Reaching for the clouds

(L-R) Dhaval Udeshi and Pawan Shahri with chef Farnaz Dandiwala, who launched Bawa Bao Co. under the Taxi Incubator Programme. Pic/Ashish Raje

The F&B scene has been a shape shifter in the last one year. Dancing to the tune of lockdowns and restricted timings, kitchen strength was going underused and there was little respite from mounting overheads. Understandably, focus moved from dine-in to delivery as cloud kitchens, and delivery-only concepts mushroomed.

Dhaval Udeshi and Pawan Shahri, founders of Chrome Hospitality that manages London Taxi, Butterfly High and the newest entrants Silly and Blah! understood it wasn't going to be easy for first-time entrepreneurs venturing into cloud kitchens to sustain long-term without professional mentoring. Their Instagram was flooded with DMs - questions and requests for help. After a few consultancy projects in Mumbai and other cities, the idea of the Taxi Incubator Programme hit them six months ago.

The aim is to identify and collaborate with entrepreneurs who want to helm a food business. "We offer our team and infrastructure at London Taxi in Kamala Mills to passionate entrepreneurs who will be equally involved in the project. Most cloud kitchens shut in eight to 10 months as they lack direction," says Udeshi. When they first announced the mentorship programme, they received over 150 applications. Currently, they have launched three brands: The Vegan Party by Rupa Mehta, Vanakkam, a south Indian menu by chef Rahul Desai, and Farnaz Dandiwala's Bawa Bao Co.

Salli Marghi Bao

"If we were to keep our company afloat during the closed periods, we had to think of something innovative," says Shahri, adding, "We realised we had to adapt. The cloud kitchen space is crowded, so one has to be logistically strong. When setting up a delivery-only venture, the area matters. If you open a non-veg delivery outlet in a locality like Walkeshwar, which has a strong vegetarian community, it will never work. One has to check the rentals - setting up a kitchen entails massive costs," adds Udeshi. It's the reason why they run a hawk's eye through business pitches. "The moment we see a menu, we can tell whether it can work. The business is time-consuming - delivery begins from 10 am and much depends on aggregators and direct delivery set ups," explains Shahri. One of the first ventures they brought onboard was Bawa Bao Co. by Dandiwala.

She and her husband had been toying with the idea of starting a business in the pandemic, but nothing felt right in these uncertain times. "We wanted to start something of our own. I had never cooked professionally, but I have learnt Parsi cuisine from my mom, granny and aunt who are wonderful cooks. When we have community get-togethers, we never order in. With such great cooks in the house, we prepare our traditional fare, which is savoured over laughter, dancing and drinking," Dandiwala tells us. The Malcolm Baug resident was confident about pulling off community food, provided the packaging was robust. "Parsis love their pao. So, I thought of doing a bao menu with our traditional fillings," she adds. When she gave Udeshi and Shahri a tasting, they knew they had found their mentee. "We had a hot-seller. Their salli boti, chicken farcha, keema, chicken Russian and akuri are all made semi-dry consistency and garnished with chutneys," says Shahri. The opportunity to operate from a brick and mortar establishment is being leveraged for offline brand building as well. "The idea is for the cloud kitchens to also be an experience. And so, this weekend, Dandiwala is hosting a live-counter with her menu.

Also coming up is a masterclass by Rupa Mehta of the Vegan Party," says Udeshi. The duo is taking their time to identify the right collaborations, and are in the midst of vetting a second round of applications. "We want to add a variety of cuisines and also introduce desserts, and retail products such as dips. We see the incubator as a pilot project that can be replicated. We have 13 outlets in the city from where we can scale up and create a valuation in the future," they share.