Restaurateur Rahul Akerkar, the owner of Mumbai’s Indigo restaurant, is in talks with venture capital (VC) funds and companies to raise Rs20 crore to take the fine-dining restaurant, which is on Condé Nast Traveller’s list of top 60 restaurants in the world, to New Delhi in 2008 and Bangalore in 2009.
Catering to the taste buds: Rahul Akerkar, MD of deGustibus Hotels Pvt. Ltd, at Mumbai’s Indigo restaurant.
Demand for fine-dining options in the world’s second fastest growing major economy after China has resulted in a boom in the restaurant business. “Besides venture funds and corporations, we are also talking to high net worth individuals interested in investing in the company. We hope to have the money in place two months,” Akerkar, managing director of deGustibus Hotels Pvt. Ltd, the company that owns Indigo, said. He declined to name the companies and VC firms. Though he declined to reveal the valuation of the firm, he said that he started the project with Rs1 crore investment from NRIs in 1996. This group sold out to other investors in early 2000.
Indigo Deli, another restaurant run by deGustibus, offers a more casual environment and a all-day menu, and it will be rolled out into other cities to cater to people looking for delicatessen-style food.
The executive chef and creative backbone of Indigo, Akerkar is also gearing up to take his culinary expertise out of the restaurant’s rarefied atmosphere and into the world of outdoor catering and banqueting.
Moveable Feast, Akerkar and wife Malini’s (who is deGustibus’ joint managing director) venture into outdoor catering , will kick off with a new 11,000 sq. ft, 5,000 meals a day commissary kitchen in Mumbai, which is being set up with an investment of about Rs4 crore. The kitchen will dish out “high-end western food and middle- to high-level Indian food,” Akerkar said. The couple attempted outdoor catering from Indigo’s kitchen, but failed because they could not cope with the demand. With experience in catering to companies including Citibank and Goldman Sachs, Akerkar has now decided to take on the challenge of large-volume high-end cuisine in an attempt to meet demand from people who want to host their events on a grand scale.
ICL teams up with MSN, Provogue, SABMiller
New Delhi: The Indian Cricket League (ICL), promoted by media baron Subhash Chandra’s Essel Group, has roped in fashion brand Provogue, brewery SABMiller and portal MSN India as partners.
Sport biz: Fashion designer Manish Arora created the team gear that will feature in ICL’s Twenty20 tournament on 30 November.
It has also named the six teams that will feature in the Twenty20 league after six cities: Chandigarh Lions, Mumbai Champs, Kolkata Tigers, Delhi Jets, Chennai Superstars and Hyderabad Heroes.