The men at mooli's asked for some ideas for the wording on the soups they are about to launch. Here are some that spring to mind. The randomness of ideas is such that I hope you too will chip in with your thoughts:
The mofo of soups*
As wholesome as the Happy days and the Cosby Show.
We never set out to make soups. But these are so tasty (and the increase in VAT) that our hand was forced. Did we already mention the increase in VAT?
If we were corny and cute we would say these soups are like a warm delicious hug.
Ok, so winter is truly here. Its cold, dark and miserable.
Mama mooli came to town to celebrate our anniversary, and i'm seizing the opportunity to sharpen up our Malabar chicken stew (Kozhi ishtoo in Kerala) recipe. Some of you got a sneak preview over Onam a few months ago, but its going to be even better.
Typical of us Syrian Christians of Kerala, its a really unusual dish. The flavours are genuinely subtle and mild - so mild that we'd eat it at breakfast with pal appams (a rice pancake that is soft in the middle and crisp and flaky on the edges) or iddi-appams (rice vermicilli or string hoppers). Yes, it is mild but its got the most gorgeous and balanced flavour - whole spices (fresh peppercorns, green chilli, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, cloves) stewed with coconut milk, chicken, potatoes, ginger-garlic, shallots and celery.
There is no other Indian dish that I know of which has so much flavour and is yet so subtle. Like bullets with butterfly wings. Our antidote to the winter blues should be ready in a few days.
And just for the record, the lady in the video is not mama mooli. And the voice over is definitely not me!
Of course I would write tonight. In a couple of hours we will complete one full year. Many said that we would not make it.
Tonight I'd like to dwell on some of our favourite mistakes. They were mistakes, because had we known better we might not have made them. But i'm glad we made them.
1. We thought we were a better dinner product than a lunch product. LOL. Had we known better we would have opened in the City. But we would have probably ended up being just another sandwich bar in the City. Today we are Mooli's from Soho. And the City landlords are calling out to us. At last weeks "Restaurant Conference" we were named in Davis Coffer's presentation on "The Killer Brands Every Landlord Wants".
2. We didnt really understand real estate. We didnt realise that 50 Frith Street which is just 20 metres from heaving Old Comption Street was 20 metres too far. But then again, we are now mentioned in the same breath as our neighbours Barrafina and Koya. Not Tuk Tuk Noodles and £3 Veg Buffet.
3. We didnt know how much time and money and space it would take to make fresh rotis in Soho. We could have crammed in 20 more chairs, reduced our labour costs by 10% and gained a few hours of extra sleep instead of rushing down everytime Moolita acted up. But screw that.
4. We didnt realise that opening in winter would be so much harder than opening in summer. Word of Mouth marketing is slower in winter so we had to sweat blood and tears to win our custom. We learned the hard way. But we learned.
Megan's ipod is playing "Feeling Groovy" by S&G. Its been ages since I heard this track.
So here's to making a few more (favourite) mistakes. Starting your own business is also about making mistakes, and learning from them. Do come and join us for a drink tomorrow evening as we celebrate our first anniversary.
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