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passionate and ambitious,” says Jyotin. “But it is a tough industry and to really make it work you need that relentless obsession and attention to detail – it is all-encompassing. It is a characteristic of everyone we work with, Indian or non-Indian. You need to have talent, but it is obsession that turns that talent into a successful business.”


“Whenever we have family dinners, the talk will always be about food and restaurants – what is happening where, who is doing what,” adds Sunaina. “There is just so much happen- ing in London that it keeps it fresh. You just don’t switch off at all.” I get an illustration of that obsession a little later on, when, while The Caterer’s photoshoot is taking place, the siblings’ attention switches to the transfer display- ing the Hoppers logo on the window of the restaurant’s main entrance. It hasn’t been properly applied and is bubbling ever so slightly. Sunaina spots it straightaway and it is pretty clear that it won’t be left that way. But given their relentless focus, does that mean that they can’t but help get involved in the projects of the other restaurateurs they are backing too, or are they left to their own devices?


“There is just so much happening in London that it keeps it fresh. You just don’t switch


off at all” Sunaina Sethi


“Typically it is the guys’ first restaurant that they have owned and run themselves, so we do make suggestions on how their idea could work,” says Jyotin. “For example, the guys at Bao had a market stall where they served three dishes, so we advised them on how they could convert that into a restaurant menu. But ultimately they are completely in control of what they want to cook and the way they want the site to look because I think that is particularly key in terms of the partnership. They want the autonomy and independence, and we put in our expertise and experience on the business side.”


When it comes to their plans for the future though, they are keeping their cards close to their chest. “There are no real plans at the moment,” says Karam. “When we do another restaurant it is site-dependent. Finding a property in London in the last year has become a lot more difficult. Premiums are huge and rents are the biggest they have ever been.” “We are working on a couple of things on the Indian side and the non-Indian side, but at the moment the biggest priority is Hoppers,” adds Jyotin.


And if the odds ever seem too heav-


ily stacked against them, which is hard to imagine at the moment, well, there’s always those masks...


10 | Best of Chef | March 2016 www.thecaterer.com








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