The restaurant board with its use of colours and the tyre with the words Usthad Hotel painted on it look eerily familiar. The only thing that stops one from expecting Kareem Ikka and Feyzee from stepping out of this joint is the fact that it is not by a beach and it’s located in a multi-storied building. Food has been a source of inspiration for literature, art, music and cinema. However, when brothers Shine Chandran and Shin Chandran and their cousin Shaju Sajeev went to the theatres to watch Anwar Rasheed’s Ustad Hotel , little did they expect the movie to change the course of their lives. The trio, inspired by the movie, now runs a restaurant at Pettah Junction that has been named after the movie. Say Shine and Shin: “The movie touched a chord in our lives and inspired us to start the eatery with the same name.”
Scripted by Anjali Menon, Ustad Hotel , is about an elderly man bonding with his grandson over food. And that is what Shine, Shin and Shaju hope to do with their customers. “We are just a week old yet we have garnered ourselves a decent crowd. In fact, we have quite a few regulars who are like old friends,” says Shin, proudly.
The trio, says Shin, are decent cooks, especially Shine. “Shine prepares excellent naadan chicken roast. My wife, Divya, who helps run the restaurant while we manage the other aspects, is an excellent cook too,” says Shin. However, except for Shin who runs a small bakery in Pettah, the others have no experience in the food industry. The restaurant kitchen is currently run by Moideen who has experience running kitchens of various restaurants in the city. Says Shine: “When we opened the restaurant last week, we were sure that we would try as far as possible to stay true to the movie. Thus our emphasis is on naadan food. Like in the movie, we serve biriyanis that are quite popular amongst customers. However, as Chinese cuisine is popular amongst customers, we have added dishes like fried rice, noodles and chicken Manchurian to our menu too. Once we are fully operational, drawing inspiration from the film, we hope to serve food to the less fortunate.” Shin and Shine borrow a line from the movie when they say that the secret ingredient to their food is ‘Muhabbat’. “We aim at serving our customers clean, tasty food with a pinch of love. The look of satisfaction after they complete their meal is our manna.”
It helps that the staff at the restaurant are fans of the movie too. “Our staff ensures that the restaurant stands for the acronym we have coined from the word Usthad. U stands for Ultimate, S is for Service, T for Taste, H for Health, A for Affection and D for Delicious,” says Shine.
The diehard fans of the movie, hope that one day, members of the film, be it cast or crew, will drop by the restaurant. “As the restaurant is on the way to the city from the airport, we hope that one of them will notice the restaurant and stop by. The restaurant, after all, is our ode to the movie,” says Shin. The restaurant has just started a Facebook page (facebook/usthadhotelpettah) in which they hope the stars and customers can put in a few words of encouragement.
The restaurant is open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Contact: 9746573307/9809944677/9895233693.
