Another level

It has been so long that I feel like a gushing bride sitting on a bed of roses atop a soft mattress on a 4 poster bed crafted by the finest Bengali* hands, all against the backdrop of a sensual hum of the sitar, awaiting the entrance of my tall (6 ft 2) tanned groom in a silk dhoti. I have not thought about this too much, promise.

One does not need reminding about the wonderful progress of Mooli's: 750 FB friends later (I remember that at inception Mooli's had around 545 or so friends), countless more followers and tweeters, reviews in the dozens, and the birth of Mooli's regulars. I was thinking what is next? How can Sam, Mathew and crew step it up even more? How can they have those queues? Does twittering and facebooking have its limits for this goal? Will I ever sleep with a girl again especially while I am in Dubai? How effective will the Evening Standard piece be? Has Sid lost weight on his you know what?

Perhaps we need to move from the virtual (and boy have they used that effectively to communicate their message) to the visual. As a brand Mooli's are more than just the 5 and now 6 beautifully made rolls. They are about the ideas and passion behind them, the passion that inspires you to cook, to want to go out and open your own place, whatever cuisine you desire, to make out that by association you also opened Mooli's and this should impress the girl you are talking to, to open a place and make sure that you are sourcing the best materials you can etc.

I am now getting sick on my own saccharine and marketing speak so let me get to my point. I think Sam and Mathew should showcase the broader canvas of their skills and passion by posting short videos of dishes they enjoy cooking and eating at home. A 5 minute quickie on scrambeld eggs with the twist of mango or chilli, the thai curry that is not thai curry, the hot cross buns that are not covered in butter but smokey peppered fish etc etc. They can even film their friends cooking their favourite dishes. I appreciate this can be time consuming but a short movie, which may not even need to focus on the face and kitchen, can be made relatively quickly. The key is for people to see the life behind the brand and to want to be part of it, to come and meet the folks who have created Mooli's and come up with cool ideas for quick suppers.

I can see the reviews right now:

"He may have hairy hands like Richard Keys or Teen Wolf, but let me tell you that man Sam can cook a mean scrambled eggs in 5 minutes." -Vogue

"He may look like a leftover from the 1960's ashram scene of Liverpool/India, but boy does he know how to rock my world with Tanzanian fish curry with an okra twist. Go try it." - Tatler

"With his sweet smile, cute dimples and little girl ponytail, I was shocked to see the way he butchered that piece of meat. But it was all worth it in the end for the Indian style carpaccio he created was simply heavenly. And so easy!" - Marie Claire

* Every Bengali I have met tells me that they are the artistic/cultural leaders of India. So that must be true.

we're here to stay

a few weeks ago, on a sunny Saturday, i found myself near Baker Street. after meeting a friend in Regents Park, i walked back towards my first flat in London on Melcombe Street. i remembered the German bakery Breaco which had opened opposite my flat - they made good fresh bread and did decent coffee. they also had some yummy mini croissants (which other cafes in London should do). mathew and i had coffee there last year - we had admired some of their furniture (a standing back rest in particular which we almost ended up having at mooli's).

as i got closer to my old flat, i suddenly had this sinking feeling that Breaco was no more. there was no light on and then i saw all the unopened mail and flyers under the door. game over. all over the city, whenever a place shuts down, there is all this unopened mail.

it's a tough business, this. lots of really good places shut down in London. i was amazed to find that recently Cafe Macondo in hoxton square had shut down. when we first moved into 50 Frith Street, quite a few locals reminded us that there had been 14 different restaurants in the last 10 years at 50 Frith Street. Mark and Gavin, two brothers who have had an office in Soho (above the Nando's) for 16 years said 'we don't know if you guys will make it'.

slowly, during a very cold London winter, we realised that while our location was good, it was definitely not great. only people in the business and locals know this. Soho has so many streets and so many different ways to walk that you can miss it. and the footfall isn't amazing on Frith Street (Old Compton Street on the other hand is a different story). we also learnt that marketing was pretty tricky. unless you get lucky with a big splash in the metro/timeout/evening standard or similar, you've got a big task ahead of you. Simon Woodroffe warned us about this before we launched, but you need to experience some quiet evenings to really understand how hard it can be.

