Can a celebrity guarantee a hit restaurant? Industry experts decode

Vartik Tihara, Virat Kohli with marketing head of True Palate Sushree Vaish at One8 Commune, Juhu

To be fair, I haven't met anyone in my life who hadn't at some point in their life contemplated having their own restaurant," says Riyaaz Amlani, founder and managing director of Impresario Handmade Restaurants and the man behind SOCIAL. "People from all walks of life want to get into the restaurant business, including professionals who quit their corporate job. Celebrities are no different."

Perhaps that explains the growing interest celebrities have taken of late in the restaurant business. After Shilpa Shetty Kundra got a piece of the successful Bastian pie, we saw Karan Johar opening Neuma in Colaba in May, and just earlier this month, Virat Kohli's One8 Commune made its way to Juhu. India's most-famous export Priyanka Chopra Jonas has even opened Sona all the way in New York! There are also other OGs - Sachin Tendulkar, Dino Morea, Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Govinda - whose restaurants have long shut down.

Karan Johar opened Neuma in May this year. An industry insider feels that it might not have longevity as the restaurant is intimidating, which works against it. Pic/Twitter

"The restaurant and the entertainment industry are related as they both are about entertaining people. If you look at food as an entertainment business, it is 40 times larger than Bollywood. In a way, it is a logical extension to what they [actors] already do," says restaurateur Zorawar Kalra, adding that it is happening all over the world. "Nobu, which is the largest Japanese restaurant chain in the world, is funded by actor Robert De Niro. If done right, it can be a very lucrative business. So, it makes sense for them [celebrities] to be a part of it," adds the founder and managing director of Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd.

Vartik Tihara, co-founder of True Palate Pvt Ltd, and Kohli's partner at One8 Commune, agrees. Tihara and Kohli's partnership goes back to the time when they would play cricket in Delhi. "About five years ago, when he was about to launch One8 in New Delhi, I reached out to him and told him about Commune, and the idea to cater to people of all ages. He suggested collaboration, saying it would give my concept a push." And it did, admits Tihara. "Currently, we have six restaurants [three in Delhi, and one each in Pune, Kolkata and Mumbai]. His fan following is so massive that whenever we open a restaurant, the response that we see in a week or 10 days is what other outlets would see in six to eight months. Even yesterday, I wanted to book a table for two at One8 Commune Juhu, but I couldn't."

Bastian, which opened in 2016, saw Shilpa Shetty Kundra coming on board in 2019 as its co-owner. Today, it is one of the successful restaurants in the city. Pic/Instagram

What worked in his favour, says Tihara, is that Kohli was actively involved throughout. "He would come often. He tried every dish and because he is well travelled and a foodie, we took his feedback seriously." Tihara also added that when a celebrity comes on board, so does the attention. "You have to be extra cautious. If anything goes wrong, people are watching. In the hospitality business, irrespective of however much you do, many would find a small reason to complain, saying they weren't treated well. So there is no room for error."

Restaurants need money, and who is investing that money depends on the kind of partnership: One is where a well-off restaurateur reaches out to a potential celebrity asking to get associated with his brand in exchange for equity. Another is where a celebrity wants to open a restaurant and reaches out to a restaurateur/operator to come on board in exchange of equity, and third is where both the parties invest money to put together a restaurant.

Gauri Devidayal, Riyaaz Amlani and Zorawar Kalra

"A celebrity would invest if the property is spectacular, like Shilpa Shetty in Bastian or Karan Johar in Neuma. The property also has to suit them and their profile. I have heard that SRK has also invested in a restaurant and it is again located in Bandra," says real estate consultant Chirag Maru, who specialises in sourcing of restaurant real-estate spaces for the city's biggest F&B companies, adding that whether a celebrity would invest or not depends on three factors - location, property and their social standing.

Bastion, which opened in 2016, was known for its food fashion by Canada-born chef Kevin Cheung and was already a hit with celebrities. It saw Shetty, a regular diner at the eatery, acquire a stake in 2019. Maru calls the restaurant that's now also at a second location - Worli - a hub to meet interesting people.

Yash Bhanage, Pawan Shahri and Chirag Maru

"It has become a networking bar of sorts. Instead of meeting all my clients separately, I can easily go to Bastian and bump into all of them," he says. But another industry insider said that the same may not be true for Neuma. "It is too big and intimidating, which may work against making it ‘the place'."

In terms of investment, adds Gauri Devidayal, the restaurateur behind The Table and Mag St. Kitchen, it is a capital-heavy business. "The big restaurants tend to be at prime locations, so there is a real estate cost to it. Plus, when a celebrity is involved, it is likely to be fancier as opposed to a more casual space, which makes it a more costly business," says Devidayal, adding that there is no minimum or maximum when it comes to cost. Neuma, she points out, has clearly gone all out in terms of decor. Her estimate for decor for a fine-dining restaurant is a minimum of Rs 10,000 per sq feet, excluding kitchen equipment.

When it comes to real estate, a partner at a realtor firm who also has a stake in a Bandra restaurant says that a casual or fine dining restaurant in Bandra, say something of the standard of Joshi House, would end up having to cough up a rent between R7 and 10 lakh for a 2,000 to 3,000 sq feet area. The prices drop as you go deeper into the suburbs.

The trend is not restricted to India. The reason, says Amlani, is because "lending their name brings a lot of excitement, creates curiosity, and gets attention from traditional media like a newspaper, which is good for a restaurant". "It also makes for new age marketing like influencer marketing, which is all about cross-leveraging your celebrity status. It does help get the word out there sooner - what someone would take six months to achieve, a celebrity restaurant would do in a week." But none of this guarantees success. "At the end of the day, it is about the product, quality of food and the vibe of the place."

Pawan Shahri, founder of Chrome Hospitality, the brand behind Blah!, and Butterfly High, agrees. "Tendulkar's in Mumbai, Sehwag's Favourites in Delhi and Sourav Ganguly's restaurant in Kolkata, they all shut down and didn't see their fan following keeping up with the restaurant offerings for too long. The promoters of Tendulkar's said that it was not a success commercially and they couldn't keep up with the offerings and sale value of the restaurant."

"India's food industry is like the folk tale The Emperor's New Clothes. At the end of the day, if you are just going to focus on the outlook and not think that it needs to be supported by a strong team, which includes the chef, it can't be a good product," says Yash Bhanage, co-founder and COO at Hunger Inc. Hospitality, the company behind The Bombay Canteen. "Although we have finished eight and five years with TBC and O Pedro, respectively, we know we are as good as our last meal. Of course, celebrities help, not only do they bring attention, but they also come with better design outlook and can curate better experiences. If you have that on one end and on another a really powerful chef/restaurateur, then it could make for a perfect combination. But if not, the party stops after six months."

Tihara of One8 Commune says things also go south when the restaurants overdo it "because a celebrity is involved". "Say, they would offer a cuisine which is not meant for the Indian palette or their price point is such that while people come once because of its celebrity status, they don't find it value for money and don't return, which is important in the long run." Tihara says that at the Juhu outpost of their chain, a meal for two costs Rs 2,000.

When restaurateurs were asked if we would see more such partnerships taking place in the future, they seemed divided. "Never say never," says Bhanage. Amlani said that he doesn't think a lot of seasoned restaurateurs would lean towards this wave because they know, it is hard work that brings the ultimate success. Devidayal says, "For me, it is counter intuitive to be a part of something where you are not actively involved, but maybe, for them, they really trust the chef or the operator, and see it as a good business investment." Kalra adds, "I think getting the tie-ups with the right people can be a beautiful thing."