An alternative perspective, June 2012
Long-term success is based on 3 pillars: a Vision, an Ambition, a set of Values
An Indian experience: let the consumer stay in control of his meal
“Simple food. Endless choices.”
“Would you like to make that a bowl, a plate or a roti roll?” asked the waiter as he served curried chickpeas and panini-pressed chicken sandwiches with vindaloo sauce from a steam table. “What kind of protein would you like? Would you like to spice that up or down?”
Bombay Bowl is one of a number of Indian restaurants whose owners are thinking big no matter how small they are. Borrowing the assembly-line format, customized service and chipper style of national chains like Subway, Bombay Bowl plans to make dals, curries, chutneys and flatbreads into fast-food choices from coast to coast.
The menu boards and signs at Bombay Bowl restaurant encourage customers to “make it a value meal” by adding a side dish of a steamed dumpling called a momo to a paratha wrap girded with mashed potatoes and peas.
Like many of the Indian entrepreneurs working in this segment, Bombay Bowl owner conceived its business to satisfy a market need, not a passion for cooking.
Bombay Bowl labels its menu boards following a standard formula. “We have to break down traditional dishes into gravy and protein components so that our guests can gain control of their experience, and build their own meal,” said Bombay Bowl owner. “It’s all about deconstruction. We have to deconstruct Indian food so that it can appeal to the mainstream public. With deconstruction, everything is possible.”