Tony Montana gets interviewed for a position at Mooli's

happy new year

have a really good one. :D

if you're around Soho, we're open till very late so come say hi and get your last mooli of 2009 or your first mooli of 2010. we're also going to throw in some champagne on the house.

S&M

you got to be on top of everything...

that's what Christian (who started Hummus Bros) told me earlier this year. i also remember seeing a video of Simon Woodroffe (the founder of Yo Sushi! who we've also met a couple of times) where he said the key was to always keep doing things quickly so that your lists never went out of control.

we've been open more than a month and i've only now realised how important it is to be on top of everything. being efficient, organising stuff like a demon, checking supplier prices, making lists, rotas, keeping track of VAT receipts, replying to mails, excel, acting on things quickly, setting up things, opening the mail (!?) - that's the name of the game, or at least part of it. who would have thought. i guess we did some of this in our previous jobs but i find this much harder. especially as we need to make sure that our customers get the best possible service with their amazing mooli's.

we all have our strengths and weaknesses. we also have patterns which are hard to break. i recently read Victoria Coren's new book "For Richer, For Poorer: A Love Affair with Poker" - one of the chapters is called 4am. i read that and laughed out loud. how many times have poker players played way too long into the night? so this rather uninspiring blog post is about breaking a pattern of being (slightly) disorganised and inefficient.

as newspapers, websites, magazines, and even food bloggers prepare their lists for 2009, my early new years resolution is to be super organised, efficient and fast. both at mooli's and at home.

Inspiring things

During the break I have come across little inspiring things I thought I would share.

1. http://www.pizzaturnaround.com/

There is a funny Dudley Moore movie, Crazy People, in which he plays an ad exec who has a nervous breakdown. The ads he makes during this breakdown are brutally honest and are mistakenly printed to great success. While not in that league, Domino pizza's decision to share the very negative criticism they have received about their cardboard crust and tasteless sauce is a brave one. The link takes you to their campaign to respond to these criticisms publicly by changing their pizzas. Brave or stupid?

2. http://www.rasikarestaurant.com/

When one thinks of really cool, well designed websites, the sites of indian restaurants do not spring to mind. BUt the website of this DC restaurant, popular with Rahm Emanuel no less, is, I think, beautifully designed and warms the heart (if that kind of thing does it for you). All the information is on a big page (like a menu perhaps), with a camera like device which takes you to the selected spot. Play with it and admire.

3. http://www.weinsteinco.com/#/film/a_single_man

Forget A Serious Man and any other movie of 2009, go watch A Single Man. Yes Tom Ford can direct, write and produce a movie as well as being a much lauded designer. Colin Firth's George gives a beautifully restrained performance of a man coping with his loneliness after the death of his lover (played by the very good Matthew Goode). A beautiful love story. And the clothes, car and props are fantastic. I want those glasses.

It is not just fusion, stupid

I do hope one day that S and M (and perhaps R) can transfer their passion to the printed page in the form of a cookbook. Their much commented upon passion and enthusiasm would be brilliantly showcased if they were to share with everyone the many recipes friends and family have enjoyed over the years. So it would not be a Mooli's receipe book, but a book of recipes by the Mooli's founders.

The great thing about any such book would be its wonderful reflection of the varied interests, identities and influences that animate the work of S and M and many others who are interested in cooking and look upwards for inspiration. The book would not be Indian as such (or from any region from India), and would not fall in one of the traditional categories. Unfortunately it may be called Fusion, but that word has awful connotations of people bringing cuisines together for the sake of it, rather than just reflecting what they love, admire and have been brought up with. Perhaps one can defy even the fusion lable by the sheer number national cuisines that influence S and M and all of us when we cook.

So, bring on the kimchi and.....?

