We believe in healthiness of food and maintain highest standard
We believe in healthiness of food and maintain highest standard

In an interaction with Franchise India, Ishan Khanna talks about his business plan for the restaurant, his marketing strategies and decision on a location.

What made you open a restaurant? What was the concept and business plan behind?

From the beginning I had an interest in hospitality and F&B industry.I did my masters from New Zealand to understand more focused areas of work within the industry. Before opening a restaurant, we did a reasearch on the growing sector and the available options within the market area.We were pretty clear to enter with a niche and specialise in our offerings to the target audience. After going through all pros and cons, we finally started with the restaurant, Haute Saute that serves the best of Italian authentic food.

Where did you get the investment from? Did you take a loan or was it your own investment?

We started with our personal investment.We look towards opening more café’s which will certainly require a loan going forward.

How did you decide on a location?

Greater Kailash market is one of the most prominent markets in South Delhi that caters to our need in order to reach our target audience. The stylish and trendy Delhities frequent the market to shop at world-class brand stores, local vendors and prefer to eat at good restaurants. So we launched our restaurant to provide a one stop dine-in and party lounge for the visitors.

What all things were considered while designing your restaurant?

According to us, every restaurant has a design of its own that provides a sense of belongingness to the customers.We have tried to capture the same. Most of our interiors are based on the passion for food and culinary that makes the presentation look beautiful.

What is the concept behind organising the food festival? Who all are your target customers?

The concept behind World Chicken Festival was to promote the taste of various chicken delicacies cooked with special flavours that reflect the dishes origin. The chicken lovers need not travel around those places, when they can get the best of chicken delicacies from across the globe from us.

Our target customers are obviously chicken lovers and people who have the taste for world cuisine.

What is the hiring policy at your restaurant?

Most of our employees are hired through references. I think this is the best way of hiring because then you get a common understanding of the work culture as well as the place. It works for the employee and us as well.

What do you do to maintain the healthiness of food? Do you use the normal vegetable oil or olive oil in your restaurant as is the new trend in the industry?

We are very particular with the healthiness of food and maintain the highest standard in food safety. We use both the oils-vegetable oil and olive oil. Olive oil has a reputation for being the ‘healthy oil’ since it is rich in monounsaturated fats and some antioxidants. Good olive oils also have a pleasant flavour and aroma that compliment many dishes. We use olive oil when we want its flavour in a dish or want moderate-heat cooking. We opt for vegetable oil when we want a cleaner flavour and a high-heat cooking.

What is your marketing strategy? Is technology been a boon or a bane for your restaurant growth?

We believe in complete marketing solutions and strategies. We believe in providing the correct information about our food and restaurant to the customers rather than pushing for fake content just to gain publicity.

Social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, and websites like Zomato, helped a lot in promoting our restaurant business to a larger extent. So, technology has been a boon for our restaurant. As the generation is becoming techy, it is very easy to hold their nerves through these networking sites.

What is the supply chain management process at your restaurant?

We take care of supply chain management ourselves. We do have people-the middlemen-who get the stuff, get us deals on beverages and materials for food. But we responsibly supervise every single work of the restaurant.

Your career started as a guest service operator at Hyatt and then you entered the entrepreneur market. Tell us about your journey in hospitality industry.

I decided to start my career as a guest service operator to gain more knowledge and understanding of the processes of this industry. Working at the hotel side gives you a very clear view of what the customer expects from you and what the hotel/restaurant can offer to meet the best needs of the customer. After having enough information in hand, I decided to open my own restaurant. Though my plan to become an entrepreneur was forever on the list, but gaining firsthand knowledge helped me do it more smoothly. The journey in this industry has just started and there is a long way to go.

 

 
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