High on bar Be Cues
Moti Mahal is an eatery, a pearl among connoisseurs of true blue north western frontier province cuisine, it prides itself as the inventor of the tandoori chicken.
By Monica Behura, ET Bureau |
Delhi's Daryaganj stands where once the darya or the river Yamuna, the lifeline of the city, flowed. A bustling commercial district with a zillion transactions or more a day, is also breathing life to Moti Mahal. Unlike the Internet-chosen First Wonder, Moti Mahal is an eatery, literally meaning the pearl palace. A pearl among connoisseurs of true blue north western frontier province cuisine, it prides itself as the inventor of the tandoori chicken. The dish may be a butt of jokes as the state bird of Punjab, but it is here where the chick got chic. Today, Moti Mahal's butter and tandoori chicken are as much a rage in London as in Delhi. Set up in 1920 by Kundan Lal Gujral, the legacy of the hash-brown barbecue poultry lives on through his grandson Monish Gujral, who is taking forward the brand in its all-new franchise avatar and customising it with geographical precision.
After graduating in hotel management from Delhi's Pusa Institute, Monish Gujral took charge as managing director of the modern-day Moti Mahal Deluxe. "We first got our human resources ready by getting chartered accountants, lawyers, marketing and IT professionals on board and training them to draw up a formula to make our way through the franchisee model," says Gujral.
Getting the right franchisee who lived up to the standards of the original Moti Mahal was also a challenge, especially when it came to taste. "We guide our chefs in order to maintain the same tastes of our traditional cuisine���tandoori tikka, biryani, kebabs, in all our stores," points out Gujral. That perhaps explains why he plans to open a chef training institute in the cities the Moti Mahal brand is present and rope in talent. "Chef training is an extensive process. We never outsource our chefs but train them in our kitchen from the helper stage to get to the head-chef position," adds Gujral. He developed a unique franchisee concept that ensures steady supply of master chefs to all his franchisee units.
In 2001, the first franchisee store was opened at the MGF Metropolitan Mall in Gurgaon. That's, of course, a far cry from today when he inaugurates two restaurants a month. Moti Mahal Deluxe has a total of 75 signed-up restaurants, of which 52 are operational in the metros and in cities like Lucknow, Pune, Mussoorie, Dalhousie, and Guwahati. Besides, it is present internationally as a master franchisee in the UK, UAE, Australia and New Zealand. "We have leased out property in the US and European countries and are also looking for the right type of franchisees to expand to 100 operational stores by the year-end and 200 by 2010 worldwide," says Gujral.
The new entrepreneur is keen on customising palates on a regional basis too. "We want to set up outlets with the least amount of capital expenditure and provide extensive menus as per local tastes. So we customise our menus as per the cities we are in, like in Mumbai, we have mainly coastal dishes and in Jodhpur, we serve only vegetarian food," elaborates Gujral.
After graduating in hotel management from Delhi's Pusa Institute, Monish Gujral took charge as managing director of the modern-day Moti Mahal Deluxe. "We first got our human resources ready by getting chartered accountants, lawyers, marketing and IT professionals on board and training them to draw up a formula to make our way through the franchisee model," says Gujral.
Getting the right franchisee who lived up to the standards of the original Moti Mahal was also a challenge, especially when it came to taste. "We guide our chefs in order to maintain the same tastes of our traditional cuisine���tandoori tikka, biryani, kebabs, in all our stores," points out Gujral. That perhaps explains why he plans to open a chef training institute in the cities the Moti Mahal brand is present and rope in talent. "Chef training is an extensive process. We never outsource our chefs but train them in our kitchen from the helper stage to get to the head-chef position," adds Gujral. He developed a unique franchisee concept that ensures steady supply of master chefs to all his franchisee units.
In 2001, the first franchisee store was opened at the MGF Metropolitan Mall in Gurgaon. That's, of course, a far cry from today when he inaugurates two restaurants a month. Moti Mahal Deluxe has a total of 75 signed-up restaurants, of which 52 are operational in the metros and in cities like Lucknow, Pune, Mussoorie, Dalhousie, and Guwahati. Besides, it is present internationally as a master franchisee in the UK, UAE, Australia and New Zealand. "We have leased out property in the US and European countries and are also looking for the right type of franchisees to expand to 100 operational stores by the year-end and 200 by 2010 worldwide," says Gujral.
The new entrepreneur is keen on customising palates on a regional basis too. "We want to set up outlets with the least amount of capital expenditure and provide extensive menus as per local tastes. So we customise our menus as per the cities we are in, like in Mumbai, we have mainly coastal dishes and in Jodhpur, we serve only vegetarian food," elaborates Gujral.
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The restaurant chain today has expanded in several verticals through the master franchisee route-kiosks known as the Kebab Trail where one can have unlimited food at a fixed price; DNY Bread Bar, which serves American breads; and its fine dining and restro-bar that goes by the Moti Mahal Tandoori Trail brand. Revenues are up to Rs 25 crore from a just Rs 5 crore last fiscal, and Gujral says he's aiming for Rs 35 crore this year: "We want to be a major food player in all verticals in fine dining, including fast-food concepts in malls, processed food and branded secret spice formulations made available in grocery stores and hypermarts. For processed food and spices, the company is looking at contract manufacturing under its current brand. It also plans to increase the number of revenue streams from mere outlet sales to other modes as well. Says Gujral, "Over the years, the taste of our recipes has never changed, the spices and the ethnicity have remained and that has got customers back to our restaurants." That said, Daryaganj still maintains a steady flow of entrepreneurs giving birth to new money from the yore.Start a SIP with as low as ₹500 with ET Money App!
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