Speak Greasy with Gauri Devidayal & Panchali Mahendra | Ep 5.4 | A Cross-Border Perspective on Restaurants

Speak Greasy with Gauri Devidayal

In this episode, restaurateur Panchali Mahendra discusses her 23-year career trajectory from luxury hotel training in India to leading Atelier House

Key takeaways

• Pancherm Mahendra operates under the mantra 'dirty hands make clean money,' emphasizing a hands-on approach to leadership.
• Her foundational training with the Taj and Oberoi groups provided the technical rigor required for international expansion.

Main topics

• International restaurant expansion
• Consumer trends in F&B

Notable quotes

Dirty hands make clean money.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a masterclass in hospitality entrepreneurship, i

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:09) Hello and welcome back to another episode of Speak Greasy in association with the Australian Macadamia Society, a 50-year-old institution that leads growth, innovation and sustainability for over 85 % of Australia's macadamia farmers. My guest today is dear friend and restauranteur Panchali Mahendra, who has been in the restaurant industry for 23 years and has worked over 70 restaurants across various regions. She established Atelier House Hospitality in 2017 as CEO of The Grove. Welcome to Speak Crazy. Thank you. I'm so happy you're finally Speaker 2 (0:49) able Speaker 1 (0:50) to do this. I know. We've been talking about it for a while. So I'm so glad you're here finally. Speaker 1 (0:56) Let's start with your absolutely fantastic journey of working with the Oberoi and now ending up as CEO of one of the biggest restaurant groups in the UAE. How did this happen? Speaker 2 (1:10) You know, somebody once told me this line and it's always stuck with me and it could be a little bit controversial. It was like dirty hands make clean money. So I think the whole journey kind of revolves around it that I had to get my hands dirty, do the job, learn the job. get going from the age of 17 to study the business, to study hospitality. And then I think this journey so far has been very, very rewarding. But also, I think it has been a lot of hard work to put in there. I Speaker 1 (1:37) mean, you really started with the best, which is the Oberoi group. Speaker 2 (1:40) It was the Taj group. I was Aichin Morangabad with Taj group of hotels, graduation and Masters with OCLD. Speaker 1 (1:46) Oh my God. So you've literally like done the creme de la creme of the country. And no wonder that explains a lot of it. How did that sort of prepare you for what you've gone on to do? Because you moved to Dubai at the ripe old age of 32 to lead a hospitality company. I mean, that is no mean feat. So how did sort of the first 10 years or so of your experience in India get you ready for that? Speaker 2 (2:14) I mean, I moved to Dubai a little earlier than that. I was still working before opening a teller house. We worked for some companies. open Zuma, La Petite Maison and we did a lot of other QSR and casual dining. But I think India had built up that base. It taught quality and quantity through working with Taj and Oberoi. You know, when we were like, she's the Taj and with Oberoi, that eye for detail that always mattered. So these were fine tuning that was happening without realizing when my education and my on-the-job trainings were going on. And I think working in... India in opening brands like La Pen Côte d'Ivoire back in the days to bring international brands to understand that quality was opening doors to an international medium. So I think that was fun. And then, of course, When I went to Dubai, Dubai had just started booming in the F &B industry and it was a great market to start having all these international brands coming in. Zumark had come in, LPM was there, all the top chefs from around the world, Marco Pierwaj, they were all entering. So it was a big eye-opener. It's like, wow, this world exists. India was a fine-tuning process, I would say. It was opening up the doors for me. My technical knowledge was very, very strong. The Speaker 1 (3:24) rigor. Speaker 2 (3:24) Yeah, correct. And then, of course, when I went there and the fact that I'd studied in these, you know, with these companies and worked with some brands, opened the doors for me in Dubai for people to be like, oh, she's got a solid CV. Let's give her a chance. Visa versus a lot of people would be like, a lot of Indians don't get that opportunity to work with big brands immediately in Dubai. But that... that India helped me with its provisions. Speaker 1 (3:49) You know, I want to sort of just pause before we talk about your work in Dubai. This idea of the rigor of what your sort of, you know, the various companies you've worked with in India did for you, right? How it positively impacted you. I know that today sometimes we do struggle with students coming out of hospitality school and that that sort of, I don't want to say humility, but that the mindset of really rolling up your