Trishna Opened 2008 Location 15-17 Blandford Street, London Covers 80, with another 10 outside, private dining room for up to 12 Style Coastal cuisine of south-west India Operator JKS Restaurants Website
www.trishnalondon.com
Bubbledogs Opened 2012 Location 70 Charlotte Street, London Covers 36 Style Grower Champagne served next to a menu of hot dogs Operators James Knappett and Sandia Chang Backer JKS Restaurants Website
www.bubbledogs.co.uk
Kitchen Table Opened 2012 Location 70 Charlotte Street, London Covers 19 Style Contemporary European cooking Operators James Knappett and Sandia Chang Backer JKS Restaurants Website
www.kitchentablelondon.co.uk
Gymkhana
Gymkhana Opened 2013 Location 42 Albemarle Street, London Covers 100 Style Food based on that available at colonial Indian gymkhana clubs, set up at the time of the British Raj Operator JKS Restaurants Website
www.gymkhanalondon.com
Gymkhana
Lyle’s Opened 2014 Location 56 Shoreditch High Street, London Covers 60 Style Modern British food from the former head chef of St John Bread and Wine Operators James Lowe and John Ogier Backers JKS Restaurants Website
www.lyleslondon.com
Hoppers Opened 2015 Location 49 Frith Street, London Covers 36 Style Hoppers and dosas and other dishes based on the cuisine of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu Operator JKS Restaurants Website
www.hopperslondon.com
Bao Opened 2015 Location 53 Lexington Street, London Covers 30 Style Taiwanese-inspired street food, specialising in steamed milk buns Operator Erchen Chang, Shing Tat and Wai Ting Chung Backer JKS Restaurants Website
www.baolondon.com
Lyle’s
www.thecaterer.com
trained at the Maurya Sheraton hotel in Delhi. He took over as head chef of the restaurant in 2011 after the previous head chef left, and not long afterwards Trishna picked up a Bib Gourmand from Michelin. “We thought at the time that seeing as we had a Bib Gourmand, we couldn’t win a star, so winning a star was a complete shock,” says Karam. From that one success has grown a group of acclaimed restaurants, and the name of the business changed at the end of 2014 to reflect that. What was previously Trishna Group became JKS Restaurants. “Trishna Group was kind of an accident,” admits Jyotin. “It was never meant to be known as that. When I left banking to join the business full time [as managing director], we just decided to call it Trishna Group instead of Trishna London. We got known as that for three or four years and needed to rebrand.” Jyotin, who describes himself as the “least
foodie” of the trio, nonetheless has plenty of business nous and experience to call upon, thanks to his 11 years in Barclays’ private equity team. “I leave the creative stuff to these two,” he says of Karam and Sunaina. Sunaina, meanwhile, also toyed with the idea of a career in banking and spent a year
“Whenever we have family dinners, the talk will always be about food and restaurants – what is happening where, who is doing what” Sunaina Sethi
on placement in Frankfurt in Germany work- ing with HSBC. Having decided that finance wasn’t for her, however, she considered management consulting and, in the mean- time, Karam asked her to lend a hand in the restaurant. It was there that she discovered a natural flair for front-of-house service and later a passion for wine that has led to her becoming a fully trained sommelier and wine buyer for the group. “That was it – the job applications went in the bin,” she said of her experience starting at Trishna. To have three siblings all working together to run a business is a relatively unusual situation, which begs the question – do they all get on?
“It works,” says Sunaina. “You have chal- lenges and it tests your relationship at times, but – touch wood – I don’t think we have had issues where it has affected our relationships too much. You get things done efficiently because there is no beating around the bush or tiptoeing around any issues. You say what you feel. Your goal is the same, so you solve problems quickly and get on with getting the job done.”
It is also fortuitous that the trio should have been born with the attributes required to form an effective group of restaurateurs – Karam
March 2016 | Best of Chef | 7
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