Ozumo
A contemporary Japanese restaurant concept, from name to napkin.
Read →URBAN DINING, MIXOLOGY & GOURMET DESTINATION
MKT at The Chanakya
A Gourmet Food District for New Delhi — authored end to end, from concept and naming through kitchens, china, mixology, financial model and the 90-day teaser launch.
CONCEIVED BY VIKRAMADITYA SINGH · VICE PRESIDENT & HEAD OF HOSPITALITY, DLF
6
LIVE CULINARY THEATRES — INDIAN, ASIAN, MEXICAN, ITALIAN, GRILL, DESSERTS
2
FLOORS — CAFÉ & PATISSERIE ABOVE; FOOD HALL, DELICATESSEN AND SUNKEN-COURTYARD BAR BELOW
90
DAYS OF TEASER CAMPAIGN BEFORE OPENING — AN INTEREST EXPLOSION BY DESIGN
7
COMPETING VENUES BENCHMARKED ON REVENUE, COVERS AND AVERAGE CHECK BEFORE A LINE WAS DRAWN
I · THE CONCEPT
The social epicentre of the capital.
An uber-chic resto-bar, diner and food universe for the urban dweller — international master chefs and mixologists in a Gourmet Food District that runs from elegant dine-in through prêt-à-manger and a bespoke gourmet delicatessen, above a vibrant indoor–outdoor bar with world-class mixology and wine on tap.
Price points deliberately competitive with free-standing restaurants — value builds repeat clientele, and repeat clientele builds a meeting place. Social and performance programming keeps the vibe, buzz and traffic alive all week long. Brand driver: Always welcoming, always great.
II · THE FOOD UNIVERSE
Culinary theatres, not stations.
Each theatre written with its equipment, its repertoire, and a roster of celebrity chefs and mixologists for pop-up overtures — Gaggan Anand to Massimo Bottura, Thomas Keller to Dale DeGroff.
Indian
Tandoors, tawas, kadhai and sigris — a Delhi chaat bar, Bombay street food, a naan bar and gourmet breads, biryani and yakhni, coastal cooking, Bada Saheb club cuisine, a kulfi bar.
Asian
Woks, teppanyaki, robatayaki and yakitori — sushi and Asian crudo, an udon and ramen bar, Straits cuisine, Korean BBQ, dim sum, pho and bánh mì.
Mexican
Cucina fresca with slow-cooking crock pots — a taqueria, a tequila tasting bar, a margarita bar, moles, cebichería, a guacamole bar, tres leches.
Italian
Wood-fired ovens and a make-your-own pasta laboratory — a truffle bar, pizzeria, antipasti, fresh burrata, gelato and spumoni.
Metropolitan Grill
Rotisserie, chargriller and Josper — slow roasts, oysters on the half shell, Dover sole meunière, a carving station, a burger bar.
Desserts
Anti-griddle theatre — Belgian waffles, French crêperie, nitrogen tiramisu, five crèmes brûlées, a Momofuku-style milk bar.
The Bar
Contemporary new-age mixology — gin infusions, wine on tap in twenty-five varietals, molecular cocktails, martini flights, big-batch bourbon — with residencies drawn from the world's great bars.
III · THE DISCIPLINE
The market was read before a line was drawn.
Audience named — the Comfort Discoverers and young trendsetters, with the diplomatic community and the Lutyens elite as the second ring. Marketing built on the 5Cs, the 4Ps, and a naming exploration that ran from BLVD and EPI.C to the answer: MKT.
THE COMPETITIVE SET, AS UNDERWRITTEN
VENUE
REVENUE
ANNUAL COVERS
AVG CHECK
Bukhara · ITC
₹37 cr
67,000
₹5,500
K3 · JW Marriott
₹30 cr
115,000
₹2,600
361° · The Oberoi
₹22 cr
84,600
₹2,600
Town Hall
₹19 cr
169,000
₹1,125
Social · HKV
₹18 cr
225,000
₹800
THE OVERTURE
Iconic chefs flown in to open each food theatre; a celebrity mixologist and a renowned DJ in residency for the first three months; a published music calendar to set the bar's tempo.
THE TEASER
Ninety days of proof points before opening — prêt-à-manger sampling delivered to neighbourhoods and offices, pop-ups at Setz and The Lodhi, and invitations placed where the capital lands: the airport baggage halls.
IV · THE APPETITE
The district, as imagined.
IMAGERY FROM THE ORIGINAL MKT CONCEPT DOSSIER · REPRODUCED FOR CASE-STUDY PURPOSES
V · THE OUTCOME
Delhi's Gourmet Food District.
The concept opened as MKT at The Chanakya — Delhi's premier all-day dining destination — designed and launched end to end: concept and brand naming, kitchen and china specification, the mixology programme, the financial model, and the 90-day teaser campaign that filled the room before the doors opened.
Conceived during the founder's tenure as Vice President and Head of Hospitality for DLF — in the same years, and with the same discipline, as the turnaround of The Lodhi. One of sixty-five F&B concepts authored on four continents.
“When stewardship is honest, the numbers follow.”
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