consistent standard and ensure customer satisfaction. To take that to another city is a different ball game altogether,8217;8217; says Akerkar. Though his next venture in South Mumbai not another Indigo, is on the cards.

But Akerkar seems to be a singular such example. Some restaurateurs look to expansion almost as soon as they open. Vishal Kalra and Rachel Sacks might be celebrating just six months of Tres Botas, their tapas bar at Bandra, but they are already toying with ideas. Maybe not another branch yet, though brand building is already on. 8216;8216;We wanted to promote music through our venture and by performing as the Tres Botas group, not only can we do that, we can also be known across the country,8217;8217; says Kalra. So the group Sacks on the flute, DJ Faroukh and friend Mohan Kannan on the percussion is headed for Chennai to play at The Park8217;s Leather Bar and Pasha nightclub on April 23 and 24. Even Kolkata is in line. 8216;8216;The eventual result of such tours might be other outlets across India,8217;8217; says Sacks.