in the last six months, we've had some incredible mooli evangelists. normal everyday customers who have made it their mission to spread the mooli, much in the same way converted appple folk go on about the mac (seriously my MacBook Pro is a joy. so much so that i think the Buddha rests as comfortably in the MacBook Pro as in the petals of a flower). you could see it in their eyes - they really wanted us to make it. so that they could have mooli's of course. 'It's really getting busier now,' they would happily say.

there are so many people and stories. Mark from Hill & Knowlton (not to be confused with other Mark earlier in the post) went to the trouble to design an e-flyer for us. Joce, MD of Rushes made sure mooli's were had at lots of screenings and evening drinks - she also wrote in with some kinds words: '..the personal service and passion for the business you show and have, makes Moolis a unique experience. You know the food is great and made with passion and integrity.' Rohit, our mooli champion of the first three months, made sure he brought ALL his friends to mooli's, one by one. the countless number of customers who helped us run free promos for our local offices and made sure their colleagues came in to try one ('you have to have a mooli' they say).

without our mooli evangelists, we'd have had no chance. so thank you.

on St. George's day last month, Mark and Gavin were blasting loud music from their office and Soho was alive. Donald from the Karaoke box (who is addicted to the paneer mooli) popped by and said 'No one else in this location has generated all this buzz. Everyone is talking about you guys - I went to the Curzon and they all had mooli's.' later that evening, Mark came by for a mooli, and told us that 'it looked like we were going to make it.'

yup, we're here to stay.

Genre Bending

This evening i watched Kick Ass. It took me back many years to when I first saw Pulp Fiction. Back then I knew that I was watching something very special. A new genre. A new space that Tarantino had carved out for himself. The old words and phrases just didnt do his style justice.

And so it was with Kick Ass. It felt Tarantino-esque, but it is so much more. I dont know the right words. I expect someone is creating new words to describe it.

When we decided to call a mooli a mooli, we had the same issue. The mooli isnt a burrito, or a wrap or a roll. So we created a new and catchy name. One that we could trademark and call our own.

And we dont badge ourselves "Indian street cuisine", because you will not get a mooli on the streets of India. Moolis are inspired by the streets of Allepey, Delhi, Goa...but Tokyo and London as well.

.......it took a while, but the word has caught on. On Friday we had a group of young Indie rockers. All seven of whom walked in and confidently ordered a "goat mooli" without even looking at the menu. Not a goat wrap, not a goat burrito, not a goat roll. They all wanted a Goat mooli.

SLOW FOOD, FAST

Mathew and I spent our Mooli's six month anniversary away from Mooli's (well, it was on a Sunday) - at the launch party of Chipotle in London. It was a very small affair and we were touched to have been invited by Sam Patel - who we've gotten to know because the Chipotle team love mooli's and order from us a lot.

It was fitting in many ways to spend our six month anniversary at the launch party because Chipotle has been one of our inspirations. anon nyc describes Mooli's to Americans in New York as 'Indian Chipotle' and they get it. We're definitely not Indian burritos but there is a lot we share with Mexican food and with Chipotle. We loved their line 'SLOW FOOD, FAST' the first time we saw it - it captures our beef, pork and goat mooli's so well. There's a lot of love and attention to detail which goes in to all our fillings. And with Chipotle, "food with integrity" isn't just a slogan. There is a real commitment to use naturally raised meats as well as natural ingredients. And this is largely due to the efforts of their founder and CEO, Steve Ells - even after 17 years and over 1,000 stores in the US. There is also a lovely simplicity about Chipotle's approach to design and their offering which we love.

Steve showed the world that not all chains are bad. And we were thrilled to meet him on Sunday. He even made Mathew's first ever Chipotle burrito!





The whole team was incredibly warm and friendly and have offered to show us around in New York. One day Mooli's will cross the Atlantic and go to New York. It might take many years but we'll get there. With integrity and freshly made rotis with no preservatives.

