THE RESTAURANT SCENE IN CHENNAI

Chennaibest.com spoke to Manu Reddy, Managing Director, Food Alliance, on the restaurant scenario in Chennai and on Food Alliance.  Food Alliance was founded in 1995 and is part of Chaitanya Builders and Leasing Pvt. Ltd. They have two restaurants Red E Food Court and The Cascade and Upper Krust (popular bakers) at Alsa Mall. Their Red E Drop Zone at Alwarpet, is a home delivery outlet and All Seasons Catering is their outdoor catering division.

What would you consider the most significant achievements of Food Alliance?

Very recently, The Cascade won the ‘Best Restaurant Award’ from Diners Club. It stands out as a significant achievement. For a restaurant to be so popular even after 13 years, is a big thing indeed. The credit of having the first Food court in Chennai also goes to us.

One of the definite reasons is the dual income factor.  Also, the fast-paced schedule of work is the other factor, which has, I would say, made dining out almost a daily option for many middle class and upper middle class families where both the husband and wife are working.  Generally the lifestyle of people has undergone a sea change in the way that mindsets of people, as far as spending habits are concerned, have changed.  New companies, fat pay packets are reasons for this.  It is difficult to find a cook and the food that you get on your table after that is just probably not worth the expense.  In Chennai, people are becoming a lot more open and experiment a lot more.

Hygiene and quality have also improved.  If you were to see our kitchens for The Cascade or Red E Food Court, they would be as clean and hygienic as any three-star or five-star hotel.  And service has taken on a new meaning. Personalised service is now the name of the game.  You receive the same kind of personal attention that you would get at any three-star or five-star restaurant.  There is also value for money, I mean that for Rs. 120 you would get a soup, a starter, a main course and dessert and you probably wouldn’t be able finish the portions.

The only reason that I personally see is to offer the customer more options.  Running a multi-cuisine restaurant means more overheads as it means having a head chef for each cuisine.  It is far more economical to run a speciality restaurant. 

There is no single target group.  The customer profile keeps changing according to different times of the day.  From 12.00 to 3.00 pm it is the business executive who comes in for a quick lunch, office goers and ladies who have kitty parties.  Between 3.00 and 7.00 pm it is teenagers, college goers. And after 7.00 pm it is the family crowd.  It is mostly the middle class and upper middle class.

There is room for everybody as long as you can maintain standards.  All you have to do is to identify your concept, be focused on your target and your niche and you will be on song.

Very difficult.  Employee turnover is very high.  Most employees are fresh from college and they join us to do their internship.  Once they finish their training and gain experience they leave us to take up offers abroad.  The job prospects abroad are fantastic. There is great demand for trained personnel in the cruise ships.

I personally feel that Chennai would come fifth in the country.  Mumbai is the highest in terms of business done.  Delhi is a close second and Bangalore third.  I would say even Kolkata has a higher rate of dining out than Chennai.  Chennai and Poona would be joint fifth.  But apart from the volume of business which I attribute to the less conservative mindset in these people, I feel that Chennai is by far the fastest growing market of all these cities and consequently the volumes will also increase as the days go by. When it comes to Chennai, I think that restaurants in general are a lot cleaner.  Hygiene is top on the priority list.  You wouldn’t get a place like Saravana Bhavan, where you can have a filling meal for Rs. 40/-, in any other city. It is easier to find a quality eatout here, rather than in say North India.

It is a combination.  But priorities change according to requirements, like say, for lunch people rarely eat as a family, often you eat alone or with colleagues from your workplace.  Here, value for money is what the customer looks for.  For dinner, which is a family affair and more relaxed, the need is for a place which is suitable for the whole family and is also comfortable and relaxing.

Quality, Quality and Quality.

We plan to launch another Cascade in Adyar by June.  Drop Zone is a new concept that is catching up and we want to explore that.  The response has been very encouraging though it has been only a month.