Daryaganj is a North Indian cuisine restaurant conceptualized by Raghav Jaggi and Amit Bagga with the principle of celebrating the legacy of Kundan Lal Jaggi, (Raghav Jaggi’s grandfather) who was the great inventive pioneer of tandoori cuisine and is often credited for making this cuisine popular in the world. In conversation with TMM, Amit Bagga, Co-founder of Daryaganj, talks about the idea behind launching Daryaganj, USP of the restaurant, consecutive launches, surviving pandemic, and the most innovative ‘Five Senses Delivery by DaryaGanj’.
Tell us about the soul of Daryaganj restaurant.
Daryaganj is a North Indian cuisine restaurant conceptualized with the principle of celebrating the legacy of Kundan Lal Jaggi, (Raghav Jaggi’s grandfather) who was the pioneer of tandoori cuisine and is often credited for making this cuisine popular in the world. The culinary legacy goes back to the era of India’s independence, when Kundan Lal Jaggi, a refugee from Peshawar came to Delhi with nothing but the skills to make the best tandoori food. He founded an iconic restaurant with two other partners in 1947. He was the inventor of the legendary Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani, arguably the most selling dishes in any north Indian restaurant. Daryaganj has created an experience of a sit-down set meal of many courses specially crafted to showcase the history of tandoori cuisine and its evolution, serving all dishes invented by Kundan Lal Jaggi. With the valuable inputs from Late Mr. Kundan Lal Jaggi and his family on the secret recipes of that era, the restaurant has recreated the taste & flavors of the 1950s. Their story is embedded in deep-rooted traditions and the glorious culinary legacy of Kundan Lal Jaggi.
How do you look at the journey in the dynamic market?
The journey so far has been amazing. We have received a lot of acknowledgment and appreciation from our clients and well-known people from the food fraternity as well. The journey has been equally challenging because more than half of our existence has been attributed to pandemic. In the span of 29 months of our existence, we survived smoothly. The first 11 months were smooth and the remaining 18 months were during the pandemic of which 7 months we were shut. We were resilient and survived this tough time by adapting to tougher times. We changed our style of operations and introduced the culture of Smart Operations at Daryaganj hospitality. We changed our fixed expenses into variable expenses and started controlling the expenses to be able to work against our revenues only. We opened our first two outlets before the pandemic, two during the pandemic, and signed the 5th one during the lockdown, which shows our confidence and determination towards Daryaganj.
What are the most popular items on the menu and why?
It has to be Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani as Kundan Lal Jaggi, grandfather of Raghav Jaggi invented the recipes of Dal Makhani and Butter Chicken. The culinary legacy goes back decades to the era of India’s independence, when Kundan Lal Jaggi, a refugee from Peshawar came to Delhi with nothing but the skills to make the best tandoori food. Amongst our other popular dishes, we have specials like Chicken Pakora, Mutton Burra Kebab, Tandoori Chicken, etc. We have recently created Lockdown Chicken, which is also receiving a lot of appreciation.
What new innovations have you introduced in packaging and contactless dining?
The food industry has undergone a lot of changes and transformations in the last couple of months and one such change is surely the way we look at the delivery of food. It’s very important that food packaging should entice your taste buds and evoke all your 5 senses at the same time giving you the restaurant kind experience at home. Breaking the monotony of usual packaging, we have launched the most unique, novel, and first-of-its-kind concept for food delivery called ‘Five Senses Delivery by DaryaGanj’. It all started with a thought process when we analyzed that customers don’t get the same experience when they order food from their favorite restaurants, we deeply evaluated the same and came to the conclusion that the reason is that normal Food delivery doesn’t touch their senses. Thus, we began working on the concept where food delivery can touch all their 5 senses. We thought of creating the same restaurant environment at your home. The challenge was to touch the five senses of the guests for delivery equally as dine-in. We wanted to create an at-par experience with our delivery concept, as food is not only about the taste but it is also about the complete experience. Hence we created the box, which evokes all your senses.
How do you see the changing food scenario of India?
The food scene will continue to get better day by day as people have seen tougher times of Covid. They have learned to live with it safely by following norms, and we as responsible restaurateurs are making sure to follow the Covid protocols as well. So, people have started dining out more, and food scene in India is becoming smarter, safer, and better, where the chefs and restaurateurs are pushing the envelope to bring more in terms of taste and style.
What are your future plans for the brand?
At present we have 5 restaurants at Aerocity, Connaught Place, Pacific Mall Tagore Garden, Ambience Mall Gurugram, and DLF Mall of India. We are planning to expand in Punjab, where we are focusing on Chandigarh and we are also planning to open 5 more outlets in Delhi/NCR in the next 2-3 years. We are also on track to sign our international outlet in Singapore.
