Someone once said, “I never dreamt about success. I worked for it.” I remember coming across this ages ago and have never really been able to forget it. It’s just 2 short, simple sentences but they resonate with me so strongly. Success was never something that was handed to me…and honestly, never something I thought I could really achieve, especially in a crazy, nutty, erratic, here-one-day-gone-the-next business like hospitality! The F&B industry isn’t all glitz and glamour, money and excitement. What people don’t tell you is that it’s a long ride served with a generous helping of unexpected twists and turns, hiccups and hitches.Let’s journey back a bit. Until my late twenties, all I can remember wanting to do or being passionate about was travel and food. And luckily for me, I got to experience both! My travels took me to Dubai, Thailand, USA, UK, Australia and also the tiniest, elusive corners of India as well. It was actually during my time abroad that I noticed the gaping gap the Indian F&B industry had. In the early 90s, the industry was equipped to offer only 2 options – imported food or Indian cuisine. And that’s about it. There was very little experimentation in our industry, very little risk and really no innovation at all. But just noticing this wasn’t enough. I knew I had to change this…I knew I WANTED to change this. For the first time, I felt a stirring inside me, was fuelled by the drive to DO SOMETHING.The opportunity came in 2007 with a then seemingly random idea of launching vegetarian stuffed pita pockets in India. Working alongside brilliant Israeli geniuses, Guy Iztaki and Eli Zedaka, we launched Falafel’s that shot almost instantly to fame.
Things just took off from there! After just 2 extremely successful years with a cluster of outlets open across the city, Falafel’s was bought over by the Mirah Group. In fact, I now work with them as a consultant (talk about coming full circle, right?). This was my first true taste of success and…it’s a high really, to see a tiny concept you have burst into this phenomenal reality.A few years after that, along with my friends, Shaival Chandra and Mayank Ruia, we started Simply Potatoes. Why I love this venture of ours is because of its similarity to Falafel’s in terms of its absolute novelty factor. “A kiosk that serves just baked potatoes? Come on…” But, my answer was…why not? Why not create a concept that could revolutionize the baked potato IN A COUNTRY THAT’S A LEADING POTATO SUPPLIER? And so it began. With topping options like Mexican, Punjabi, Makhani and Southwest, we’d changed the baked potato from being an unexciting side order to an incredible main meal!
Keeping my dream of ‘being the change’ alive, I joined hands with Zedaka and Iztaki once again to pioneer international cuisine counters at Indian weddings. Just because we’re Indian, doesn’t mandate serving only Indian food, does it? Another thing I wanted to change was making state of the art, gourmet food more accessible to the Indian public. Therefore 2014 saw the launch of Hopping Chef – India’s first dine-in luxury concept where celebrity chefs come to your home to whip up their masterpieces It’s been a long journey, these twelve years, but I find myself hungrier than ever. Hungry to do more, grow more, be more. With no formal education in hospitality to lean on, I took the biggest (and best) risk of my life by diving into this crazy field. I went from partying till 4am to spending my nights learning and researching. Only when we accept that we’ve always, always got a long way to go (no matter how cool we think we are), can we really shoot for the stars and come out shining!
So join me on a journey through the interesting and quirky, the new and unique, the innovative and revolutionary. Feel free to leave your thoughts, next post suggestions and questions below! See you next week.
