After opening 23 restaurants successfully in Delhi, Priyank Sukhija has a line-up of 12 more. He is expanding his business in cities like Pune, Bengaluru and Mumbai, too. In a candid chat with Divya Kaushik, the restaurateur reveals that he is mostly guided by his instinct and observation skills
They are 23 at present, 12 are in the making, so by August the number will be 35,” he says. His casual tone makes it sound like he is talking about some collection that he is maintaining, but Priyank Sukhija is actually talking about the number of restaurants he owns in Delhi at present. Anyone would be astonished by that number, given that Priyank is in his mid-30s. The young restaurateur has set an example that is rare to be replicated and the most surprising part is that since last 15 years he has been bringing about a revolution in the food culture of the city silently. If you have ever dined at Hauz Khas Village, Connaught Place or Khan Market, there are chances that you must have dined at one of his outlets without even knowing that he owns it. It is tough to believe but Priyank is highly involved with the day-to-day operations of his 23 operational restaurants in Delhi.
“I start working early from home, I have a set up a small office there. Then I visit my sites and in the evening I am at my restaurants. Though I am very much involved with daily operations there are teams managing work effectively. I am a visionary giving them directions,” says Priyank as he settles down to chat at one of his restaurants at Epicuria, Nehru Place. Called Flying Saucer, this restro bar, Priyank tells us, was the most risky proposition. “My friends told me that first, Nehru Place as a location is a bad idea. I will not get good crowd here. Second, it was under the metro station. But my point was that it is difficult to get such a huge space in South Delhi where I can have my own separate entrance and divide the place into different sections. I took the risk and the result has been fabulous. The place picked up fast and it is another popular brand from my kitty now,” he shares.
The fact that he has never shied away from taking risks or experimenting has contributed a lot to his success. Priyank was a student of BA Pass (Humanity) from Delhi University and was sure that he wanted to do something in the food business. “I was always a creative guy and passionate about food. I opened my first outlet when I was still in college, I was 19 then. My father is a lawyer so I was not expecting much help from him apart from the initial capital with which he supported me. I took over the family owned property at Malcha Marg and opened lazeez Affaire, which a fine-dining for families. It emerged as a success and that encouraged me to look for more concepts. I worked with consultants for over two years and learnt a lot from them. In the last 15 years, the way Delhi eats has changed manifold and there is a huge difference in the kind of restaurants that I was doing then and what I am doing now,” says Priyank.
What helped him come up with one restaurant after the other were his extraordinary observation skills and capability to assess easily what is missing in the Delhi’s food and nightlife culture. “I travel a lot and that has helped me to come up with interesting concepts. I place myself as a consumer first and assess what will be the response to the product. I party a lot and that really helps me to understand what is needed by the people. After lazeez Affaire, I was interested in doing bars so I opened one which still runs, the next was Toast. Then there was a time when in Delhi, people were either opening bars or fine dining restaurants. There was a huge gap for a place where you can chill, chat, enjoy music and good comfort food. That was when I got the idea of doing a gastro bar or a café and that marked the beginning of a new trend in Delhi. I opened up my first, Boulevard and courtesy that I understood the business model and what works in that category. I realised that there is a demand for places which serves a variety of comfort food at decent prices, places which are perfect to be visited during the day time or even for a night out with friends. So after one café cum bar there came others like Boombox, Out of the Box, Fork You and the list goes on,” says Priyank.
The credit for transforming the face of Hauz Khas Village, from that of a sleepy artistic locality to the hip, fashionable food streets flocked by the who’s who of the city, goes to Priyank. When he started opening up restaurants it was an artistic place and a commercial challenge, but Priyank knew he could not go wrong with his assessment. The next place in Delhi, which will soon be buzzing with interesting concepts by Priyank, is Connaught Place. A part of central Delhi which already is going through a makeover has The Townhouse Café and Warehouse Café by Priyank. He says, “Soon Butter Room is opening up in CP, then there is Melt. I have six restaurants under construction in CP all will be opening up soon. The advantage is that the façade is fabulous, heights are awesome and structures are strong. Next on my radar is Aerocity.”
The restaurateur feels that as people are travelling more and are better aware about global cuisine, this is the time to experiment more. “There is a better acceptance for new cuisine but from my experience I have learnt that never preach — give them what they enjoy and want. Oriental and Mediterranean are a big craze in Delhi right now, Indian is going down as everyone is health conscious today. Peruvian and Ethiopian cuisine will make inroads here,” he shares.
After making his mark in Delhi, he is all set to spread wings across India. He has already opened up a 40,000 sq ft outlet in Pune called the Flying Saucer Sky Bar. Next there are outlets coming up in Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Mumbai and Goa. “I won’t open a new brand. What you see in Delhi will be opening in other cities, too. In Delhi, we are going bigger and better in terms of scales and investments,” he says. But sadly after he shut down his night club Skooter he has no plans to come up with another night club anytime soon. “It is the only outlet that I shut down in the last 15 years. Night clubs in Delhi are a bad idea until the laws are changed. One is not allowed to play music after 12.30, which is too soon for a nightclub to shut down,” he says. Next on the cards is also a restaurant with theatrical shows. “I want to come up with the milder version of The Box Soho in london. That is what Delhi needs now and we are already working on it,” he concludes.