Accepting Challenges of an overwhelming Response at Ammaji's

Last week I started telling you about our restaurant and as this is currently the most important project of our lives, I will tell you a bit more about it today and in the next days.

I already told you about our great start with our restaurant. Obviously, as we didn’t expect that many people, we were, in the beginning, under some pressure to accommodate everyone! We quickly had to employ more waiters to be able to serve everyone fast enough. Even with the help of Purnendu, Yashendu, Ramona and me, it was sometimes tough and we all were very exhausted at the end of such an evening! Soon however, we had a few more people and it was getting better.

At the same time however, the kitchen was having similar difficulties: we brought in more staff for cooking, more experienced cooks as well as helpers – but they didn’t have enough space on our existing cooking range! Of course, the person who designed the kitchen was a salesman first, not a cook, and now as it came to practical work and with all the pressure of a full restaurant, it was getting tight. Immediately we ordered a new cooking range and after re-organizing the kitchen a few times, it is now all set and the kitchen is running fast and well, too! We have two expert cooks for each department, so that each of them can take their days off while we can still provide all dishes.

Obviously, all of this means a lot of expenses, too. Especially in the beginning, we knew this would happen and it is normal! We are not looking for the biggest profit however, as this was not the first aim and intention for us to open! We are having the goal of providing best quality at low cost.

That’s how we kept our rates cheaper than other eateries in Vrindavan. Our guests are often surprised about the low cost of their dinner in this beautiful ambiance and with such good taste. We know however that this is how it should be: first, we will show people that healthy food can be very tasty and we will give a practical example of our meals’ quality. About the rates, we can see later and make adjustments. We can see already that people like coming back for more – so much that we will need to expand very soon, finishing our first floor to fit more tables!

With this great response, at least one thing is true: we did advertisement but didn’t have to spend as much on it as expected, because another kind of publicity is going very well for us: the word of mouth. Talk spreads like wildfire in our town that there is one place you have to have eaten at, at least once: Ammaji’s!