sleeves, getting your hands dirty, going back to basics if necessary, and really learning the ropes on every aspect of the industry is so important, right? If you want to go anywhere, you want to lead eventually. How did you approach it? What did you actually do at... you know, the first few years while you were at Taj or at the Oberoi that really set you up and how do you kind of mentor the people joining the company today from hospitality schools? Speaker 2 (5:00) I think with generations, I mean like two decades while we graduated, you know, I graduated and we did things a bit more differently back then because I think technology A has involved made life easier, I would say. And the other point would be accessibility. Now for me to graduate and to look for on-the-job training back then and do internships and to even apply to a Michelin star restaurants or to the world's 50 best or do a stage was like a huge step. So out of 100 people probably two would get that opportunity to do that right and that would be a huge celebration for them like oh my god you have a big opportunity to be able to go and do a stage here which is vis-a-vis very very easy and the accessibility factors have changed over the period of time. Now there are there's they can While they're studying, they have the access to work in any big restaurants very, very easily. What has also happened is we had to do a lot of things manually back then. Speaker 1 (5:53) And now Speaker 2 (5:54) things have become a lot more automated. So I think that's kind of losing the personal touch that I feel that the kids who are passing out from the graduations, kids who are passing out and are working directly are losing that personal touch that we all had to do a lot of things manually and be there. and literally get your hands dirty for that. So I think that technology has taken away. And what that makes it happen is there is the loss of touch makes it more accessible. And there's nothing wrong in it. But then things are easier right now. And then things are taken for granted when it's easier. So that's what happens, that you want to succeed faster. You want everything done faster. You want everything on a fast pace, which was a little bit slower for us back in the day. So, one job that needed five hours to do it, but you did it with so much passion because you had to get it right, can be done in like five minutes. So, then you've quantified versus, you know, quality versus quantity. That's what is happening right now. Yeah, I think that's fair. It's Speaker 1 (6:55) a fast Speaker 2 (6:55) -paced success model these days versus 20 years back that we had to, it took us time to reach. It took us 23 years to... be here versus now somebody in three years today the graduates are like that's it we've graduated and I want to be in the top immediately so patience is yeah it'll be Speaker 1 (7:16) interesting to see Speaker 2 (7:17) how Speaker 1 (7:17) sort of that leadership model changes with the new cohort so you moved to Dubai how different was it for you compared to working in India Speaker 2 (7:32) I mean, initially I was just very, very intimidated because I'd never... really worked with international brands and you know, it's it's I'll give you a very simple example so when I went from my home to the hotel school and then my eyes kind of opened up to a Worcestershire sauce Worcestershire sauce or a Lee and parents and you know, I was like Where were all these sauces when I was you know with my mom's kitchen I said I can cook for you because you don't have access to all of this So it's the same way in a more magnified way that I would feel when I went from India to Dubai because like I said Dubai was booming so my eyes and my horizons widened up by looking at the brands, the ingredients, the resourcing, the international products that were available in Dubai because it was a big imported market. So everything was available from all across the world and I was just getting more and more excited. So I think Dubai was just like wow you know this I knew about these 10 mushrooms but I never got to touch and feel them and now I can see them and eat them and explore them. So I think It was my little adventurous exploration of the industry. Speaker 1 (8:35) You have four restaurants in Dubai, two in India. And by the way, congratulations on one year of Sobo20. Yay, Speaker 2 (8:42) thank you. That Speaker 1 (8:42) is fantastic. So you have Inja and Sobo20 in India. You have Leavenwood Fire, Tez Kuri. We have Mahola, the Indian one. Speaker 2 (8:54) And then there's a French one that we've done. Our recipient, of course, we opened Garbu. for Her Highness, which was an Emirati restaurant, but yes. Speaker 1 (9:02) Right. So, you really, you know, it's not just about Dubai and India. It's Dubai, Delhi, Bombay. As far as I understand, they're three completely different markets, right? How have you been able to straddle these sort of different geographies? Speaker 2 (9:22) Well, I mean, I just feel like sometimes it is a