Every time Ajay Mallareddy brought up his idea of opening a speciality restaurant, he was met with nays. “An Italian restaurant in Visakhapatnam? It will not work out. People here stick to the local cuisine,” was the usual response.
But he had the last hurrah as today, some eight years later, his Italian restaurant, Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM)is the go-to place in the city.
“We started in 2011 when there were not many cafés and restaurants in the city. It was a leap of faith as not one person had given positive feedback to my idea. However, I was adamant,” he says.
The beginning
Born and brought up in Visakhapatnam, Ajay says he always sorely missed good cafes in town when he was growing up. That was the beginning of his dreams of FSM.
“When we had just opened up, we got a really good response as people were curious about the place and wanted to try the food. Not all of them were familiar with Italian food and we had people walking in asking for burgers,” he laughs. “Getting a hold in the city was important as there was no other restaurant around for me to compare my place to them.” Being particular about taste and quality has kept them going, says Ajay.
However, it hasn't been a smooth sail through all these years as they shouldered the responsibility of introducing a new cuisine to the city. Of course, not everyone loved the Italian food in the first go. “ Italian pizza has thinner base than the ones that are normally served. So there were complaints that these felt like chapati or that the pasta lacked a tinge of sweetness but over the days people got accustomed to the changed taste and started appreciating the restaurant for its authenticity,” he adds.
Joy of experimenting
Though the restaurant menu has not seen much revamp in the last eight years, Ajay says that they keep adding things for those who like to experiment. “We cannot change our core menu as we have loyal customers who come for their favourites. Pizza and pasta are what most of them prefer,” he says. “There is not much experimenting spirit among the crowd. They like sticking to the few dishes that they tried. There are times when we have to poke them to try something new and assure them that they will love it,” he adds.
Ajay adds that it is mostly the people from the age bracket of 25 years to 35 years who are more open to experimenting. He believes that the recent mushrooming of cafés and restaurants that dish out a variety of cuisines is a welcome change.
Having tested the waters in Visakhapatnam which he describes as a tough market to crack, Ajay now operates out of Hyderabad where he owns two other branches of Flying Spaghetti Monster.
