Page 75 - Keralite Magazine _new 1 copy

KERALITE
2018

Kerala Club Youth Council member Malavika
Vengilatt had the pleasure of interviewing Rajeesh
Vengilatt and Ravi Ikkurthy to learn about the
challenges and feats of owning a restaurant
business as well as what it takes to run a successful
Mallus sports bar.

Anchor Bar: One of the wonderful things about being a part of
the Malayalee community is the connections that
you make. Neighbors Rajeesh Vengilatt and Ravi
Ikkurthy have been active members in Kerala Club
An Interview with Rajeesh and Ravi for several years, but it was only recently that they

bonded together over their love for sports. Every
Sunday for the past year, Rajeesh and Ravi had
made time in their busy lives to play a friendly
match of golf. What seemed as a harmless game
was actually the start of something bigger.

It was during their weekly trip that the idea of
Malavika Vengilatt opening a restaurant came about. The Mallus are
well experienced in the various industries in the
Midwest (Rajeesh is the founder of a Michigan
based tech business “One Team” while Ravi works
for a Michigan auto company), but developing and
“Their journey establishing a new franchise was something neither

started with finding had encountered. Furthermore, opening up a
restaurant had less than a 10% success rate. But
a franchise that neither Rajeesh nor Ravi let some statistic burn

they felt connected to. down their passion to create something new.

They went through Their journey started with finding a franchise that
they felt connected to. They went through several
several well-known well-known joints like Subway, Tim Hortons and

joints like Subway, Zoup, but nothing caught their interest. Then they
learned about Anchor Bar, creators of the “best
Tim Hortons and Zoup, wing in the world.” What drew Rajeesh and Ravi to

but nothing caught this company was its history.

their interest. “On March 4, 1964, Dominic Bellissimo was tending
bar at the now-famous Anchor Bar Restaurant in
Then they learned Bu alo, NY. Late that evening, a group of Dominic’s

about Anchor Bar, friends arrived at the bar with ravenous appetites.
Dominic asked his mother, Teressa, to prepare
creators of the something for his friends to eat. They looked like

“best wing in the world.” chicken wings, a part of the chicken that usually

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