High-steaks fine dining may soon be overdone

Panaji: With an increasingly youthful and vibrant demography, fine-dining may soon be passe. A young working population, buoyed by fat pay cheques and a lower inclination to save, is prompting many hoteliers and restaurateurs to revisit the drawing board. Youngsters are increasingly hanging out with friends at restaurants that have a funky vibe. And the country's largest standalone restaurant chain, Speciality Restaurants Limited, is taking notice.

Going all out to cater to the next generation, the company is making a strategic and strong shift towards young-at-heart consumers. By disrupting its own successful strategy of fine-dining restaurants, Speciality Restaurants aims to refresh and consolidate its presence in the food and beverage sector.

Started by Anjan Chatterjee, Speciality Restaurants Limited plans to increase its presence in the casual dining segment by adding 12-14 restaurants under the 'Hoppipola' brand over the next 18 months in metros and Tier I cities.

The company is also seriously considering acquisitions in the near future to boost its market share.

Speciality Restaurants is the parent company of leading fine-dining brands like 'Mainland China' and 'Oh! Calcutta'. Chatterjee made his first foray into good food when he started 'Only Fish' in 1992 in Mumbai. Since then, it has grown from strength to strength in the fine dining space, finally going public in 2012.

"You need to disrupt your business if you want to expand it," Chatterjee said, adding, "Unlike other companies the disruption is from within; my son actually came up with the idea."

Prompted by his son, Avik, Speciality Restaurants launched 'Hoppipola', a youthful casual dining bistro that is more along the lines of a pub. 'Hoppipola' currently operates in Lower Parel, Khar and Pune. The word Hoppipola means "jumping into puddles" in Icelandic.

When asked if the company was looking at acquisitions in the near future, Chatterjee preferred to keep his cards close to his chest. "I can only say that we are in serious discussions with a debt-free company for inorganic acquisitions. All our expansion plans will be funded by internal accruals," he said.

The restaurant chain currently operates around 120 stores across Asia and in Tanzania, while also eyeing an entry into the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.

Restaurants under the group also include 'Machaan', 'Sigree Global Grill', 'Flame & Grill', 'Haka', 'KIBBEH', 'Kix', 'Shack', a confectionery brand called 'Sweet Bengal', and the casual eatery, 'Cafe Mezzuna'.