It's a small world. Today, an old customer Julie Falconer (who wrote a lovely piece about us ages ago) came back with some friends and I was talking to her about Chipotle and it turns out that Steve was her neighbour in the US!

On Monday, 10 May 2010 when Chipotle formally launched their first store in London, Steve was cooking away in their restaurant on Charing Cross Road... 17 years after he launched the first Chipotle in Denver, Colorado, in a former Dolly Madison Ice Cream Store near the University of Denver campus using an $85,000 loan from his father.

That is commitment for you.

PS: I loved their tacos BUT our bread is better. :P
PPS: I got drunk on their margaritas. :-O

What a piece of work is a mooli

Today was hot. 22 degrees or so. And we were worried about whether our warm and flavoursome mooli's would have the same appeal.

Well, after a slightly slow start, we were busy as usual. Aided by our sexy new look with the windows drawn back and all.

By 2:30, I was hungry and I sunk my teeth into a beef mooli. And it was good. Very Good. The peppery spice of the braised beef beautifully offset by the grated coconut, cool raita and zingy onions, tomatoes and coriander. Ahhhh, so beautifully balanced. Still loving you.

After 5 months and 3 weeks of eating a mooli or 2 virtually everyday, its great to see that we still love this little invention of ours. We may not have paid as much attention to management accounts and gross margin calculations, but i'm glad we've paid so much attention to our core product. This may look like shameless marketing, but we cant help but be proud.

What a piece of work is a mooli....

Mooli's Bite from whatlunchwhere on Vimeo.

and btw, wat is lettuce doing in my roti?

Ok, we've used this blog, twitter and facebook publish lots of good things that people and reviewers have said about us. I think its only fair to also share some the bad stuff as well.

now, things i was not hapy abt..........the panner mooli is a total disaster! no words - perhaps the worst combo i ve ever tasted - sorry. who designed it and why this way? why grate a paneer to pieces! i think it totally kills the taste of paneer - have u seen people mashing cauliflower unless its in a soup say? i totally love the idea of having a paneer mooli but this combo is pathetic - i would rather have it with palak or peas or pudina or channa or mushrooms etc but adding paneer cubes and with some green chili as they go together very well. you might get some ideas here - http://www.sanjeevkapoor.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=paneer.

and btw, wat is lettuce doing in my roti? im really not sure if it goes adds to the taste rather watering down the taste of the moolis.

Make Breakfasts Happen Boys

Friends and random readers, I have flirted with the keyboard, ummed and ahhed, lost some more hair, but enough is enough. It is now essential for the food market that mooli's launches a breakfast mooli that brings to the world the naked delights of an Indian omelette/scrambled egg wrapped in a fresh hot chappati. Their fears can be shot away by only serving it during the day. In my view this may be the plus point. I would, respectfully of course, urge our friends to seriously consider this. Below I have embeded some ideas for the breakfast mooli launch, all penned in an atmospheric blue. Bring it on. Please.

What is a Mooli?

Thanks Catty!

You've got the music in you

Sam saw it coming. The sun, the cusomers, us turning the corner.

This week people poured in to Mooli's like never before. They're trekking to Soho from Mayfair, Holborn, Croydon and Dorset. We've formed strong alliances with WhereCampEU and Asha. We look around and see folk from the Ivy, ByronBurger, Barrafina, QuoVadis, Giraffe, Chilango, Leon. The organisers of Harvest at Jimmy's want us at the festival because we are an "aspirational food" .

Suddenly I see, Suddenly I see, This is what I wanna be

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)Why the hell it means so much to me

But many times in the last few weeks, it felt like we were staring into an abyss, especially when the snow bucketed down really hard. But we've been tenacious (Jonny, we still remember your early advice to us "......you need to be incredibly tenacious to survive in this industry"). We kicked down doors when polite knocking didn't work. Sent mooli's to the City, film screenings and parties when it was too cold to venture out to Soho. Got into Esquire because Timeout couldnt be asked......created some heartwarming dhaal soups and brought back sacks of goat from Finsbury Park to launch the Goat Mooli.



