Opening a restaurant in a pandemic is risky, but these brothers did it — twice
CBC
Opening a restaurant is a risky move at the best of times.
The odds are stacked against you, with 60 per cent of restaurants failing in the first year, and 80 per cent crumbling within the first four.
Knowing this might make launching a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic seem especially foolhardy. Still, it's something that Guna Sekar and his brother Balamurali Balasubramani have done — twice.
First was N.L. Spice Box, opened in Mount Pearl last winter.
"There are 10 or 12 Indian restaurants in St. John's, but nobody was doing South Indian food, so we saw an opportunity," Sekar said.
South Indian food shares similarities with Northern Indian food but there are significant differences.
"We do dosas [a thin crêpe that ferments overnight], instead of naan bread. We offer more vegetarian options, and our curries don't have dairy. The main difference to me is the heat level. The South Indian flavour profile is much spicier."
Shortly after the grand opening of N.L. Spice Box in the winter of 2021, the brothers had to contend with their first lockdown, which shuttered restaurants.
"Our first year with N.L. Spice Box was tough, but we kept the restaurant going despite rising food costs, and we adhered to health and safety guidelines, trained staff, and kept them safe," Sekar says.
Then the brothers opened their second venture — Madras Café — in November.
They felt ready for the challenge because they were already familiar with operating on next to nothing.
"If we can keep a restaurant afloat during COVID, then opening a second business with a different focus seemed doable to us," Sekar said.
Located on Duckworth Street, Madras Café has a unique breakfast menu, full-bodied, perfectly balanced coffee, and warm and welcoming service.
"There are so many coffee shops, we needed to stand out, so we decided to do fusion," says Sekar. "I know how to make breakfast because I ran a breakfast and juice restaurant in Toronto. We have some typical breakfast flavours with hints of South India in the pastries and sandwiches. The space was already set up for a coffee, but we knew little about it, so we were so lucky to find Hsu."
