Sahil Sambhi was fascinated by food and restaurants from his teenage and was always on the lookout for an opportunity to learn and understand this industry and start something of his own. “In 2015 I got one such opportunity to open a restaurant and that was the start of my Molecule journey and I haven't looked back ever since,” shared Sambhi with pride. The journey like any other has had its ups & downs but each down has taught him something and made him better at this trade. “It's been 7 years and I'm very proud of what I've accomplished and achieved. There is so much new that is planned and times ahead are going to be very exciting,” he smiled. Excerpts from the interview:

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You own some of the most celebrated restaurants in NCR region. What’s your USP that keeps the business going?

We started Molecule, a molecule gastronomy driven restaurant back in 2015 in Gurgaon and it was one the best launched brands of the year, it was an instant success with Molecule and it became the talk of the town in no time. Over the years we have expanded Molecule to 7 other cities and are in course to open 15 more in the next 6 months. The attention to minutest details and focus on constant improvement has been our area of focus. With Molecule what we've done right also is keep our food quality high and the composition of the menu is exactly what our TG needs when they go out to a resto-bar.

Next we launched a very interesting concept called the drunken botanist in 2018, it's a concept inspired by Amy Stewart's book the drunken botanist. A cocktail driven place with food from across the world makes TDB standout amongst others around. The interiors are inspired from rainforest with a lot of greens indoors. TDB is known for its cocktails, the cocktail menu is curated with fresh herbs and with no artificial syrup or sweetener. One of the most famous bars of Gurgaon TDB is the go to place for its ambience, world cuisine menu & brewed beer. 

After having launched 2 successful watering holes, we wanted to foray into the food space and we launched our most well researched Vietnamese cuisine brand called VietNom in cyber hub, Gurgaon. With Asian cuisine being the 2nd most preferred cuisine for Indians and with plenty of pan Asian brands being already successful, the love for Asian food was very well established. We tied up with the Vietnam embassy in India and went on research trips to Vietnam and our chef got an opportunity to train extensively at local restaurants in Vietnam to learn the nuances of the cuisine. The embassy helped us source local Vietnamese ingredients to ensure authentic flavors and the H.E. Ambassadors also participated in food tasting sessions for us to achieve the local taste and flavors. VietNom was launched in May 2019 and it became popular within no time and is still one of the most acclaimed Asian restaurants in Gurgaon. 

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How is it been for you to run a multi-brand company under different concepts? Some leanings you would want to share with fellow restaurant owners?

Every concept of ours is very unique and completely different from each other and hence the mind-set for each brand is different. What I've learnt is to switch on and switch off from one brand to another, it helps me keep my thought process fresh and helps me come up with new plans & ideas. The process of learning is never ending. One of the most important things I learnt was eliminating fear of failure because I feel that impacts your thought process the most. This is an industry in which there will be failures on an everyday basis for example a very well researched and thought after dish might not fancy your customer at all, accepting that and changing and evolving based on the feedback is the key. Being proactive and being experimental is another learning that is very important. You have to keep up with the trends and keep innovating with time. There will be successful campaigns and you might not be successful in some but the process of experimenting and implementing new ideas should always be the focus. 

In the last few years we have seen that nightlife scene in India has changed especially in markets like Gurgaon. Why so?

Nightlife in India has improved in last half a decade or so. The quality of places that are opening are comparable to some of the best in the world. After Covid, we were all skeptical about the response we would receive, but to our pleasant surprise we have seen a huge surge in footfall at our restaurants and the whole industry has had one of the best year's we've had in a long time. Cities like Gurgaon, which I believe is the Gourmet capital of our country, has some of the best brands operating successfully.

Molecule is known for its signature cocktails. What is some of the innovation you have brought in the beverages menu?

At Molecule, we've always tried to be ahead of time, we invest a lot in traveling and learning the new cocktail trends around the most successful bars across the world. We believe having a good cocktail menu can go a long way in creating patronage for the brand. Our mixologists are always experimenting and curating new concoctions for us to introduce in our menu. We change our cocktail menu thrice a year, with change in seasons the need to change cocktail menu is very important as some cocktails are winter special cocktails and some are specially curated for summers. We have a special sous vide cocktail menu in which we infuse the choice of your spirit with your favorite herb/flower/ in 2 mins through sous vide machine. That's one of the most unique innovation in the cocktail space.

What’s your expansion plan?

There is a massive expansion plan in place for 2023-24. Molecule as a brand has 8 successfully operational outlets and has 15 new openings planned in next 6 months in cities like Faridabad, Gwalior, Indore, Meerut, Allahabad, Civil Lines Delhi, 2nd outlet in Gurgaon, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Mohali, Jalandar, etc. With a phenomenal experience and success in Gurgaon, Vietnom is expanding to 6 cities across India with openings planned in Delhi, Noida, 2nd outlet in Gurgaon, Goa and Mumbai in next 3 months. We are also launching a new hi-energy premium bar brand in June in Gurgaon, Delhi, Noida and in smaller cities like Lucknow & Indore. Another path breaking regional Indian restaurant brand is launching in Goa, Mumbai, Delhi in April- May partnered with a celebrity chef which is going to be a one of a kind experience of deep routed regional Indian food served on a modern plate. 

Top nightlife/resto-bar trends you see will change the sector.

I think focusing on plant based food and artificial syrup free cocktails are two trends that will change our sector completely and will be the next best thing to happen to this industry. The focus on plant based food has been an international trend for a long time now and it is finally finding its feet in India with increasing awareness of the importance of natural food. Cocktails without artificial syrup are already being followed by most of the top brands and that has changed the Cocktail space completely with everyone being health and calorie conscious the artificial syrups had to be out which has resulted in increasing cocktail drinkers which is a great sign for the industry.