But when the night is falling,
And you cannot find the light
If you feel your dream is dying
Hold tight....You've got the music in you

Someday soon we'll open a branch in the City. and Canary Wharf. But for the time being we'll concentrate on Soho. I love Soho in Summer. Even Spring is gorgeous. And we'll try to take Mooli's on tour......Glastonbury, the Big Chill, WOMAD, Harvest at Jimmys .....we'd like to be showcased alongside Florence, the Zutons and Arctic Moneys. Coz we've got the music.

Don't let go, You've got the music in you
One dance left, This world is gonna pull through

here comes the sun

or chutneys, spring and chess.

today, it was sunny. it almost felt like spring. we've had a hard winter with lots of learning but we're stronger now (thanks to some quiet evenings and lots of yummy mooli's).

in life and in business, you can often sense things. i think both mathew and i can feel the momentum. our whole team can. we're on to something here. raju, mathew and i (with a lot of help from moolita, family, friends and customers at the Sunday Upmarket) tried to create something really special and i think we are being rewarded by our loyal customers for being slightly unreasonable and going that extra distance - making fresh rotis everyday, making chutneys from scratch, slow-cooking for 6 hours. we had our best week last week and everyone's expectations (especially Raju's) are higher than ever.

this evening, after a very busy Monday lunch, here comes the sun was playing and i tweeted:

moolis here comes the sun.... that's whats playing @moolis just now. it really feels like spring is almost here....its been a long hard winter.

and then a twitter exchange with @ibzo.
ibzo @moolis bet it rains tomorrow
@ibzo no way! let's bet. if it rains, you win a goat mooli. if it doesn't, well you bring like 5 friends to mooli's!
ibzo @moolis throw in a kingfisher beer and we're talking :D
@ibzo ok done. our first bet on twitter. mathew may not be impressed!!
@moolis he'll get over it! COME ON RAIN!!

so we'll see if my gut (or my accuweather iphone app) is right. NO RAIN PLEASE. reminds me of shouting NO ACE PLEASE when you hold KK v. say AQ all in pre flop.

anyway, i'm glad to be writing on the blog again. today, shamyl, a regular customer and restaurateur who loves the pork mooli (better than the goat he says) told me twitter was great and stuff but we have to write on our blog. my uncle and aunt also reminded me last week. it's easy to procrastinate because there is simply so much to do. but tonight felt right so here we are.

the first title for this post was going to be: chutneys, spring and chess. we're holding a QYPE event on 14th March which we're very excited about. it's called Chess & Chutney at Mooli's. we're going to share some of our chutney secrets- Raju said to me last week - not the hot green one surely? but we'll be nice and spread the love. or the dry roasted red chillies with fresh green chillies and coriander.

i'm also looking forward to the chess side of things. we're going to play lots of blitz chess (and possibly even a small simultaneous).



it's a real shame that London has no equivalent to Washington Square Park (that's me hustling in New York!) or Harvard Square. maybe as the spring arrives, we'll leave that chess board outside with a clock and London will have a place to play chess (until maybe it moves to Soho Square).

the enterprising folks from London Chess Boxing have also thrown a smart prize in the ring: two ringside seats to their May event in London, complete with unique backstage access to meet competitors and organisers. now that's a crazy sport. chess AND boxing. round by round. i suspect if i beat the guy from London Chess Boxing, he's going to ask to box (or just start boxing rather). but we have a cunning plan (Eamon has offered to hold him).

so here's to spring, chess and chutneys. and mooli's winning its first bet on twitter tomorrow.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Going to start a Revolution....

Working @ Mooli's today, I felt like we were at the centre of a revolution, a haven for a number of young techies and entrepreneurs. Chaitanya and his fellow Expedians (pictured above) who love their goat mooli. 18 year old James Proud swung by twice. Founder of Giglocator, he loves his chicken mooli without any apple, tomatoes or salad and spends his days negotiating deals with behemoths like [NAMES REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF JAMES AS THEY ARE TOP SECRET]. He introduced us to Chris & Ed, the founders of Wikijob. Alick from Spotify swung by for lunch. A simple dhaal soup with roti for him. Spotify was made for me.



