The RA RA Riot

We realise we are going to have to breach the Sunday midday questionnaire template because Rahul Akerkar and Riyaaz Amlani share their initials But the similarity ends there One is a purist the other a selfanointed rebel Amlani is the glib conversationalist Akerkar is always rationing his wordsBut when they come together on a Tuesday afternoon to share a table with us at Akerkars Lower Parel finedine Qualia its because they have quietly admired each others workIn 1999 Akerkar launched Indigo the citys first standalone European fine dining restaurant And with this Colaba establishment he launched himself to nationwide fame Two years later Amlani gave Mumbai its first indigenous cafeacute Mocha opened in Churchgate and changed the way we killed timeA lot has changed since then Mocha has moved out of the metros to make a place in tier 2 towns and Indigo has turned into a deli chain and changed partnership Amlani now helms Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality which has under it the successful chain of Socials Akerkar has made a comeback after four years with a dazzling 100seater restaurant in Lower ParelWhat hasnt changed is their rigour and passion to be relevantEdited excerpts from the interviewIndigo and Cafeacute Mocha launched around the turn of the last millennium What was the hospitality scene like and how much did you know of each other Riyaaz Almani We would speak of Rahuls Under The Over Kemps Corner restaurant and Indigo in hushed tones Being an outlier I did not know whether I belonged to a place like that I did not have FampB training I was the flippant guy from the entertainment space whose experience was gocarting and bowling A European restaurant of that calibre Indigo at Colaba was a major upgrade But to answer your question I think it was at Indigo that we met for the first timeRahul Akerkar Although there were plenty of standalone restaurants none were in the grade one category when it came to European food I think we brought a genuine approach to the food I dont like to use the word authentic because it doesnt mean anything We were true to flavour substance and contentHaving said that my culinary journey started before that when I was catering for consulates and industrialists out of my Altamount Road home I remember the time the French Consul General requested me to create something different for a dignitary from Delhi he was hosting He said he hadnt eaten rabbit in a long time I checked with my supplier who said Haan khargosh milega bilkul mileha The meal happened and everybody loved it So I thought to myself if Im able to get rabbit I should start offering it to people I asked him where he sourced it from He said Crawford Market ke pet shop se That was it It was the last time I served rabbitHave you been inspired by each otherRiyaaz I shamelessly copied his style of the menu and its staccato format I remember restaurant menus at the time were characterised by flowery language theyd say delicately laced and gently simmered But his menu listed the top two ingredients followed by other elements in commas or pluses I have retained that styleThe perfection was not limited to food alone It was down to the shade of colour on the walls ensuring perfectly balanced tables and impeccably dressed staff who had knowledge about food so that nothing was lost in translation between the table and the kitchen During breaks they would practice carrying trays At that time it seemed unnecessary to do superfluous evenIt all stemmed from this obsessiveRahul compulsive behaviour laughs What has made Riyaaz so relevant is that he did not come into the industry with preconceived ideas He looked at the FampB operations from a utilitarian point of view and has managed to corner that segment really well The relevance of his projects is unquestionable Im 60 and I only know how to lure people my age Would I like to attract millennials Of course But I dont knowhow Its something I can learn from RiyaazRiyaaz I learnt what Gen X wants by spending time with my brother who is 12 years younger I was like an old uncle tagging along with him When I was in the bowling business I noticed that people would come to the alley but not bowl They just wanted a place to hang out Starbucks had taken off in a big way in the US We were very clear that we wanted to have a place like that where people could chillRahul For me on the other hand it was always about foodRiyaaz And thats where we differRahul I was driven by the basic philosophy of doing things correctly I had worked for 10 years in America and what I learnt was that people fundamentally go to restaurants to eat But Im finally coming around to Riyaazs way of thinkingYou hail from families with multiethnic roots Did that influence what you doRahul My mothers family were German Jews who fled the war and went to the US And dad is Maharashtrian So we had both cuisines on the table at home Which is why Im so comfortable doing western foodRiyaaz I remember how youd list the Indian ingredient in quotation marks on the menuRahul I used my grandmothers recipe of Kairi raw mango curry as a fish sauce I have also used rasam and sol kadi in European dishes But I was very careful about what