Bringing world cuisines to Hyderabad

Chef turned entrepreneur Shankar Krishnamurthy is a veteran of the food and catering industry with over 25 years of rich and varied international experience.

 

- Ajuli Tulsyan

Tell us how your culinary journey took off and the path trodden so far.

It all goes way back to 1986. The journey started with the Oberoi’s in Delhi & Mumbai. Later, I did a eight year stint in Dubai and Kathmandu. Finally, in 2002, I settled on Hyderabad for my maiden venture. I had spent some time in the city and felt that it needed a restaurant that could bring European, American and other world cuisines. A decade down the line, all our restaurants under the banner of Fusion Hospitality have received countless accolades. Fusion hospitality has been a brand name for 8-9 of our restaurants, as well as for our business in outdoor catering and institutional catering, serving more than 30,000 meals a day.

From being a chef to becoming a culinary brand owner...how did the turning point come about?

Having been an executive chef with more than 20 years of experience, one feels the need to do more. The will to prove oneself further paved the journey from a chef to a culinary brand owner.

Luckily, the city I chose – Hyderabad – was evolving at that time in 2002-2003. People were open to new concepts and it gave me the courage to experiment at multiple levels.

We see many chefs owning restaurants now. What qualities are essential for this transition?

One has to be a complete food person. One needs to have a mindset to keep constantly evolving on the food front and be intimately involved with global food trends and with the skills to adapt those trends to the requirements of your markets, as we have done in Hyderabad.