Jack Huang, founder of DealBunch was here with a bunch of entrepreneurs from LBS for their monthly catchup, including Carlo who started GelatoMio. As was Rajesh Chandy, Prof of Marketing & Entrepreneurship at LBS drawing all the obvious comparisons between us and Chipotle. The beef mooli hit all the right notes for him. Of course it would, he is from Kerala.

And there was Brojo, who started a mobile phone advertising company when he was 21, before most of us even had mobile phones.

We had a few more disillusioned lawyers who wanted to chat with S&M before taking the plunge themselves.....

This is Social Media Week in London, and we are priviliged to be a part of it. Thanks Bumsy, Chirdeep, Farhan, Sherene and Anon NYC for showing us the way.

In between all of this, we managed to sell quite a few mooli's, mojitos and kingfisher beers. More than any previous Wednesday.......

Twitter

Just thought it would be fun to include a few reactions to our mooli's (especially the GO GO GOAT MOOLI) extracted from twitter. Start from the bottom...


ibzo had my second goat mooli from @moolis in three days. i'm addicted. will blog about it soon.

cr @farhan isn't the chicken halal @moolis? Gotta agree with you though Farhan, goat mooli is one to keep :D.

farhan @chirdeep @moolis Goat mooli is a must keep ;) It's the only halal meat mooli they have at the moment ;) And I'm grateful they have it! ;)

chirdeep Thinking of @moolis and the beta release of the goat mooli. Should go to approve/disapprove soon.

chaitanyakuber @moolis nom nom nom

sherenejose @moolis i'll be there to sample some this evening :D

adelecompanymag @moolis lovely lunch at moolis as recommended by my art team... next time i will remember to order the lush brownies too!

farhan http://twitpic.com/y6ghn - the goat @moolis are so yummy, I had to have another one..

vicchi http://twitpic.com/y68w9 - Trying out the goat special from @moolis on Frith Street. Delicious!

sigizmund Been at @moolis - had some great food and free mint tea just for tweeting about it. Sounds like something I can do on daily basis!

kreidekreis Great lunch today @moolis (50 Frith St) - fantastic food, friendly staff - well worth a visit! ... http://schmap.it/G8mqDm?a

chaitanyakuber Best mooli yet! Try the goat mooli @moolis. #soho #londonfood

cr RT @moolis @cr described our masala chai as christmas in a drink! - its like mince pies and mulled wine. Mmm!

ibzo oh my goat. had a goat mooli from @moolis earlier. it was an absolute triumph, well done to the great guys there. go get one soon

TheBuddhaSmiled @moolis - what's this I hear? Proper goat meat, here in Central London? Have I died and gone to foodie heaven?

helenmusic mmmmmmmm the new goat mooli is delicious, i can confirm. another triumph for @moolis !!

tloghal The goat at @moolis is only there for a month (poor animal). So goat in there (sorry).

abiCompanyMag Love @moolis - the best lunch in soho!

TanitaM new favourite place for lunch @moolis Go there now!!

anilmathew @londoneating Just has the goat mooli @moolis - tasted amazing. Definitely my favourite mooli now!!! Worth trying out :-)

LambshankRdmptn @Screenjabber Slow roasted, unapologetically spicy. In a sandwich. A winner from @Moolis

Goodforlunch @moolis never done goat! I'll have to stop by

LambshankRdmptn Ok world. I've got to be in Soho for a film at 1:15. Anyone fancy a goat @moolis around midday?

