What it’s like to launch a restaurant in a pandemic
New Indian restaurant Pali Hill’s Avinash Shashidhara tells us what it was like opening a restaurant just as the government announced a national lockdown – not once but twice.
I left the River café in 2018 after 10 amazing years and I felt like I was leaving home all over again. I wanted my own restaurant cooking simple, regional Indian food and to reconnect with my roots. It was tough with Brexit and investors not willing to invest, so put on a few pop ups around the world to put my ideas to the test. I travelled to Berlin, Copenhagen, Tuscany, Delhi and London with no menus in mind and just created Indian food with whatever was in season.
In March 2020 I was introduced to Rahul and Kabir of Azure Hospitality with an exciting proposal for an Indian restaurant, which would be their first venture outside India. The concept was food from ‘building societies’ in Mumbai, which are melting pots of people and cuisines from all over India. They have a community atmosphere where people exchange food and culture with their neighbours. You may have someone from Tamil Nadu living next door to a Punjabi, or someone from a Parsi community living next to someone from Karnataka.
Everything about Pali Hill was exciting – the design, the concept and most importantly the experience and enthusiasm the owners brought to the table. It wasn’t a dingy basement kitchen where the chefs would not see sunlight for months – there was a beautifully equipped open-plan kitchen with a fiery Robata grill and a traditional tandoori clay oven. The whole project was a challenge as I was preparing a cuisine I had never cooked for a living. My knowledge of Indian food is from growing up there, the things I have learnt from my family, going to markets and travelling. I was trying to replicate dishes I had eaten when I was growing up, only using ingredients used in top Michelin starred restaurants.
I think we really cracked it and the first weeks of trial menus were a huge success. Then came rumours of a lockdown. What started as an unrealistic joke, soon turned into an actual nightmare. Just like that we had to shut down for three months. The project and the building works fell behind schedule, which meant we would not be able to open for soft launch until mid-September. The spring menu went straight out of the window as we were now opening with an autumn menu. Some of our chefs were rusty and some had left us. My job became motivating them and reigniting that fire in their bellies.
And it worked: after welcoming our first wave of guests, the feedback was amazing, and positive reviews started to trickle in. I was so proud of the team and felt reassured that despite all the hurdles and emotions, we had been through, we were finally heading in the right direction.
But there was another twist still to come. Just as we seemed to be over the worst, another lockdown was announced, and all our momentum was stopped for a second time. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Hopefully this time we’re open for good – come and check out what we have to offer, I think you’ll like it!