Mumbai's food entrepreneurs reveal their business mantras in hospitality

They dared to think big when they started out young on a rollercoaster ride of a career in hospitality Today these five restaurateurs and food innovators are proud that they never hesitated to take that leap of faith when it mattered the most Five young Turks reveal how they broke new ground and fought the odds in a volatile highpressure landscape1 Mantra noDo it with passion hard work and dedicationAvik Chatterjee head of innovations Speciality HospitalityMy mantra to success is PHD and by PHD I dont mean a doctorate in any specific field There is one thing my dad taught me and that is to have passion for what you are doing do it with hard work and always be disciplined hence PHD Another motto that I follow with my employees and also share with them are the 4 Es Energy Energise others Edge Execution of leadership by Jack Welch Once while travelling to Dubai I overheard a couple of ladies at a bar in heels complain about teetering back home in them So I thought why not keep flat slippers at POH for the ladies who enjoy their drinks It helps convey the message that we care2 Mantra noThink longMunaf Kapadia chief eating officer The Bohri KitchenThe only life lesson that helped The Bohri kitchen to achieve success although I wouldnt call it so is something that happened three years ago In 2015 I left my dream job with Google to become a samosa salesman The only thing that made me take the decision was some very critical advice at the right time from senior people at the company people I looked up to They told me Munaf we understand that youre young and the idea of quitting a company like this seems radical and almost impossible But its important that you dont look at it through a shortterm lens Think where it will take you in 10 years Thats when youll realise that even if you quit Google today and The Bohri Kitchen turns out be a dud where you fail you can get back into the corporate race Youll get a job again But if it works you have something to fall back on in the long term This advice played a critical role for me and its a success mantra I happily share3 Mantra noTrust your instinctsKaryna Bajaj executive director KA HospitalityThe FampB industry is so dynamic and everchanging that you learn something new every day Being young in the industry with so many great brands emerging I am exposed to new challenges and learn to overcome them with the support of my team Building my two restaurants Nara and CinCin from scratch within the last six months has been a difficult yet rewarding experience It has also given me the most learnings and continues to do so every day Trying to bring your vision to life involves different aspects and starts with your team members believing in the ethos of the brand and everything that it stands for Our guests appreciate innovative and original experiences which are well complemented with seamless service Success and failure are a part of every new journey but as a young brand we constantly try and innovate and better ourselves My big learning has beento trust my instinct and follow my intuition4 Mantra noTake calculative risksBhakti Mehta chef and cofounder The Little Food CoYou can start small and that mainly means with no money I started Little Food Co with the idea of wanting to work with food and not how it will make me money I did two jobs for almost a year working all week and I made my dream into a reality while calculating the risks alongside When I started it was on my own terms and I stayed on course I made plans put out the product the best way we knew and learnt to get better in our time I kept regretting not going to culinary school or taking an investment early on But neither did I have the means to do this nor the confidence Instead I embraced my limitations learnt on the job and told myself it was okay to do this my way I worked from my mothers home kitchen with just one helper was thrown out from two other kitchen apartments and today I have a commercial kitchen with a team of 30 and three brands It has been an incredible journey over the last eight years5 Mantra noFocus on the customer create a legacySandeep Sreedharan founder Esca Brahma gourmet company and Curry TalesThere is a lot of bias in this industry whether it comes to food process or the science behind the food Dont be a part of this bias question everything and follow your gut instinct Secondly find a goal in my case it was to focus on western coastal cuisine and popularise it because that offers you clarity and clarity gives your business direction Also spend some time educating your customer Else you will be dictated by their terms and produce what they dictate Lastly work at creating a legacy not chasing fame This will mean that you will be vulnerable to failure but remember that success is a process not an event I wish that members of Indias various communities work at bringing simple homestyle cooking into the larger mainstreamCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current 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