worked and what didntRiyaaz My Parsi mother is a fantastic cook Our standard meal used to be rice mori dal lagan nu achar and prawn patio On Eid his father is Khoja Muslim she would make sevaiyan and biryani I grew up with very little exposure to western cooking I think the first time I might have eaten a burger and fries would have been when I went to the McDonalds in Singapore as an adultThe ease of doing business Is it better nowRiyaaz It wasnt this complicated With every subsequent development or tragedy things have just become onerous and unnecessary A restaurateur invests anywhere between three to four crores in a venture and in some cases more Often this could be your lifes saving or a loan borrowed from friends and family because nobody else will lend to a restaurateur Nobody would want to jeopardise or cut corners so its sad that they make it so difficult for us Getting a license takes nothing less than 10 monthsRahul The frustrating part is that those who are responsible for evaluating your compliances just dont get it They are untrained and sometimes its enough to break your spiritHave you ever felt a sense of defeatRiyaaz All the time I think thats one of the reasons why I gravitated towards the restaurant body he was president of the National Restaurant Association of India because I felt wronged at so many different levels We saw that sops were being dished out to 5stars when they didnt need it They had the import duty concession and the chance to be open 24 hours with no dry days and run their bars for longer While restaurants which were contributing far more in terms of revenue employment and volume were sufferingDoes every restaurant have a lifecycleRahul Theres only one way to look at this ask is the restaurant is making money Thats something I learnt a while ago It was a question to ask whether you wanted to be a creative chef or restaurateur The two dont necessarily go hand in hand Im not saying they shouldnt but what happens is that chefs tend to lose sight of the fact that their product has to sell too You might have the conceited notion that youre creating something extraordinary but if its far removed from market acceptance then youre not achieving anythingWe did phenomenal business in the first 12 years at Indigo We didnt foresee a downturn During the 2009 recession we were averaging seven lakh a day in turnover At the end of the day restaurants are businesses too When you stop making money is when you need to rethinkRiyaaz There was not a single misstep when Indigo was under your stewardship I must say that the dynamics changed after 2611 terror attacks It took a bite out of the vibrancy of SoBo Suddenly everything had changed The embassies moved BKC and Lower Parel became new hubs and town began to lose its sheen There wasnt anything you could have doneWhat happened to my fine dining restaurant Salt Water Cafe in Churchgate was that it was beset with legal issues I feel sad about its shuttering but I feel sadder for the city We deserved to have a restaurant by the oceanI shut down Smoke House Grill in Delhi for a different reason People came to us because we were the new it people not because they cared about food At the end of it they would go to Connaught Place and eat butter chicken I dont remember ever selling a single bottle of Sassicaia at the Mumbai outlets but Delhi would see champagne pop at the drop of a hat But as soon as a new place opened the loyalty shifted Its a fickle audienceRahul During the decline of Indigo people would tell me how they hoped that I could bring it back to its former glory It felt like home they said But when something feels like home you tend to want to go outside to partyRiyaaz I shut down Mocha in Mumbai not because we werent making money The product did not justify the real estate rent But Mocha is alive and well in smaller towns We have 24 outletsColaba Social opened its doors to CAA protestors last week at the Gateway of India Can a restaurateur have a political stanceRiyaaz There was nothing special about what we did No restaurant will refuse people from using its facilities When we heard that people needed a place we just let them know they could come by and refresh themselves at your friendly neighbourhood SOCIAL Thatrsquos hardly activism Politically itrsquos nice to know that in our country democracy is still vibrant and the energy and love coming from the peaceful protests at Gateway of India are infectiousRahul The protests Its a wakeup call for the establishment They must know that we are citizens with a voice and if we are pushed beyond a point well revoltIn ShortRiyaaz Mumbai in one wordCity that never sleeps Thats more than one wordWhat do you like most about your jobI get to indulge myselfOne thing youd change about your pastI wouldnt open Smoke House Room in DelhiFirst food memoryEating bread and masoor dalA guilty pleasurePlayStation 4 I spend way too much time on itRahulDescribe Mumbai in one wordKhichdiWhat do you like most about your jobFeeding peopleThe biggest misconception surrounding chefsThat its glamorous to be oneFirst food memoryAjjis modaksA guilty pleasureI overeat Christ I can binge on anythingCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates