A full plate: Meet Zorawar Kalra, founder & MD of Massive Restaurants

On an expansion spree, in India and overseas, Kalra tells Akshara Srivastava he is also determined to make Massive the country's biggest internet food company

Zorawar Kalra, founder and managing director of Massive Restaurants, which owns Masala Library, Made In Punjab, Farzi Café, Pa Pa Ya and several other brands across cuisines, has been on a roll. After the first lockdown in 2020, he knew the pandemic was here to stay for some time and that he had to find a way to get through it. Turns out he ended up doing more than just that.

Since the pandemic started, Kalra has further expanded internationally, opened four new outlets in India (three in Delhi and one in Goa), and moved seamlessly to the cloud kitchen model with a new burger delivery chain and another delivery brand offering only Indian cuisine.

I am waiting for him at Bo Tai, the Thai offering by Massive in Mehrauli — his favourite place. When he arrives, the excitement of the staff is palpable. We get to the main course directly. Zorawar orders a Thai green curry for himself and a green chicken curry and Sambal chicken for me. Since he does not eat meat on Tuesdays, we get egg fried rice — “with a lot of egg”. He proposes wine for me, but we settle on lemon water and Coke.

“We recently opened Farzi café in Canada and it’s doing very well,” he tells me. “The natural extension then, obviously, is the US, which is a very serious market. We have a four-restaurant development plan, the first of which opens in May.” The plan will mark Massive’s presence in 10 geographies.

Zorawar, 44, says this past December quarter has been his most successful yet. The cloud kitchen model, which he wasn’t a big believer of until a few years ago, has been a sensational hit for the chain.

Louis Burger, currently present in five states and soon to be in eight, has given “incredible results” in a very short span of time. “The revenue per sq feet is great. In a 150-sq feet store, we are able to do as much sales as some restaurants would in 3,000-sq ft.”

What also adds to the success of the cloud kitchen model is the low investment. “The whole kitchen is built within Rs 15 lakh and does a sale of Rs 30-40 lakh a month, sometimes even Rs 50 lakh. These numbers are very encouraging.”

“We want to become the biggest internet food company,” he adds.

However, while business is flourishing, not all has been hunky-dory. A quarter of India’s restaurants permanently closed in FY21, according to the National Restaurant Association of India. The pandemic-hit hospitality sector struggles to even be recognised as an industry.

The sector has been desperately seeking the restoration of Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the goods and services tax (GST). 

“With the removal of ITC, restaurants have lost money as every time we pay rent or build a restaurant or use any resource linked to GST, it’s 18 per cent more. While all other industries are allowed to adjust the collected amount and what they pay out, I’m not,” he says. “This is our top priority after two years of pandemic losses.”

But as bureaucratic red-tapism takes its time, Kalra is restless for action. He is gearing up to launch Slyce — a pizza delivery chain that he took two years to build — in Mumbai, and a biryani brand — Biryani by Jiggs Kalra — is in the works.

“I feel like a young guy who’s doing a start-up.”

The food arrives. As the staff serves it, Kalra turns around to compliment the chef. The curry, with its creaminess and lemongrass flavour, is as authentic as it gets.

Indians spend more on eating out than any other form of entertainment, he tells me. “I come from a crazy foodie household, where at breakfast we would talk about what’s for lunch and at lunch about what’s for dinner; and so I live for food. It is the only thing that can give you happiness three times a day and never get boring.” 

The culinary profession was a natural progression for Kalra, who always found his father’s life very exciting.

His father, Jaspal Inder Singh Kalra or “Jiggs” Kalra, who is recognised as the czar of Indian cuisine, was among the first star food writers, travelling the length and breadth of the country to bring out stories and recipes, taking Indian food to the world. He was also the mind behind some of the country’s most iconic restaurants like Bukhara at ITC Maurya in Delhi.

“There were more similarities than differences between us, but he was not as big of a risk-taker as I am,” says Kalra. “He was strong headed but he wouldn’t put his money in a restaurant. And I'd have done only that. I would not have built a brand for someone else.”

Although his father saw a sportsman in him and wanted him to pursue it seriously, there were never any restrictions. “While I was really good at racquet sports and swimming, I was infatuated with my father’s lifestyle. Even my MBA later in Boston was done with the singular focus of wanting to open a restaurant company of scale.”

Coming from a cosmopolitan household, food was always what their lives revolved around.  

“Both my dadi and my mother made really good desserts — from trifles to soufflés to éclairs,” he recalls. “But the one thing that really added a spring in our step was my dadi’s rishta kofta. She was the best cook in the world and I think my dad got it from her.”

Naturally then, the passing away of his father in June 2019 was one of the lowest points of his life. “It felt like I had lost my anchor,” he says. “He was always someone I could rely on, bounce ideas off. Losing him really shook me up.”

Two months later, in August, he also lost his best friend.

“I didn’t get much time to mourn. It was a rough year and then the pandemic was upon us in 2020, so I really didn’t know what I would do.”

He goes on, “But I am an eternal optimist. During the first few days of the first lockdown, I had the time to pause, to relook at the business, at every item of the profit and loss statements. So when I bounced back, everything was better than before.”

On that note of optimism, we order dessert: Belgian chocolate tart with coffee mousse and coconut crème brûlée, and double espressos to go with it.

The conversation takes a back seat as we dig in (quite literally). The  crème brûlée is sinfully good. The espressos arrive and Kalra is surprised they are not served in demitasse cups. “We should order those for here!”

As the meal draws to an end, he tells me, “The core thing that drives Massive restaurants,me and my father before me, is the responsibility towards Indian food — to put it on the global palate permanently.”

This journey has already hit some milestones: Farzi Café in London was recognised by the Michelin Guide; it was also considered the best new place in Toronto; Bo Tai, Swan and Pa Pa Ya are high up on the popularity chart.

The plans for the coming years are big and audacious. “We’re excited for where we are headed,” he says. “We want to democratise gourmet food and be among the top three in any category we play in.” A toast to that.