Noses and Some Ideas for the New Year

Ladies and gentleman, your correspondent has made a breakthrough on matters of charming the opposite sex and at the same time selecting the most compatible companion, long or short haul. It is simply this: at the first opportunity during a party, dinner or simply coffee, you must seek to touch the said opposite sex on the nose. It must be a quick flick. Lingering too long may be interpreted in the wrong way (although once I had a major breakthrough on this front. But that was a unique case of a young lady who had a rather complicated upbringing that made her partial to nose touching: her mother was one of the leading nose ring persons of her generation; and her father was a nose surgeon).

I digress from the main message of this post: some ideas to consider for the new year.


Being free in different ways

The success of the mooli give-away to different constituencies is nothing short of genius. More than just a simple give-away its more creative delivery is "at one" with what mooli's should be about. I wonder whether there should be some alternative give-aways, perhaps in the evening. And taking it out to night club queues, announcing it before hand of course.

It's all about apps baby

We are in a world where apps are big. It makes sense given the technology that is part of our lives and the expectations we have of it. Mooli's is very much a modern brand in the way it has embraced fully the different e-mediums out there. There should be a specific useful mooli's app or something like it. But it should not be just for the sake of it - that would not be the mooli's way. My suggestion would be an app/tracker type thing that keeps you updated on mooli give-aways for example.

Don't forget what you remembered to leave out

I have discussed this principle before. Miles davis had it right and S&M have reaped great benefit from their sensitivity to not only what is visible and tasteable (as it were) but also what is not there. This must not be forgotten. Every addtion must be angonised over, because even it appears to make a profit there is the larger brand issue. Mooli's are not macDs, Burker King or even Pret.

Breakfast mooli repackaged

Saying the above, I still believe in the breakfast mooli idea. I understand that the morning is not an option, but who said a breakfast mooli can't be eaten at night time. I didn't. I think it would work.

The wall! The wall!

Another brilliant idea was the holding sign on the wall for new artists. But this must be filled soon otherwise it begins to look like a gimic, out of which no one benefits. There is plenty within the Japanese aesthetics tradition that chimes with India, and that can be an inspiration for an image. The propective artist would do well to take this as a starting point:http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/japanese-aesthetics/ (showing how Japanese art is characterised by certain features including: mono no aware (the pathos of things), wabi (subdued, austere beauty), sabi (rustic patina), yûgen (mysterious profundity).

Happy new year to everyone. Here is to 2010, the year when moolita gained a sibling.

tell your closest friends about mooli's.....

Dear friends,
We are now well into our sixth week @ Mooli's. Raju and his team have done a fantastic job of knocking out consistenly great mooli's and this has helped us to develop a really loyal customer base.

But it would be great if we could introduce more people to the mooli revolution going on at 50 Frith Street.......below is a little blurb about Mooli's.

Please do help us spread the word by email, facebook, twitter....go crazy!

Mooli Madly Deeply

S&M

Mooli's
Mooli's is the latest edition to the thriving Soho food scene. Located on the trendy Frith Street, Mooli’s brings a new concept in dining, serving fresh and zingy authentic Indian street food with a new spin (and it’s exceptional value for money).

Perfect for on-the-go or dine-in, Mooli’s is set to change the way you think about Indian cuisine. With a chic interior design, delicious mooli’s*, freshly made Mango Lassis (with a hint of ginger), creamy kulfis and Lychee Mojito’s (divinely refreshing), it’s the new hippest place in Soho to kick back and soak up your surroundings

*What is a mooli?
Mooli’s are warm flavoursome fillings, zesty salsas, vibrant chutneys & crunchy salads all rolled in a fresh homemade roti. The wholesome fillings have been created by former Benares Chef, Raju Rawat, and are made using dry roasted spices and carefully sourced ingredients; they include Keralan Beef, Goan Pork, Chicken & Apple, Asparagus & Cumin Potatoes and Scrambled Paneer.

