Page 18 - Iconic Restaurateurs - The Entrepreneur Mag Ed. 3

Cover Story What led to the establishment of your

first restaurant?
I’d say that it happened by accident. During my
studies in the US, my father passed away just six
months before I was set to graduate. When I came “For food to be remembered, it must be great.
back to Sri Lanka to settle his matters, my mother
told me about opening a restaurant that my father That is how you make a restaurant successful.”
had been planning. As time went by, the restaurant
was established but I was no longer happy with the
quality of the food. To learn more, I began walking
the alleyways of Tsukiji fish market during my visits temperature of 750 Celsius. These projects are still
to Japan and collected a wealth of knowledge from in their infancy but when they do catch up, I’m
Japanese fish mongers and butchers. Eating a lot sure they will create waves in the Maldives.
and talking to those who deal with these products What is an enjoyable meal to you?
also helped. By this time, Nihonbashi had become
An enjoyable meal is a great dish that makes you
quite a unique dining establishment.
want more of it, in a setting that is remarkable,
In terms of Ministry Of Crab and Kaema making the entire dining experience memorable.
Sutra, what resulted in their formation? All in all, it’s a dish which makes that memory last
and while there’s no set formula to describe how
The idea for Ministry Of Crab came about when I
a dish is best made, to create one that everyone
was filming an episode for my TV show – Culinary
remembers is the ultimate experience.
Journeys with Dharshan. As this episode was
dedicated entirely to crab, a friend of mine asked
What is your secret to pairing
me why I haven’t started a crab restaurant. The idea
gastronomy and entrepreneurship?
took off from there. What we did was purely organic
Always being on top of the game. Becoming a
in terms of ideas; no consultant or PR agency
success in this industry is like playing a game of
was involved. Crabs are among Sri Lanka’s most
chess. There are so many variables, from changing
expensive ingredients, and as the civil war had just
weather patterns resulting in a poor catch, to the
ended, the concept really fit the time and occasion.
health and safety factors associated with dealing
In terms of Kaema Sutra, I had always wanted a Sri
with live crabs. You must be on top of every
Lankan restaurant of my own. The idea behind it is
possible move as many things can go wrong.
to celebrate all the ingredients that Sri Lanka has to
offer. There is a stereotype that Sri Lankan cuisine is Your story is one that has inspired many
cheap, but it is only cheap if low quality ingredients aspiring chefs and restaurateurs, what
are used. For instance, a cutlet made using canned
purpose is to be a source of knowledge for the industry, where do you have to say to them?
fish versus fresh tuna are worlds apart in terms of
colleagues within our collective can share information, dole out Try to have experience in a restaurant. The hotel
taste and cost.
advice and grow together as a whole. industry in Sri Lanka mainly focuses on buffets.
Tell us more about the Colombo City Restaurant You’ve recently expanded your presence into the Curating a la carte menus and using good
Collective and how it benefits restaurateurs like Maldives, please elaborate ingredients are not seen as a priority (find one
yourself? that does). This results in people going around
I have been cooking in the Maldives since 2003, in fact I’ve even the same circuit, switching between jobs while
Before the formation of the Colombo City Restaurant Collective,
taken my staff from Nihonbashi to prepare 18 course degustation preparing for the same menus. Additionally, it
there was no apex body which represented Colombo’s restaurateurs.
menus. These experiences fostered a strong interest to open a is important to start paying attention to local
Considering that as a collective, we employ more than a thousand
restaurant there. While I did explore these ideas, Maldives is a ingredients. I would urge all those interested to
people and contribute billions of rupees to the economy, the time
challenging market to execute such a venture. However, with the come and work with us, what you will experience
was right for the formation of the CCRC. Our priority has been in
launch of CROSSROADS Maldives – an extraordinary multi-island, with us is something very different, you will be
engagement with the local authorities. This came about after the
fully integrated leisure destination, we had the chance to rent out a able to grow in terms of skills while gaining a
many raids that took place in restaurants. As all of us strive to better
space and establish a restaurant. We initially signed up Ministry Of unique insight to food.
our product, our engagement with the authorities ensure that there
Crab and an offshoot of Nihonbashi soon followed. I just opened
is enough communication between the two entities. Our other
my third restaurant, a steak house using ovens that cook at a
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