Variety at Valhalla

The name is unusual and so is the concept. Valhalla at Eros Theater Building at Churchgate in Bombay is a business lounge during the day; at sundown it turns into a tapas bar; by night it is a hip and happening place to unwind, with music, giggle, gossip and a swig of sangria!

Restaurants are a dime a dozen, but in a bustling cosmopolitan city like Bombay where peace is at a premium, there are very few places besides the five-star hotels where you can hold an important business discussion in private or host small conferences in a spacious, upmarket setting, Tricia Batliwalla, director, explains the concept of a business lounge. "All the tables at Valhalla have a Wi Fi Internet connection and the height is such that you can comfortably place your laptop and work. Our bouquet of business center facilities include private conference rooms with LCD screens, videoconferencing, conference concierge, airport pickup and drop… In south Bombay there are a number of old business houses and the buildings they are located in may not have the requirements to entertain guests. This becomes an extension of their office. Private equity players, bankers, company executives, profes­sionals…they come in, sit for a few hours meeting clients one after the other. Our alcove tables ensure that discussions are not overheard at the next table; our all day dining and quietly efficient service takes care of the rest,” she adds.

As day turns into night, the ambience changes. The music gets higher, the lights get lower, the candles and tapas platters come out. "The concept of tapas has taken off brilliantly,” she chuckles. "We thought we would have to educate people as to what tapas is, but that has not been necessary.” (A culinary tradition from Spain, tapas means ‘small bites’ of hot or cold appetizers, the equivalent of the French hors d’oeuvre or the Chinese dim sum.) "For those who don’t know, we encourage them to go through it and assure them that they won’t be hungry! Tapas is fun food! For those who insist on a main course we have our world cuisine showcase menu, pre-plated, attractively presented.”

(Clockwise from top left) Design and decor: Cozy corner, overview with symbolic throne at far end, the bar; private conference room; delicacies: Cranchan, Paella Valenciana, Serrano wrapped chicken breasts and in house chocolates

Nor has the name been much of a mystery! Most people are aware that Valhalla means a sort of paradise of food and wine, she says. (In Norse mythology, Valhalla refers to a grand hall ruled over by Odin, the supreme god and creator. The souls of heroes slain in battle go to Valhalla where a great feast awaits them.) "It is not a dark place where tortured souls go! It is a celebration for people who have been brave,” Batliwalla states. It fits the concept too, she adds, as boardroom battles can be no less daunting!

Valhalla was launched around five months ago by Perception Hospitality Private Limited, with Mahakhurshid and Rishad Byramjee of the Casby Group, Batliwalla and her husband Rahul Kanuga as directors. Perception Hospitality, set up in mid 2008, is the food service wing of the Casby Group (formerly known as M. B. Eduljee Cassinath and Sons, a stevedoring company established in 1857). Casby is now a diversified conglomerate, with interests in shipping, transportation, port-related activities, logistics and construction. "As a group we have constantly looked at evolving and entering new lines of business. As a concept Valhalla was different because it challenged the way of working of other stand-alone establishments in Bombay and perhaps even in other cities in India,” asserts Rishad. Mahakhurshid sees Valhalla as a logical extension of the logistics business. A businessman landing in Delhi and coming to Bombay for a luncheon meeting can be picked up at the airport, taken to Valhalla for the conference and lunch and dropped at the airport the same evening. "Hospitality is all part of the chain,” she observes.

Kanuga and Batliwalla have over a decade of experience in hospitality management, having studied at the prestigious hotel management school Les Roches in Switzerland and worked with international chains like Radisson SAS, Le Meredien, Ritz Carlton, Taj and Oberoi in Europe and Asia.

(From right) The management, Rishad Byramjee, Tricia Batliwalla, Rahul Kanuga, Mahakhurshid Byramjee;

While breakfast and high tea have been on Valhalla’s bill of fare, the Sunday brunch was launched just over a month ago. "I was very nervous about launching the Sunday brunch,” confesses Batliwalla. "I kept saying ‘hang on, hang on’ till Rahul and Rishad got fed up and said ‘Let’s just do it.’ We sent out just one SMS to Valhalla guests and we were sold out within one hour for the following Sunday!” With executives putting personal lives on hold with due diligence during the week, the Sabbath sees time for conviviality with family and friends. "Some Sundays we are completely bursting at the seams, some less,” says Batliwalla. Adds Kanuga: "I am, as are the others, extremely pleased with the reception Bombay has given us. The business has been very well received. Critics and customers alike have been extremely generous in their feedback.”

