Hemant Bhagwani clearly remembers his first week of culinary school in Switzerland in 1991. It’s the first time the 18-year-old has been away from his home in Delhi, India, and he’s struggling. The boy, who has grown up in a house full of servants, has to learn not only cooking skills, but also how to make his bed and clean the washroom.
Bhagwani calls his father, begging to be allowed to go home. No dice. “The amount of money I spent on your education, I could have married my daughter,” his dad said.
Bhagwani starts howling. An Indian family walking by takes pity on the boy and invites him for dinner. “Make the best of it,” they said. The next morning Bhagwani awakens determined to succeed and make his father proud. He resolves to make a go of it.
Bhagwani has more than lived up to his vow. Today the master chef, sommelier and entrepreneur has opened 61 restaurants: three in Ottawa, one in New York and the rest in Toronto. But his storied career began as a fluke.
In high school, Bhagwani was more excited by cricket and girls than by making life plans. Then a girlfriend aspiring to go to chef school inspired him to apply to the Alpina School of Hotel Management in Parpan, Switzerland, where he completed a hotel and culinary management degree. The school not only taught him classical French cooking, but it also cultivated discipline in the previously pampered youth.
After completing the program, Bhagwani moved to Australia in l994 where he completed a master’s in marketing, and then to Dubai in 1996 to operate restaurants and hotels. In 2000, he immigrated to Canada, hoping to enjoy a more multicultural experience.
Bhagwani’s first job in Toronto was at the CN Tower’s restaurant, where he worked as a manager of food and beverage. There he developed a new enthusiasm — fine wines — and embarked on a course to become a sommelier.
But Bhagwani always yearned to be an entrepreneur. “I’m not good working for somebody else,” he said. “I want to express myself.”
In a city where 99 per cent of Indian restaurants were limited to buffet fare, he had a vision for a fine dining atmosphere. The day Bhagwani was passed over for a promotion, he quit his job and struck out on his own, purchasing a restaurant serving Indian and Chinese fare located in Brampton.
His first few ventures were failures. Bhagwani admits that he was too “obsessive” in his control of the restaurants, failing to trust the instincts of his team. “Sometimes the leader has to actually follow others,” he said. Poor choices of location and incomplete business plans were also to blame.
By 2006, Bhagwani found himself on the verge of bankruptcy and he contemplated leaving the restaurant industry. But his wife, Fatima, persuaded him to give his old dream one more try. “You’re very good at this,” she said to him. “Just do one more and this will work out for you.”
It was good advice. A string of successes followed, including the Amaya chain of eateries.
Today, Bhagwani’s restaurants run the gamut from casual outlets in food courts (the Amaya Express) to elegant eateries (the Tribeca in New York). Some restaurants, like the Kolkata, specialize in regional food, while others, like Popa (which fuses Indian and Burmese flavours) combine the ingredients of different cultures. His prolific business ventures earned him the distinction of being a finalist for the 2015 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Over the next few years his relationships with staff shifted his goals. While the young entrepreneur had once aspired to become “the most powerful guy in Indian food,” now he was motivated to look after his team. Bhagwani said he considers his employees as kin, and each worker has access to his personal cell phone number. He hires many of his chefs from India, and their earnings in Canadian dollars boost their standard of living.
Bhagwani said he also delights in creating entrepreneurs out of his employees. “I have struggled so much, I don’t want someone else to struggle,” he said.
When Bhagwani first met “timid” 22-year-old Sakshi, she had just immigrated to Canada from India and was desperate for a job. Bhagwani hired her as a hostess, then she became a manager and finally a confident co-owner of the Bar Goa restaurant. “That makes me proud,” Bhagwani said.
Successes like Sakshi’s drive Bhagwani to keep buying new restaurants to co-own with members of his staff. “If I can create more and more entrepreneurs…that’s my goal in life,” he said.
But even the energetic Bhagwani succumbed to the punishing 15-hour workdays. He said he developed sleepless nights, sore muscles, and full-scale burnout by 2017. “I just felt that I couldn’t do it anymore,” he said. So, he took a six-month break and headed to Goa, India, where he cooked with the locals. As he absorbed their dedication, his own delight returned. “I started realizing, wow, I love what I do.”
Most of all, the restaurateur enjoys making his guests happy. The dishes in his restaurants, all cooked with the freshest and finest ingredients, help turn around a client’s day. So does the warm atmosphere. “It’s almost like … a mom or somebody who loves you is feeding you,” he said.
Bhagwani approaches every table, hugging and kissing patrons, and engaging them in a chat. “We’ve changed your mood, even if you were going through stress,” said Bhagwani. “It’s very heartwarming.”
