I'll have my salad the same way I did last time," Zorawar Kalra, son of celebrity food writer and chef Jiggs Kalra, tells the head chef at 361 as he settles down for a chat with ET in the spanking Oberoi Hotel in Gurgaon.
The 35-year-old business management graduate from Boston and budding restaurateur, however, doesn't seem to fuss too much about what's on the table even as he talks about the food business.
"I don't understand why people are always trying to re-invent the wheel in the restaurant business.
People don't come to a restaurant to see its exotic marble on the wall...they come for the food," he says. "As long as you are serving great food in a good ambience at good prices, consumers will keep coming."
The older of Jiggs Kalra's two sons will kick off operations of Massive Restaurants, a majority-held JV with Mirah group, in February. Starting with initial investments of 25 crore across three high-margin Indian cuisine chains, Kalra targets to turn Massive Restaurants into a 350-400 crore listed firm in five years.
Kalra junior's key advantage, of course, is the support of his father whom he considers "a great chef but not a great businessman".
While his father will guide him on food, Kalra junior will focus on the nuts and bolts of the business, which he believes will give him an edge. "Having a famous father is an advantage but you also have to deal with the pressure-you have to work hard forever to ensure quality standards are maintained," Kalra says.
He will launch fine dining chain Masala Library, casual dine-in chain Made in Punjab and premium sweets chain Luxury Mithai.
Kalra says he is also working on high-margin ready-to-eat packaged foods for exports to grocery retailers in the UK. But that project will kick off only next year.