With new eateries popping up daily, the café industry in Delhi is witnessing a delicious competition. To give themselves a head start, three cafés that opened recently in South Delhi are trying to redefine themselves with eclectic innovation and unique professional backgrounds. Breaking away from the cookie-cutter model of their corporate competition, these independent cafés have used one thing to their advantage — a fresh perspective fused with an invigorating joy to celebrate lineage.
Diggin Café, which opened in February at Anand Lok across Gargi College, is a haven for those craving traditional Italian fare and cosy old world décor. Replete with high ceilings, large windows, a terrace overlooking a small green courtyard and colourful upholstery, the ambience is both striking and bright.
But for owner Digvijay Bedi, this café does not spring from years in the hospitality industry. Instead, it comes from a background in economics from the London School of Economics as well as passion for ice-cream making. Complete with a small selection of handcrafted gelato, Diggin is the “marriage” of personal creativity and professional training.
“We thought it will take us the first six months to get our feet off the ground,” said Guneet Bedi, the owner’s mother and Diggin’s interior designer who periodically lends a hand in developing the café’s atmosphere.
“But since the second month, things have been running very well.”
Ms. Bedi explained that this has become the most coveted spot for a diverse crowd from college students to families. Almost 100 people visit the café daily. Due to its diverse customer base, Diggin has also instituted a student menu from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with reduced prices and greater quantities.
Amit Rekhi’s Sakley’s Mountain Café in Greater Kailash draws the upper-middle class clientele for a fusion of rustic ambience and contemporary food.
Mr. Rekhi found his bearings in the café industry indirectly — by observing the working of Mountain Café, a restaurant that was opened in Nainital by his grandfather in 1944.
“I am the black sheep of the family,” said Mr. Rekhi, adding that he is a trained software professional.
The hospitality industry grew on him and he quit his job, and opened the fourth branch of Sakley’s Mountain Café, with others being in Nainital, Gurgaon and London, along with his brother.
“Inherited by compulsion, taken up by choice,” is how he describes the career shift.
From the slivers of tree branches used as mosaic ceiling to rustic paperback novels placed at each tree stump table, Mr. Rekhi explained how the process of bringing down the mountain experience to the city was centred around high quality food.
“Our kitchen staff was trained by the original 1944 Swiss chefs, initially based at Sakley’s Mountain Café in Nainital.”
Finding the right aura to attract customers from breakfast, all the way through till the happy hours, still remains a challenge.
Mr. Arora too stumbled into the café business coincidentally. Born and brought up in the United Kingdom, he worked as a successful accountant before quitting his job to travel the world. He then settled in Delhi.
While his ventures have served as a kind of testing ground for his interests in music, baking bread, the steam punk culture and vegan cooking, the newest evolution — Elma’s, established in its current form about four months ago, is putting the focus on its diverse menu and its homely Victorian ambience.
For breaking into the hospitality industry, Diggin, Sakley’s Mountain Café and Elma’s have not depended on creating a formal, profit-making and professional space. Instead, they have strived to build a home away from home, with each owner relying on familial ties and legacy to add the right intimate touches.
