Sandeep Chattoo is a businessman from Srinagar. He has been running a 4-star hotel in Kashmir successfully and is also the co-owner of the Kashmir football club. His dedication and passion to promote the Kashmiri Waazwan led him to open Junoon Bar and Kitchen in Gurgaon.
The term Waazwan is derived from two words, ‘waz’ meaning cook or cooking and ‘wan’ meaning shop in the Kashmiri language. Waazwan is Kashmir’s most formal multi-course meal, it is a ritual to serve it before the guests out of all the food there is in the house. Almost all the dishes are meat-based using lamb or chicken with a few vegetarian dishes. It is popular throughout the Kashmir. Moreover, Waazwan is also served internationally at Kashmiri food festivals and reunions.
The very appetizing and delectable Kashmiri cuisine with breathtaking decor cannot go wrong for your guts. The zesty and lively ambiance welcomes you with warm greetings adding to the overall appeal of the place.
In Conversation With Sandeep Chattoo of Junoon Bar and Kitchen
In an exclusive conversation with The Restaurant Times, Sandeep Chattoo talks of his journey in the industry, the story behind Junoon Bar and Kitchen, ensuring customer satisfaction, marketing strategy and a lot more.
Marketing Strategy
Restaurant Marketing have changed dramatically over the years. What worked 10 years ago, or even in the last couple of years, doesn’t usually work anymore. It can be a struggle to find new customers for your restaurant with more competition than ever before. However, social media, new technologies, and other digital media will work in your favor to acquire customers at a lower cost than ever before.
Restauranteurs no longer are dependent only on the traditional word-of-mouth marketing even though it is the easiest and the cheapest form of marketing. Junoon Bar and Kitchen also follow this strategy and has its pages on Instagram and Facebook, which they run actively.
For Chattoo, giving offers like 1+1 and 2+2 especially on drinks works in their favor. People like using such offers and tend to have more when there is some offer going on.
Apart from that, they have Bollywood nights, live music and Sufi music which attracts the crowd and makes it more interesting for them.
“The quality of the food which we offer speaks for itself,” says Chattoo.
Chattoo also tells that Kashmiri Cuisine being fairly new for the audience, they also market their Cuisine by posting interesting facts about the Kashmiri Cuisine on Instagram. Kashmiri Cuisine is mild in taste and rich in flavor with the high use of hot spices like cardamom, fennel, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and saffron. Influenced by Mughals, Kashmiri cuisine is predominantly non-vegetarian, with mutton, chicken or fish used as prime ingredients but there are a few delicacies for vegetarians too!
Dealing With Competition
The foodservice industry is one of the most ambitious industries to survive. A restaurant business can be affected by numerous factors. The most basic ones include the pricing, location of the restaurant, service, and quality of food served. All these factors influence the footfall of the restaurant and the profits made.
According to Chattoo, competition is always welcome. It is healthy to have competition as it motivates us to work harder. Restaurants need to stand out from one another and that is why taking care of your competition is necessary.
“It is survival of the fittest in this industry. Learn to analyze your competitors, identify the gaps in the market, and work to provide what your competitiors arent,” says Chattoo.
He also adds that there is a need for improvising and innovating at all times. If you are stuck in one place, it will only deteriorate your business. Innovation needs to run deeper than trends and fads. It must change how you operate your business and increase your restaurant’s probability of success.
Ensuring Customer Satisfaction
Cultivating a high level of customer satisfaction should be a priority for all restaurant brands because foodservice is one of the most competitive industries. If your customers are satisfied, it will increase the restaurant’s profit. So it is important to satisfy your customers by ensuring that the supreme quality of the food and service are maintained.
According to Chattoo, different customers have different needs which need to be acknowledged and satisfied. A happy customer stays with your business longer and you want to keep them as long as possible because acquiring new customers is 6-8 times more expensive than retaining the current ones. It is important to train your staff right and make them understand that customers who experience better customer service come back. This, in turn, will help in maintaining high footfall and giving the business an edge.
Secret Sauce Behind Running A Successful Restaurant
The right plan and a clear idea can help you run a successful restaurant business. Restaurants that focus on the fundamentals of meeting these needs—hiring the right people, emphasizing on teamwork, and meeting the evolving expectations of their customers—are more likely to be successful.
According to Chattoo, the secret sauce behind running a successful restaurant is offering high-quality food and being true to what you are preaching to the customers. When you are honest with your customers, you immediately begin to create a relationship of trust with them. So many people appreciate businesses for telling it like it is. The rapport that you establish with your customers in this instance will do well to secure future relationships.
Chattoo ensures that, through Junoon, he delivers authentic royal Kashmiri food to the patrons. Seven dishes are a must for the Waazwan are as follows: Seven dishes are a must for the Waazwan are as follows: Rista, Rogan Josh, Tabak Maaz, Daniwal Korma, Aab Gosht, Marchwangan Korma, and Gushtaba. The meal ends with the Gushtaba. Kashmiri Cuisine in undoubtedly rich in flavor and Junoon Bar and Kitchen is definitely doing justice to it!