Moolis Gemma I think Soho is about to GO GO Goat

GEMMA I THINK SOHO IS ABOUT TO GO GO GOAT

To : Gemma <gemma@gemmamasseypr.co.uk>
cc : Sameer Singh <sameer@moolis.com>;
cc: Raju Rawat <raju@moolis.com>;

date: Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 1:01 AM
Re: Metro

Gemma,
This evening Raju made a batch of goat mooli's for Sam, Fran, Vrinda and myself. I dont have the words to describe it. But I must because we promised to send you some info about it so that we can send it to the journalists and food bloggers.

I think we have it. A mooli to melt the last remnants of snow. A mooli to entice the shoppers from Oxford Street, the clubbers from Old Compton Street and the bankers from Fleet Street.

The recipe is Sam's grandmothers. She wishes she could be in London to see Mooli's in action. She called to remind Sam that the meat needs to be braised together with bones, and that it in addition to the smoky flavour of dry roasted red chillies it needed the fiery kick of fresh green chillies. Sam nodded in agreement. He has been making this dish for many years now and it is legendary amongst the Rhodes scholars of Oxford. And Raju has made it even better than the real thing.

So why does Mooli's want to do a goat mooli? Because goat is the meat we Indians cook best. Much better than any Carribean goat curry. Goat meat is leaner than chicken and has more protein than beef. And I haven't even mentioned the medicinal properties of the turmeric.

The meat is succulent and bursting with flavour from the dry roasted cumin, coriander, cloves, chillies and cinnamon. Flavours that are distinctly Punjabi. The potatoes sauteed with dry mango and cumin are the perfect foil. Red onions, tomatoes, fresh coriander and lime juice add a dash of zing. All of this cocooned in lovely wholemeal rotis made at 50 Frith Street by Moolita. GEMMA I THINK SOHO IS ABOUT TO GO GO GOAT.

The goat mooli is best accompanied by our newest cocktail - the pomegranate and chilli mojito.

Did someone mention winter blues?

Cheers,
Mathew

PS: thankyou goat anon

Concerning moustaches and other facial hair growth

As a young, precocious and, some would say, beautiful child on the South East Essex junior debating circuit, there was a question that always fascinated me. Why were all (or many of) the poverty stricken people that were on TV (documentaries etc) not sporting beards, given the food retaining abilities of facial growth in times of hunger? I returned to this question recently as I began to ponder the advantages and disadvantages of facial hair. For your correspondent, there are only advantages.

Snack nestling

I have mentioned this benefit already. Consider this everyday scenario. Your have just fought your way through the queues to find a cramped place on the tube. Partly through boredom, partly through the unintended effort of getting on the train, you are suddenly in need of a snack. Even if you have a quaker bar in your purse or man-bag, you are too cramped in the tube to reach for it. Perhaps you are a bit embarrassed to eat a whole bar in public. Perhaps the last Rolo (TM) in your pocket has become squashed and the caramel is now hard. The solution is a quick shuffle of the tongue away. In your lovely beard there nestles a bit of the muesli from this morning. Fantastic.

The relationship enhancer

Many women will tell you that a beard is off-putting. That is understandable given that no one (except my ex ex ex) really wants to kiss a bristly surface (although there is a solution to this: use conditioner on your beard). But there is an indirect benefit in entering a relationship with a beard. You see, a true sign of the evolution of any relationship is not just being nice and good to each other but also knowing you can be frank, ask for things and even argue. Of course if one can have a soft disagreement rather than a hard one, then the breakthrough to this more mature relationship can be negotiated happily. What better way to make this breakthrough than let your young lady request that you shave? Much better than having to argue or being told you are fat, too flirtatious etc.

The best short term slimming pill in the world

With a properly contoured box beard (or goatee), your face is effectively elongated. And this provides a slimming effect, which you can profit from whilst you get down to actually losing some weight.

Grrrrrr

For the perennial wimp or wimp looking person, there is no faster way to add a veneer of hardness or mystique than to, yes you have guessed it, grow some facial hair. I can't explain why facial hair has that effect. Perhaps it is the instant message it gives: " if he can't be bothered to shave and is such a deviant may be he is capable of other more dangerous things".

I do hope that our friends at Mooli's recognise these advantages and regularly give away a free mooli to the important constituency of facial hair growers.