-Ayshwaria Lakshmi
In the world of process-driven supply chain mechanisms, sea-foods are perishable and the uniqueness of the product determines the fate of every restaurant that specialized the seafood. However, here is a chain of restaurant in Mumbai which can raise their collar and say they do not have any regular supplier for sea-food, but the team visits the markets every day for fresh procurements.
Gajalee, Mumbai’s famous seafood restaurant has hosted many personalities from the tinsel towns and politicians. Some of their Specialty includes Bombay Duck Fried, Stuffed Pomfret, Crab Tandoori, Crab Malwani Masala, Lobster in Green Chilli sauce, Prawns Butter Garlic, Our Signature Mutton Dum Biryani is also very well known.
“We started with our first outlet in Mumbai, and it being a coastal area, Serving fresh Seafood was the first choice,” said Mr. Madhukar Shetty (CMD, Gajalee Coastal Foods Pvt Ltd). “All our Authentic Dishes are prepared from a central Kitchen and send to all our units twice in a day. This way we maintain the uniformity in taste at all our branches.”
He further added on how they became the best seafood restaurant, “We aim to serve the freshest seafood. We are the largest purchaser of Fresh Seafood from the market early in the morning daily where we check the quality of fresh Seafood and also, we sell the same on a day-to-day basis, That’s the way we maintain fresh quality in Seafood so our Guests gets the Freshest Seafood every day.”
Speaking on the reason behind giving unique taste, he says that there is no fixed vendor or supplier. “Like fishermen, for us also every day is a life-and-death. Once we have a fixed vendor/supplier, there comes the challenge of them not giving special attention to us. They might go for cold storage and we might be just another restaurant in the market”, Madhukar says further adding that his team is always on the lookout for fresh stocks in every single boat round the clock. “We might be the only seafood restaurant in Mumbai to have a procurement directly from the market across the day across the harbors, unlike a fixed vendor who again purchases from his comfortable supplier. I could say, our fish market business is no less thrilling than the stock market trading.” Every fish procured from the sea before going to the kitchen undergoes a quality checking and the restaurant has the habit of returning the goods that fail to mee their standards.
Difference between India and other nations:
Speaking on the way seafood restaurants are considered in India and other parts of the world, Madhukar says India is an economy that seeks fresh foods. However, in other parts of the world, processed foods take the center stage. ” In some varieties of sea-foods, our customers come just for the fragrance which might not be available even in our homemade fishes. Also, handling seafood might end up in a lot of wastage in making it Boneless or deshelled which is unavoidable, we have trained our people to do so.”
“We are continuously in the process of introducing new dishes and we incorporate it in the menu once our team of chefs approves it,” Shetty said future plans. According to him, from West-Bengal to Gujarat, the market is open for him and he is always in the hunt for the right and best partnerships. “The future of our food consumption is seafood. In a way where more than 3/4th is water which has a major economy backing it, I am sure that if the government focusses on maintaining the sea, we will be able to cultivate more from the sea”, he concluded.
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