A video of Mooli's in action
http://moolis.blogspot.com/2009/12/moolis-in-action.html

Some rave reviews
http://www.wallpaper.com/lifestyle/moolis-london/4120
http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/restaurants/moolis-review-61751.html
http://www.qype.co.uk/place/1064776-Moolis-London
http://www.coolography.co.uk/2009/12/moolis/Wesbitewww.moolis.com

Website
www.moolis.com

need a little patience, yeah

it's a quiet Sunday night at Mooli's after a busy Friday and Saturday night. times like this make us nervous. while we're really happy with how things have gone in the first month (especially the number of regulars we have), the rent in Soho is high and we have bills to pay. we'll have to do higher numbers in the new year.

a gentleman walks in and asks for 2 mini mooli's and a limonata. in 45 minutes it will be closing time. Abdullah Ibrahim's jazz continues to play...

a lot of people have asked us about our expansion plans. Dos Hermanos writes: It is obviously a place, which has been created with the words “Roll Out” stamped all over it. we didn't think it was that obvious but we are pretty honest about our plans: we want many many mooli's (maybe even one in tokyo!) and we want every mooli's to make fresh bread and to serve good, super tasty mooli's. but that is not on our minds now. it's about making Mooli's at 50 Frith Street work. it's only been 5 weeks and we know we have to be patient. like in war, poker or even life, it's bloody important. sometimes its hard to wait though....

suddenly, 5 students come in. beers & beef mooli's. they were here yesterday and loved it so much, they are back. Cheers! they say happily.

we're getting used to this- people come back to Mooli's a LOT.

we'll be patient. and we'll be OK.

A few more reviews of Mooli's......

QYPE

...........fresh Indian fillings and vibrant salads are served in generous measure in rolled Indian breads. The whole package is filling but deceptively light. You know how some spicy meals leave you bloated and feeling like you're moving through treacle? A Mooli lunch will leave you energised and nourished. Mind you, that could just be the unapologetic spicing: this probably isn't a place for the sensitive of tastebud. But if you like heat and big flavours, you'll find this properly portable, properly zingy Indian food very much up your small connective passage.

The lunch deal - a sandwich, lovely roasted poppadums and some eye-popping chutney, a drink (and the mango lassi with ginger is superb)- is a fiver. It's about the best way of spending a small blue one in the area.

View London

You might think a mooli is a large, white radish but now there’s a new definition of the word. According to two young entrepreneurs, it means warm, flavoursome fillings, zesty salsa, vibrant chutneys and crunchy salad, all rolled in a fresh, homemade roti. That’s a pretty fair description of what they’re turning out on the site of defunct Soho Italian cafe Piada, and it could just be a tweak on fast food that’s destined to go big.

*************

Excellent wraps. Not 'authentic' Indian street food but yummy fusion. The pork mooli is crave worthy, the paneer in the paneer mooli is like a paneer bhaaji and excellent. My favourite was the asparagus mooli even though normally I don't like asparagus!

Wallpaper

The recent opening of Mooli's in London's Soho burgh, though, has us especially humming with pleasure. Putting a new spin on a cuisine that’s normally (if stereotypically) associated with ghee-laden curries and heavy breads, this street food-inspired eatery dishes out tasty roti rolls with wonderful fillings.

Dos Hermanos

.....The lassi was excellent stuff, creamy, thick and delicious tasting fresh and full of fruit. The foil twist containing the Mooli was of impressive proportions and opened to release a pleasing whiff of spices. The warm roti needed more colour for eye appeal, but was well made, light enough not to sit like stone in your stomach later, but doughy enough to soak up the juices from the filling.

The Mooli was a bit sparsely populated by the main ingredient, but what chicken there was, was moist and its spicing subtle. Perhaps a little too subtle and the killer was lost beneath the filler of a slightly incongruous salad containing lettuce and apple. Fortunately, they also offer complimentary tubs of sauces to spice up your meal and mine was much improved by the removal of some of the excess lettuce and apple (lettuce and apple, really?) and the liberal addition of a fiery chill coriander chutney.

Editors Note : Dude, go for the beef or pork mooli next time !

......Mooli offers a fresh and welcome addition to an already crowded market. They’ll do very well.

Mooli's in action...