Six months, 23,500 burgers, 11,500 fries and 3,800 takeaways. And unanswered calls that they’ve lost count of. “The phone at Double Roti rings incessantly. Sometimes it’s not answered because we feel bad to tell our clients that we don’t hold reservations,” says Japtej Ahluwalia (29). He and Nikesh Lamba (28) started the restaurant in Chennai, earlier this year in April. That explains the regular queue outside the quirkily done-up place. “Sometimes, you see people playing carrom and cards while they wait,” grins Japtej.
Both belong to a food and beverage background with the ITC group. While Japtej was with Dublin at the Sheraton Park Hotel and Towers, Chennai (now Gatsby 2000 at Crowne Plaza), Nikesh worked in Delhi, after which he pursued a course at ISB and handled branding for Walmart.
When Japtej moved back to the capital, the two friends got together and came up with the concept of a neighbourhood café. After five months of planning, trying out numerous combinations of burger and sandwich fillings, and investing Rs. 15 lakh, the first Double Roti popped up in Gurgaon, in December 2013.
During the research stage, the duo put together four burgers a day, to figure out recipes that work. That’s when they learnt that not every recipe that looks good on the television actually tastes great — like the blueberry jam and pork burger. But they also found winning combinations — their bestselling Area 69 burger that has beef, barbecue, bacon, Cheddar cheese and lemon aioli and the Illegal burger, for which they came up with a chilli base: a mix of beans and minced meat that’s apparently recommended if one’s really hungry.
For the Chennai menu, they launched Southern Spice, a fiery blend of podi , garlic-based sauce with chicken and curry leaves. The fries are served in steel chutney buckets. In Delhi, it’s served in kadais. The idea is to do different things in different cities. During the trial run here, they introduced a ‘pay what you feel’ concept, where diners paid as much as they wanted to. “At times, they ended paying a lot more. Somebody paid Rs. 5,000 for a meal for three. There were a few who didn't pay anything at all. But we didn’t mind that,” says Japtej.
The 40-seater restaurant here easily sees 500 diners on weekends. To add to that, there is also the takeaway kitchen that receives separate orders. It has been an overwhelming response for the entrepreneurs. “Initially, there were so many orders that we had to stop takeaways for a while. To help deal with that, in July, a separate delivery kitchen was set up, which gets its own set of bread and other ingredients. Because, earlier, we had a situation where we ran out of burger buns,” they admit sheepishly.
Double Roti now has a second, 50-seater outlet in Neelankarai. The ceiling is made of 850 bread moulds with ombre-effect lights. And there’s a community table too. “We thought of new concepts, including the pay-for-what’s-left-on-your-plate and eat-as-much-as-you-want-in-30-minutes,” says Japtej. And to feed your gluttony, they also have a burger that weighs one kg and appears on, well, a weighing scale. There are always those diners who decline desserts, but end up sharing one with others, often helping themselves to a large quantity. To share or not… to put such dilemmas to rest, the new restaurant offers community desserts that are served in large bowls.
Cities that are on their expansion list are Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Goa, Delhi and an international destination. They are in an agreement with an investor for 15 outlets in 30 months. “Our franchise model is simple. The property and manpower belong to the franchise owner. The branding, food and R&D belong to us. We run it,” says Nikesh. From flipping burgers to working 12 hours a day, they’ve done it all. “That’s the life of an entrepreneur. Right from contractors and constructions to licensing and taxation, we’ve learnt a lot,” says Japtej. But the turnover must be making it worth the while? “Well, you know how many burgers we sold… do the math,” laugh the desi burger kings.
