When you tell Riyaaz Amlani that your favourite Social is the one at Delhi’s Hauz Khas – especially because of the rooftop terrace overlooking Deer Park and a lake – there is an unmistakable twinkle in the restaurateur’s eyes. “There are no electric poles and wires for miles, the only greenery…” says the CEO and MD of Impresario with a smile, almost wishing he was there. We are in his Byculla-based office in Mumbai, chatting over a cup of coffee. Amlani has been in the F&B space for two decades now, but there’s no slowing him down. In fact, as we speak, the hustle-bustle in the office tells us that there’s a lot more to expect from the guy who’s created spaces like Smokehouse Deli, Salt Water Café, Tasting Room, Social and many others. He shares his journey and future plans with TMM…
It’s been 20 years since Mocha. How do you look back upon this two-decade-old journey?
I just wonder where the time went. It feels like just yesterday when I was a newcomer. Then just a few days ago, I was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award and I wondered, ‘yeh kya ho gaya ek minute ke andar!’ (laughs) I have become a veteran. But I still think we are on chapter 2 of our journey. I think it’s Impresario 2.0.
What’s been the biggest learning and unlearning for you?
The biggest learning is that I’m a terrible restaurateur now. I used to be much better when I started off. Earlier, I could only see the possibilities. Now I only see problems. It’s just nice when you don’t know how difficult it is. You can think a little bit bigger, a little out of the box. When I was starting out, I used to think, ‘why is nobody else thinking like this?’ I realised that when you have more experience, then you tend to be more set in your ways.
What drew you to the F&B space in the first place? Please don’t say you were always a foodie!
I’m not a foodie at all! (laughs) I don’t know how to cook and I have no cravings. Mere saamne jo bhi rakh do kha loonga. I won’t go out of my way for some meal. When I started off, I was in the entertainment business. At that point of time, people had nothing to do in Bombay, except watch movies or drive up and down Marine Drive or Worli sea face. I had just come back from studying abroad and felt it was a pity because there, you always had something to do. I started consulting real estate developers and creating bowling alleys, bumping cars and pool tables. For me, it was about creating these spaces for entertainment. What I saw was that whether people played a game or not, they did have something to eat. So, I started upping that offering and realized that I was enjoying that part of the business more.
For me, it’s just about creating venues where human interaction can take place. That got me thinking and the coffee shop was an extension of that. The tagline for Mocha was coffees and conversations. The idea was to create a space conducive for sparking off conversations, even between strangers. That was my approach towards restauranting and that’s the approach still. I strongly feel that in places such as Mumbai and Delhi, public spaces are not given too much importance. And it’s been proven that public spaces have a big effect on the mental health of its inhabitants because how else do you feel you belong to a city if you can’t own public spaces?
What’s the one idea that’s stayed relevant for you all these years?
I feel that we are experts in the café space. From Mocha to Salt Water Café to Smokehouse Deli to Tasting Room, Prithvi Café and Social – these are all different manifestations of a café. Restaurants are all about novelty, experience and newness, whereas cafes tend to be more about convenience, community and comfort. People tend to go more often to cafes than restaurants. So, I think this kind of obsession for human interaction and creating spaces conducive for that has been a bit of an overhang for us. I don’t know if it’s a philosophy but that has stayed with us till now.
Riyaaz Amlani, what’s the plan ahead for Impresario?
We want to take the Social brand to every corner of India. We feel that it is THE café for India, for this time. We have our own unique cultural nuances which are not ideologically to how people behave in the west. We like flavours and spice. We want fresh food on our plates and we also like to share. I think Social is trying to breach that gap between what Indians expect a café to be and what’s been imposed upon us by the west. The chai ki tapdi, the galli ka nukkad, the gali ka dhaba – those are cafes for us. Social has kind of borrowed from all these different social spaces which are more relevant to India and built on that. And it has the option of alcohol as well (laughs).
Restaurants and shopping malls in Maharashtra can now remain open 24/7. What do you think of the decision?
I think this relaxation of operational hours is a very big and bold step. We are extremely grateful to the government of Maharashtra, especially Aditya Thackeray for having the gumption to implement this. We have been campaigning for the same for the last 15-20 years now but have always been stone-walled earlier. This was a big move and will go a long way in making Mumbai what it is. I feel this is going to do the city a lot of services and increase tourism.
Riyaaz – The non-foodie
Everyone comes to Riyaaz’s cafes and bars. Where does Riyaaz go for food? Ghar and Kitchen Garden for their salads.
The restaurant experience of Riyaaz Amlani: My wife keeps saying I have ruined the restaurant experience for her because I keep analyzing how the food or the service or the ambiance is. And sometimes ‘why did I not come up with this!’ (laughs)
The last place that ticked all the boxes:
O Pedro! It ticks all the boxes from every angle.
Words: Deepali Singh
Café king | Riyaaz Amlani for TMM
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