F & B

In a class of its own

Modern India is going through a period of rapid culinary evolution with regional cuisine becoming all the rage in restaurants. Priya Krishnaswamy finds out whether this sounds a death-knell for multi-cuisine restaurants.

There is no such thing as the best cuisine. But whether a mixture of cuisines wins over single, specialty cuisine as far as standalone restaurants are concerned, is still a question that remains unanswered. For them, the challenge lies in perfecting a recipe.

Many starred hotels prefer having restaurants that cater to a specific palate. ITC, for example, caters to three great region, separately with Dum Pukht, Peshawari and Dakshin, all of which are specialty restaurants. Sunny K, manager of Sue's Food Place, a specialty eatery that serves authentic Caribbean cuisines, says, "People come to restaurants that serve specialty cuisines because they have a taste for them. Guests know what they want and are clear about their preferences. We have been in the industry for eight years serving Caribbean food and have carved a niche for ourselves."

Specialty restaurants represent a popular product that has a certain amount of mass appeal but also have niche audience. Ravi Oberoi, vice-president of Casa Picola, a pan-European and Mediterranean restaurant, says, "We’re established as a fine dine centre for the last 26 years and we have been able to achieve this only because of our unique specialty dishes. The difference between us and a multi-cuisine restaurant would be that we target a specific base of people, while they cater to everyone. We maintain our exclusivity by simply improvising on the existing dishes or merely adding another dish to our menu. Most multi-cuisine restaurants have to change their entire menu for a fresh look. This involves a lot of cost apart from difficulties in finding a good chef." For both these restaurant owners, a multi-cuisine restaurant is 'jack-of-all' but master of none.

The other side

Most multi-cuisine restaurants need skilled labour - chefs who need to be specialised in more than one cuisine. Jithin Raj, supervisor of Spice Island, a restaurant that serves Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and Italian food, says, "With a specialty restaurant, the in-house guests are restricted to ordering food from just one cuisine. We are definitely at an advantage, more so when we have international delegations who have the choice to opt for any cuisine they like."

Magesh Iyer, general manager of The Richmond Hotel that hosts the Bangalore Brasserie, a multi-cuisine restaurant, has the last word. He feels that choice during a dining experience plays a very important role. "One in a family of four always wants to have something different from the rest. When there is a lack of options, the guest would obviously choose to eat elsewhere."