From steely strength to delicate flavours

Nagpur: In this city, the name Saraf evokes awe. Durgaprasad Saraf Chowk in Ramdaspeth, where their white bungalow is located, is named after the family’s patriarch. Much of the family’s stature can be attributed to Facor, the ferro alloys industry founded by him in the 1970s. The swanky stores and restaurants set up and run by the enterprising women of this family in recent times are the talk of the town too.
But MD Saraf, the youngest of five brothers and his wife Manju, daughter of industrialist KN Modi, accept this legacy and the opulence that surrounds them with dignified élan. “A lot of regard that our family gets is because of the tremendous respect that our father enjoyed,” says the affable MD Saraf. “The warmth and affection that we get from the people here cannot be measured,” he adds.
“Times are changing and women are coming out of their shells to try out their ideas and realise their dreams,” says Manju, a vivacious entrepreneur who is revelling in her enterprises. She recently opened her second restaurant Brie, which serves pan Asian and European food. “Eleven years back when I started Zinq, the first Italian restaurant in the city, I proved the sceptics wrong. Most thought I was just indulging myself and would close it within six months.”
It is this enterprising spirit which transformed her from a contended housewife, learning various domestic chores from her mother-in-law, to a restaurateur and owner of stand-alone stores that sell fashion brands and artefacts. “Ours is a very orthodox family and the idea of us setting up a restaurant that serves liquor and non-vegetarian preparations didn’t go down well with the family initially,” she says.
“My husband being the youngest, I was fortunate to get this chance of living with my in-laws when the other brothers moved away to different cities were the businesses had been set up,” says Manju and adds that she made the most of it as she learned the art of running a home in a joint family and of making pickles and papads and doing gardening.
Once her three children were settled, she thought of setting up a restaurant. “Manju loves Italian food. Before opening one of her own she travelled to different cities both home and abroad to learn the finer points,” says Saraf appreciating his wife’s effort.
“I would sit in the best of Italian restaurants in Delhi and Mumbai and poach their staff. When I started a Chinese and Indian section, as lots of space was available at Zinq, I got chefs from places like Noodle Bar and Moti Mahal in Delhi.” These chefs continue to remain with them till date, adds Saraf.
“We don’t cut corners and not just chefs, the crockery, cutlery and the ambience all have to be up to the mark,” explains Manju and adds that this is the reason why two of her South Indian restaurants didn’t click. “The best comes at a price. Our customers would compare the prices of idli and dosa that we served with those sold at other South Indian eateries. I think I am jinxed with South Indian food,” she says, indulging in some loud thinking.
But the fact that footfalls are not very satisfactory at their other outlets worries her. “It can get very frustrating. Fine dining restaurants in other cities are packed during lunch hours. But we don’t have what they call a floating population that drops by to have lunch.”
The fact that commercial boom still eludes the city perplexes them too. “I am unable to attribute any reason to this. This city has such good potential to develop as a hub for power generation, people here are anxious to see development but still nothing happens,” says Saraf.
Rueing the fact that most steel plants in and around the city had to shut down, including theirs too, he adds, “All the raw material for ferro alloy industries has to be brought from outside the city and the finished products exported out. The city’s contribution or consumption is zero. But in other areas too, there has not been much industrialization here,” he analyses.
Cities which are smaller than Nagpur have seen galloping growth over the past decade, says Saraf. The couple believes that city has a spirit of enterprise and a curiosity to try out the new. “We see new faces and people coming to our restaurants and stores savour the niche food served there or buy artefacts or clothes,” says Manju and adds, “my efforts are to bring to the people here what is so easily accessible in other cities. But unless the purchasing power increases reasonably, nothing will work. City has to develop and progress from all sides.”
But Saraf advocates patience with the new political order. “They cannot change things overnight. We will have to wait for a while more,” he says. What keeps them going is their inherent love for this city. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else,” says Saraf. His wife adds, “People come and greet me if they spot me at my restaurants or stores. There is such warmth and friendliness here which makes Nagpur a good city to live in.”