Success on the menu

“Even as a student, I began working for my uncle, Jagannath Shetty, who owns Roopali and Vaishali. I started as a cashier, went on to become the manager and stayed on with him till 1983,” recollects Shetty. Having garnered valuable experience, he decided to branch out on his own and started Chalukya (which he later gave up) in Deccan with another uncle, Narayan Shetty. The next year saw him add Avishkaar (recently revamped and rechristened Revival), followed by Shravan (1987), Ambar (1990), Sarangi (1993), Ganraj (1995), Tivoli in Poona Club (1996) and Sarjaa with the Mangeshkar family (1997).

“Almost all these restaurants are different from one another. Revival was the first vegetarian restaurant in Pune with a permit room,” says Shetty. “Sarjaa, which is doing the best right now, has a wonderful ambience and good food, attracting the industrialist and business crowd. Ganraj has everything from fast food to South-Indian and Punjabi cuisine. But what is common to all is good service.” And, of course, Shetty.

Having been involved in the food business for a quarter of a century, today, Shetty is in a position to see the changes that have swept the field. “When I started, the primary criterion for a restaurant to do well was the food. But today, the clients want more – pleasing ambience, perfect crockery and cutlery, a suitable decor and variety, which involves constant innovation with the menu. All this requires a strict eye for detail. Which is why I have restricted myself to Pune. I receive offers to take up restaurants outside the city too, but I believe that if you cannot supervise a place regularly, you cannot handle it”.

Shetty thus practises a regimen that has him hopping from one of his eateries to the other throughout the day. “I cover four restaurants everyday, beginning at 11 a.m. and winding up by 12.30 p.m.,” he adds.

And if this hectic schedule leaves him with spare hours, how does he spend them? He cooks! “I enjoy experimenting with food, and was the first to introduce Vegetable Bhuna in the city, at Shravan. The other eateries followed suit,” he says with pride.

The man is also much in demand for dispensing valuable advice on how to set up and run a restaurant. “I like to help people and have never desisted from providing guidance to new entrants in the business, even if they are opening their place next to mine. Sometimes, I even lend my cooks during their teething period. I look at it as social service,” he smiles. This despite the current recessionary trends that have also hit the food business. “From flourishing, we now have to contend ourselves with surviving,” says Shetty.

But survive he will. Given die-hard patrons like Nana Patekar, who frequents Ambar for the fish that is prepared specially to his taste. Or bigwigs like Rahul Bajaj, Bal Thackeray and Suresh Kalmadi, who can often be spotted at Sarjaa. Not to mention the general bonhomie that prevails amongst the staff at all his eateries. “Very rarely does any staff member leave my place. And those who do, inevitably return. On our part, we have always accommodated them,” adds Shetty.

So other than his trademark `service with a smile,’ what qualities, in his opinion, are indispensable to ensure success in this business? “Diplomacy and patience. I have had customers calling me up in the middle of the night to complain about the food or the service,” states Shetty solemnly. “And once in a while, there are arguments, hot words and walk-outs. You have to keep a cool head and deal with any unpleasantness that might crop up.” A feat Shetty manages with characteristic ease, which is probably why he has so many Puneites eating out of his hands. Well, almost.