Spices of Life
Offering a taste of India in a casual setting, these two restaurateurs bring ethnic food to the masses.
Vital Stats: Sushil Malhotra ®, 55, and Rajesh
Bhardwaj, 45, of Café Spice
Company: Casual-style restaurants offering Indian
cuisine
2005 Projected Sales: Over $12 million
Content Continues Below
Frugal Foodies
For over 25 years, Malhotra's Indian fine-dining ventures
thrived in the New York City restaurant scene. He knew customers
enjoyed the food and ambience of his upscale eatery, Dawat, but he
believed that, because of the higher price point, "they were
happier coming when they were on an expense account." Malhotra
resolved to offer authentic regional food, atmosphere and
reasonable prices in a more casual setting. Bhardwaj, who had
hands-on restaurant experience in both India and New York City,
shared his vision.
Hot Plates
Café Spice was created in 1998 to "reintroduce"
basic classic Indian dishes. Staples like samosas, chicken tikka
masala and saag paneer are among customer favorites. Contemporary
designs with spice-like colors provide a sleek atmosphere at the
restaurants, where customers of all ethnicities flock to taste the
multi-regional fare.
Cultural Explosion
Zaika Flavors, Café Spice's quality control center and
commissary, is where all the food is marinated and sauces are
started before refrigerated trucks deliver them to the restaurants.
When food operators came calling, Zaika spun off into its own
business; it now provides food to the Citibank, United Nations and
World Bank cafeterias. In addition, Whole Foods grocers purchase
10,000 pounds of food from Zaika Flavors every week.
Campus Cuisine
Café Spice currently has seven locations and is set to open
three more by the end of 2005. The company also plans to expand
into university towns across the U.S. "[College students] are
more educated about the cuisine and more amenable to trying
it," says Malhotra. "Demographically, it's a
risk-free market-success comes a little faster."