Right from the chef’s kingdom

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The food and hospitality business is booming like never before and many who open with a hope to wet their beaks in the burgeoning market disappear soon after due to poor performance and bad managerial skills. But the trend of chefs from top notch restaurants setting up their own signature restaurant or tying up with entrepreneurs to contribute to the making of a good restaurant is catching up.

The Qureshi Brothers who opened a venture in NCR recently; Chef Mike Li Wei, who after working at The Holiday Inn and Empress of China, now runs Hao Shi Nian alongwith Chef Mike, Jagjit Singh and hotelier Pankaj Kodesia in Gurgaon, and celebrity chef and restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, who runs Diva; are examples of the steadily growing number of chef-cum-entrepreneurs.
But in a business where success is highly unpredictable, what tilts the balance in the favour of chef-owned-eateries?
Chef Wei thinks that an idea of the constituents that form a perfect combination of food and hospitality is what gives professional chefs a headstart. “Like ingredients combine in the perfect proportions to become one great dish, a chef’s passion and love for food, a lot of economic sense and the realisation of his true strengths and weakness combine to make him a successful entrepreneur,” says Wei.
Considered an epitome of culinary and managerial skills, Ritu Dalmia of Diva, avers, “I think the most important thing is to find a balance, between quality and viability. The chef in me makes sure that the quality is always top class, and the businesswoman in me makes sure that at the end of the day the figures are in black and not red. But if truth be told I am a far better chef than an entrepreneur.”
But while one can stay rest assured about the gastronomic experience at chef-owned eateries, business angle and marketing strategies (equally important for the success of any eatery) can take a beating, thinks Shailesh Jha, restaurant manager of Olive Beach, and adds, “The reputation of the chef may bring in business but not everyone is adept at everything, so the business angle may suffer.”
Just a keen sense of the right amount of salt or garnish isn’t enough, and creativity, although an important recipient in the mix is over-rated at times.
“A chef is blessed with creativity in the kitchen, but an entrepreneur takes this creativity to the outside world, when you have your goals clear, the creativity and the driving force work together to take you further,” Chef Wei sums up.