DJ, Party Planner, and restaurateur Vivek Bharadwaj or DJ Vivek as called by his clique, now Raúl has tingled the taste buds of the many.
Taking a walk down history, starting at the ripe age of 18, Raúl dabbled in the world of party planning where he developed his skill of Disc Jockeying leading him onto a successful career ahead. With immense focus, fuelled by passion, he followed a path that many would crave, but not dare to take. The road to winning the prestigious contest ‘War of the DJs’ at National Level was a tough climb but with an ambitious fervour and a positive spirit, DJ Vivek reached the top in 2002. Soon, he launched his album, Jugni Jukebox, creating waves around the world playing his hit numbers at International festivals.
Globe-trotting as a DJ, Raúl missed one thing the most- his ‘ghar ka khana’ (food cooked at home). He loved his mother’s cooking and on his trips abroad, he often craved to eat it. After six successful years as a DJ, Raúl decided that it was time the world tasted his mother, Usha’s delicacies.
With a restless zeal raging through his veins, Raúl launched his company in 2006 to venture into Food & Hospitality business.
On the corner of most streets in Mumbai, Raúl used to notice an ethically clad man busily mixing ingredients with his sweaty hands serving it in a waste paper to Mumbaities who devoured this offering. He realized the city’s love for chaat and other North Indian dishes and the need for a more organized and hygienic serving. Brought up in Maharashtra but emerging from a North Indian heritage, Raúl decided to introduce Mumbaities to the North Indian taste of chaat and other main course dishes; food he ate at home. His mother Usha trained his cooks and staff at the central base kitchen in Colaba and opened his first 400 sq feet fast food joint, Chaat Lo at the food court in Atria Mall, Mumbai. The little fast food joint offered all chaats. Pani puri made out of mineral water, paratha combos, mini-meal combos, rajma chaval, kadhi chaval, masala chaas, lassi, the works. All the servers wore disposable gloves while preparing the dishes. This outlet attracted hordes of shoppers for its healthy chaat, office crowd for its delectable thali and even catered to large outdoor party orders. Chaat lo was the only food chain in Mumbai that offered the drink, aam ka panna or raw mango juice throughout the year.
Noticing a huge opportunity in corporate lunches Raúl began his second food business, a vegetarian corporate catering service called ‘mumma’s dabba’ with home-cooked meals from the heart. It was a flight kitchen kind of a module with microwave friendly disposable packaging served in a returnable tray. The lunch service was a hit among the corporate world with its value-for-money packaged meals and delicious healthy food. Last, the dabba service was delivering hot meals to 240 people a day in various offices in Nariman Point, Fort, Churchgate, Tardeo and Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai.
Observing Chaat Lo’s success at the mall, Raúl saw potential in his brand and moved to a 175 sq feet standalone quick-service joint at Girgaon Chowpatty attracting hordes of the drive-in crowd who love chaat and North Indian food alike. This small eatery used to start at 10 am with its breakfast delicacies of parathas and sandwiches winding up past midnight to cater to the late-night dessert lovers. Here he started juices & milkshakes as well.
Raúl was on a success roll in decided to launch of Chaat Lo’s first 1000 sq feet sit-down dinner, conceptualized and designed by his sister, a practising architect Shikha Bharadwaj Bajaj. Designed in a manner to create an ethnic atmosphere that compliments the authentic Indian vegetarian fare, Raúl saw the diner as being a grand success among Mumbaites. Right from the carved, wooden entrance door, specially brought from Rajasthan to the embroidered pillow cushions on the ceiling and the murals on the wall, the entire restaurant transports you to a remote Indian village. It was a one-of-a-kind themed restaurant in Mumbai city and was covered widely by the Indian press.
Raúl wanted to spread across the country through a franchise model. He was aiming to take Chaat Lo to an international level and was looking at franchise opportunities in New Jersey and Dubai.
Being a strong believer in the adage, ‘a change in attitude can bring a change in anything’, Raúl meets life’s challenges head-on. A dreamer by nature, he uses his entrepreneurial skills to lay the foundation stone to build those dreams into reality. Sadly because of unforeseen circumstances at the Girgaon Chowpatty, everything changed and things came to a halt. It was the beginning of a free fall. A chain of unpleasant events occurred thereafter. After a strong fightback, Raúl and his family decided to wind up the whole food business in 2009. Raúl often says that this journey is far from over and whenever possible, he will restart this journey.