Sumessh Menon
Sumessh Menon is an interior designer who specialises in high-end and bespoke restaurants. In Mumbai, he has helmed Foo, KOKO, Mustard, Mizu, Talli Turmeric, Keiba and 145

Kishore and I are Bandra boys, and, if my memory serves me right, we first met at a party 22 years ago. At the time, I used to host frequent parties at home and all the catering orders would go to him. I was not where I am today. My growth has come only in the last 12 years. He, on the other hand, was already an established name in hospitality, with successful restaurants like Lemon Grass and Pot Pourri in Bandra [to his credit]. So, he had the bandwidth and resources to handle a huge catering order, even if it was last minute, by sending a chef and bartender over. I would be assured that there wouldn't be a mess the next morning. When my mother would step into the living room, she'd have no inkling of what had transpired the previous night.

We have never needed an occasion or reason to meet. There are times when we have simply sat in the car, talked and downed a drink. Earlier, we'd meet every other day. Now, it's once a week because of both of us travel a lot. When we meet, we discuss everything, except work. We talk about the new restaurant launches, and analyse why some of them failed. Failure is a big concern these days, because it's only getting tougher [to keep eateries running]. Everybody wants to create a legendary bar, but legendary bars don't happen overnight. Out of 10 establishments that open, eight shut down.