An unexpected hurdle was the ‘no smoking in public places’ rule promulgated by the government less than a month after they rented the place (where Starters and More was situated earlier). "This would have hit business hard. Fortunately, we have a long balcony just outside which has no seating but which hosts about 100 people standing, which is great. Not everyone can offer this. We are very pleased to have this,” Batliwalla declares. "No matter how many years of experience you have behind you, each project has a way of throwing you new surprises. Meeting them head on and having your own unique solution is half the fun. Each of us comes out stronger and more resilient,” observes Kanuga. Recently, Kanuga had led the pre-opening team (which included Batliwalla) for a 200-year-old mansion house hotel in the UK as its pre-opening general manager.

Valhalla offers breakfast comfort and conversation from eight to 11 a.m. and all day dining till three in the afternoon. Post-prandial pleasure comes with high tea, with sandwiches and more till six in the evening. The tapas/dinner crowd starts trickling in thereafter. With young office-goers who work late coming in around 11 p.m., the swing of things begins, with rock and retro music provided by regular and guest DJs. Weekends are packed, Batliwalla notes, but mid week Wednesday is also popular. Thursday seems to have evolved into a ladies night out! "The average meal with starters, main course, dessert and a drink will cost you approximately Rs 1,100 per head. We do not have a dance floor, though some do groove around where they are seated. We are very clear, we do not want a disco,” she remarks. Special theme nights, like the ones celebrating Parsi New Year or Halloween, bring a different flavor.

The subtle yet sophisticated décor has been designed and executed by Nowzer Panthaki and Lianne Luthra of Talati Panthaki and Associates. "They worked on the project from the ground up and everything was ready in around seven month’s time. They were bang on the button. In the hospitality industry, this is very important as we have to work on staffing, training, ordering… No one has let us down. It’s been top-of-the-line work, everyone has been ready to go that extra mile,” comments Batliwalla.

The idea of business lounge cum tapas bar, a first for Bombay, cropped up during a casual dinner conversation with the Byramjees. "We are very close, being family friends for a long time. Rishad suggested that since Rahul and I have expertise in hotel management, it would be great if we could get together and open a lounge bar to international standards,” Batliwalla narrates. "We started digging and talking to friends and others.” "The concept of a business lounge is currently prevalent only in a couple of five-star hotels (in south Bombay). These lounges are restricted to members only and are extremely exclusive, leading to a large number of people not gaining access to them. Valhalla enables all business folk, be they from out of town or local, to experience a similiar kind of hospitality as that offered in five-star facilities,” Rishad explains. "I wouldn’t say we took a risk. We had thought about it very carefully and thrashed the numbers out. We were very clear right from the beginning. This has to work.” They have been practical too, she believes, letting go a "fantastic place” at Horniman Circle as they felt it would be too large. Since they work on a multi-concept platform during day and night, "practically everyone is our competitor!” she laughs.

"Given the extreme downturn in the economy when we started, we did pace ourselves for some hard times for the business lounge, but luckily the recovery seems to be quick and robust. We purposely didn’t go for the big bang approach to publicize the facility as we wanted it to be a gradual word-of-mouth process for corporates to get aware of what existed,” Rishad states. While Mahakhurshid provides inputs on various aspects of the business such as financial control, ambience, quality and variety of the menu, etc, Rishad is involved in marketing strategies, planning the events calendar, etc. "All in all, we have a well trained professional team who know what to do and are capably led by Rahul and Tricia,” Rishad declares.

Perception Hospitality plans to spread its wings to other metros in India. "We are also toying with the idea of an additional outlet in Bombay, something that caters exclusively to the extremely upbeat north Bombay clubbing scene,” Kanuga says. The Zoroastrian community, he asserts, holds pleasant surprises for him at every turn! "I live in a world surrounded by Parsis. Having spent 13 years with Tricia (they have known each other since their student days in Switzerland), I’ve had an in-depth and close, personal view of the Parsis. In fact, so interested have I become in the happenings in the Zoroastrian world, I’ve taken to regularly reading the community newspapers and magazines,” the hotelier states. Laughs Batliwalla: "He knows more than I do!” "In all my dealings in the past years there has been one underlying sentiment — (I have found them) pleasant, honest and as punctual as one can get!” remarks Kanuga.