Jiggs Kalra dishes out a new restaurant venture with Mirah Hospitality

This story first appeared in DNA Money edition on Thursday, December 13, 2012.

Five years after creating ripples with restaurant chain Punjab Grill, celebrity chef Jiggs Kalra along with son Zorawar has now collaborated with Mirah Group for a new venture.

The new entity, Massive Restaurants Pvt Ltd, will set up a chain of fine-dining, smart casual dining and luxury mithai (Indian sweets) outlets across the country, which would be expanded to select international markets after a year.

Gaurav Goenka, director, Mirah Group, told DNA that Massive Restaurants is a joint venture with Mirah Hospitality, in which the Kalras hold a majority stake.

“The food and beverage (F&B) concepts will be created by the Kalras and Mirah will leverage on its experience in the real estate and operational matters,” said Goenka, adding that within three years the JV will be India’s largest restaurant chain operator.

The fine-dine restaurant will operate under Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra brand, while it will be Made in Punjab for the smart casual restaurant chain.

The luxury / premium mithai chain will be operated as Mithai by Jiggs Kalra. All the brands and trademarks will be held under the new venture.

Jiggs Kalra, partner, Massive Restaurants, said the venture will endeavour to provide patrons to experience a culinary journey while capturing the grandeur of centuries-old traditions and the long-lost essence of one of the oldest known culinary traditions in the world.

“The fine-dining restaurant will recreate the erstwhile culinary traditions to offer a truly gastronomical adventure for connoisseurs of fine cuisine,” he said.

The JV has set a target of 11-12 outlets (between the three brands) in the next 12-16 months.

While initial investment is pegged at around Rs25 crore, the overall capital expenditure in the coming years is envisaged at about Rs40 crore, which would be funded internally.

Zorawar Kalra, partner, Massive Restaurants, said two fine-dining, four smart casual restaurants and five mithai stores were targeted to be set up for the next fiscal.

The first fine-dine restaurant is expected by April at Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

“These would ideally come up in the Mumbai and Delhi and eventually be opened in the other top 8-10 cities, including Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai. With a seating capacity of 90-100, the fine-dine restaurants will be spread across 3,500-4,000 sq ft, while it will be 115 seats across 3,500 sq ft for smart casual restaurants. The mithai outlets will range 300-1,500 sq ft,” he said.