In an interaction with FoodService India, Sarvar Malhotra, Managing Partner of The Embassy, shares his thoughts on the 69-year-old legacy of food and service at one of the oldest restaurants in Delhi, and how the changing trends demand innovation in terms of cuisines, concept and technology.
What is your restaurant’s format and how many restaurants are you operating currently under this brand?
We have two formats – one is fine dine and the other one is express model. Besides that, we are coming up with cafés soon. Currently, we are operating two properties under The Embassy – one property is in Connaught Place and we have recently launched ‘The Embassy Mini’ in Janakpuri.
What is your market positioning, your USP and customer value proposition?
We have a legacy of over six decades and we are one of the oldest restaurants in the city. With the changing times, trends have also changed and so have the tastes of people. Earlier, it was simple and the restaurateurs used to stick to the basics. Restaurateurs these days are coming up with innovative techniques and fusion dishes/ cuisines by keeping the Indian preferences in mind. Some of the cuisines like Mexican, Thai, and Spanish are slowly finding their way to the basic Indian palate. We have been serving great food with great passion for over 60 years.
Today, diners are looking for out-of-the box concepts and something that breaks the daily monotony of home dining. Tell us about all that makes your outlets great– in terms of F&B innovations, cuisines, restaurant layout and design, etc.
Today diners are not getting the food they desire as every new F&B outlet is concentrating on alcohol. We, on the other hand, concentrate on great food. Since we always have loyal patrons dining with us every day, I would like to introduce more and more updated operating systems and controls to effectively manage the operations and make it all automated. This will not only help us to score the favourite recipes of our regular customers but will act as a powerful tool to bond with them at a personal level.
Which are those cutting edge concepts and innovations and bold experiments that you feel are truly unique to your establishment?
We like to maintain our 68-year-old legacy and that’s the USP. It is tougher to keep consistency than jumping on to new innovations. With the changing times, the trends have changed and so have the tastes of the people. Earlier, it was simple and the restaurateurs used to stick to the basics. Nowadays, restaurateurs are experimenting with different concepts and cuisines to stay abreast with the changing consumer preferences.
How are you leveraging technology to streamline and expand your infrastructure bandwidth?
We are tying up with more and more portals and with the start-up boom, there are many advantages that are helping us widen our reach. For example, we don’t need to have our own delivery boys or bikes any more. This aspect is being taken care of by a hired company, which is perfect for our home delivery service.