Bermuda Triangle and I get lost in it. I've tackled all the three markets in a way that I have understood it. So I had spent a long time in Delhi, I'd spent some time in Bombay, but of course these markets had evolved. And Dubai, I've been there for last 15 years. But from far and from near, I've kept studying the consumer trends, the changes, what it's required, spent some time being here. But right now, how I manage it is giving equal time. I have to be. I'd love to stay put in one place. if I could, but I can't. So I try and justify as much time that is required. But to answer your question, I have a great support team. I built that ecosystem. It took time in all the three cities. So we have satellite offices that manages from the managerial perspective. And I'll keep leading into this is like I do invest a lot, not just financially, but I think emotionally with my presence, mentoring people in a great support team and my colleagues. So that is very important for the business to Speaker 1 (10:24) sustain. Let's talk about the consumer in these three markets. Speaker 2 (10:29) How Speaker 1 (10:29) different are they? Very, very. I Speaker 2 (10:32) mean, I Speaker 1 (10:33) love to use some words, Speaker 2 (10:34) but I might get written off for that. I think, see, I think Dubai now is a very, very experienced market because the expat ratio versus the tourists that come in. And it's a very well-traveled market, we always say. Again, with expats. everybody brings in so much experience, their own, you know, taste buds from different countries. So you have to like keep that in mind. And then food becomes really subjective in a whole different platform because, you know, the same pasta can taste different to an Indian, to an Italian, to a Mexican, to an American. So it's just, how do you find that common ground? So it is, it is tough. And also it's a very well, like I said, travel market people are actually in the city, have, they go on vacations, they've come back, they experience in food because Dubai, F &B scene is very large. It is all about the tourism. So, you know, the food is a very central part. So people come to even dine there. So I think it's a lot more evolved and it keeps evolving in that perspective of international palate. Delhi, I think, has a certain norm of an understanding of what they like. So I think for them, Indian food is at their core. And I've seen that and there's nothing wrong in it. But I think. Speaker 2 (11:51) experimentally, there's a difference that I find between Delhi and Bombay. I think Bombay is a lot more experimental because also I feel like Bombay is like an expat to the country because you know Bombay has people from all over India that primarily... Speaker 1 (12:04) And Speaker 2 (12:04) it's a financial hub. It's a financial hub. We have a lot of people from internationally coming here, well-traveled people. Delhi also has it but I think Delhi still... would give their priority to Indian food and then of course rest of the cuisine kind of comes in and once they like it they take time accepting it there's a time frame but I think with Bombay what I felt was when I was opening Inja in Delhi I felt very scared and rightly and it proved me you Speaker 1 (12:31) took a huge punt I have to say this to you you went from like like 0 to 100 in you know no time in terms of the concept which is Indo-Japanese, a very modern take on you know both cuisines, huge risk given what you just explained about the Delhi Kampung bar. What was going through your mind? Speaker 2 (12:55) I'll come to that but let's see that I was freaking out when I was opening in Delhi but I wouldn't have freaked out if it was in Bombay and I probably should have done it here but then you know it had its own destiny but we found a good location in Delhi. So we went for there, but everybody told me why. And that explains the concept, right? Every person asked us, why would you not do Inja? Why would you have not done Inja in Bombay first? Because it would have been accepted faster. The growth would have been faster. Probably even financially, it would have made sense because we did take a hit in Delhi after a few months. But I think... I always felt that Delhi needed something to get a kickstarter. Shake it up. Yeah, shake it up. It's the capital of our country. And a lot of times, you feel bad that people say that, oh, Bangalore or Bombay and then Bangalore. These have now become the capital food hubs, food index hubs for the country. And what is happening to the capital? I thought the rents are cheaper there. You get larger spaces compared to the location-wise in Bombay. And I thought India needed that little bit of extra space because it was my first restaurant. And also, I had forgotten what Delhi was 15 years back. So when I had come back to it, I thought it wouldn't be that difficult, to be honest with you. I knew we'd be taking a huge, huge risk and a chance. But I said, you know, let's go for it. And there is a little bit of Indian in India. People