Varun Puri to launch two new restaurant concepts, open 100 Imly outlets in 5 years

Food connoisseur Varun Puri, known for introducing innovative concepts while churning out deliciously creative dishes to his discerning customers, is all set two introduce two new restaurant concepts – Too Indian and Naashta.
Explaining the concept of these restaurants, Varun Puri told Indiaretailing’s Charu Lamba in an exclusive interview, “Too Indian has a beautiful concept. In a for the first time any restaurant, this will feature a modern day shopping area. The restaurant will work not just only as a kitchen and a bar, but also as a retail shop. The walls will showcase more than 500 products including organic quinoa, savouries, organic matthis, pickles, jams, marmalades and spices – to name just a few – which customers can buy when they come in to dine. It will be a complete family destination where diners will be able to eat and shop simultaneously.”
“Naashta on the other hand will be an extension of Imly, serving non-vegetarian and vegetarian street food along with beer and wine.”
The first outlet of Too Indian – serving modern, yet traditional cuisine – will be spread across 4,000 sq.ft. and will be opening at Rajouri Garden. It will cater to around 100-120 people at the same time. The set up cost of one outlet of Too Indian is around Rs 2 crore.
“We opted for Rajouri Garden as it is a very tough, challenging and competitive market. The second outlet of Too Indian will simultaneously take shape in Gurugram. It will be spread over 3,000 sq.ft area and will cater to around 90 people,” he said.
Too Indian at Rajouri Garden will be operational from the first week of June although the Gurugram outlet will take another three months.
Too Indian has tied-up with organic farmers, home chefs and small-scale entrepreneurs like Little Farm, Home Bakery, Miss Sue for an uninterrupted supply of retail products.
A meal for two at the restaurant – which will be serving breakfast, lunch, high tea and dinner – will cost between Rs 1,000-1,200.
As far as Naashta goes, Puri said, “We are in the process of launching it at three locations – Karol Bagh and Saket outlets will be launched by the first week July but the third outlet in Gurugram will take some time.”
The setting up cost of Naashta – a casual dining space – is around Rs 1 crore for each outlet spread across 1,500 sq.ft. of area.
Future Plans
Five years from now, Puri envisions opening 100 Imly outlets across India and overseas plus 20 outlets of Too Indian.
“We are looking toward opening five outlets of Too Indian in a year-and-a-half and 10 outlets of Naashta within the year,” he revealed.
Puri plans to take Imly, which currently has four operating outlets – Rajendra Place, Noida, Rajouri Garden and Gurugram – to a total of 10. He plans outlets in Connaught Place, Ashok Vihar, Janakpuri, Sohna Road, Murthal and the Delhi-Jaipur Highway.
He also hinted at the fact that the company is looking to test international waters and is currently scouting for a place in Bangkok for Imly.