An electronics engineer by education and a Fulbright music scholar, Arjun Sagar Gupta is the brain child behind reputed restaurant “The Piano Man” – a first of its kind musical supper theatre and gastronomy adventure intended to start its journey in Delhi and move further to other cities. Arjun is a living encyclopaedia on jazz and a performing pianist since the early 2000’s. He entered the F&B industry in 2010 when he started Cake Away, a bakery catering to finer wholesale requirements of restaurants and corporate houses.
Though not a chef by profession he has devoted time and energy in learning the art from bakers and chefs in order to develop the skill and minutely analyse the food, an ability he feels is indispensable as a restaurateur. He was also invited to apprise the viewers about choicest recipes from The Piano Man on NDTV’s Guilt Free TV show.His journey with Jazz began in his early teens and love for music grew from appreciation of the music to an aspiration to play it and then a deep set desire to sharing it with people around him. Arjun has been an active member on the board of “Capital Jazz” the organisation behind the “Jazz Utsav” for many years.The current jazz scene in India is growing among the young enthusiasts and experimental musicians. However, the performances so far have been very scattered and poorly produced. Arjun by The Jazz Club intends to create a new standard for execution of events via a collaborative approach. Being a market leader for event encoding, poetry slams, open mic programming. He is now all set to expose his new venture of supper-theatre to feed the souls of Delhi.
Amogh Tiwari (AT) What drives you to be in the food and beverage industry?
Arjun Sagar Gupta (AG) :The desire to create a unique and beautiful product. I believe that despite the incredible F&B boom in Delhi, these are literally the black ages in terms of quality of product.
AT :Where do you draw you inspiration from?
AG:I enjoy doing what I do, I’m not trying to become any specific sort of restaurant, I’m trying to find my own space and stride. My inspiration come from people whose skill and morality I appreciate, my piano teacher, John Raphael, my favourite musician, Art Tatum, the Blue Note story etc.
AT: What are 3 tips for running a successful restaurant?
AG : I’ll let you know when I consider myself successful but three of things I keep in mind are –
- You can’t make have a good customer experience till you have a good staff and artist
- Decide what you want to serve, quality and price, and stick with it for a bit. People will love it
- Training and processes, invest as much time and money as you can. This lesson I learnt the host daily events experience. Get your house in order and make it a happy place and people will love it, but you won’t really know what you’re doing if you fiddle with it everytime someone raises a question really hard way!
AT: What’s your regular comfort meal?
AG :Pepperoni Pizza
Malai and Aloo bhujia on bread
Ice cream and chocolate sauce
AT :If you were to open a new restaurant, what style of food would you pick and where would you want it to be located?
AG :I am opening a new restaurant and we will be serving Eurasian food (European and Asian fusion) and it is located in Safdarjung Enclave as well and it will open doors before you know it.
AT: In today’s struggling economy, what steps have you taken to continue to attract consumers in??
AG: I don’t believe in gimmicks. I believe in the projects I’ve built, we’re honest about the way we work and
AT: what we do, and I am grateful for the appreciation and love we have received from our patrons despite
AG :the utter absence of ladies night, happy hours and other childish gimmicks. We want to build customers for life and are building our membership programs to thank the patrons that have supported us through the years. We want a TPM membership to be invite only and mean something.
AT: What are your new upcoming projects?
AG : A fab restaurant, a smashing bakery (in the very very near future) and some other interesting things in hopefully the first quarter of next year.
AT: In the midst of such a hectic schedule how do you manage to relax yourself?
AG:Haven’t figured this one out in 5 years. I’ll let you know when I do. Coming home at absurd hours to a dog that loves you helps.
AT: Which chef’s food would you go back for tasting again and again?
AG:The people that I would go back to again and again are the people that I like to have as a part of the team, so Manoj K Pandey and Ruchira H Philip are right on top
AT: The dish you are most proud of so far.
AG :You can’t pick a favourite child. On the other hand, favourites change every day and every minute. Right this minute, I’d say the Bacon cheeseburger bomb, it’s a simple deconstruct with such explosive flavours and my mouth is watering just thinking of it (haven’t had dinner yet). At the same time, there are a dozen other dishes that would come to mind tomorrow when I’m not a meat craving and famished frame of mind, most of which are much more complex in their production and plating. I can just imagine my chefs reading this and having a small heart attack when they see the dish I named because in terms of complexity, it’s very simple, but man it packs a punch.
AT: Mention one project which is very close to your heart?
AG :The Piano Man, I’ve devoted every waking moment to it over the last few years with no regrets. I’m playing with one corner of a very large puzzle and everyday as I put more of it together, the bigger idea, the unspoken one that I’m chasing blindly takes a little more shape.
AT :Do you peruse food reviews and review sites such as Zomato ?
AG :Yes, with a pinch of salt, I am ready to stop believing in the law of averages. As a restaurateur (unlessyou’ve falsely convinced yourself that you know everything), you can very easily identify when a review is bang on with either praise or criticism, because somewhere at the back of your head, the issues one faces in terms of quality, service, consistency etc are always churning. I often use these reviews as a way to identify or vocalise what’s bothering me in the restaurant and then take action to correct that problem. We all like to hear praise, but criticism gives one a better understanding of where one stands. For example, when I read through my reviews, I can identify the palates that certain dishes don’t appeal to. That doesn’t mean I will change them, because they are perfect for their intended customer base. Reviews are a part of a much larger toolbag.
