THE HUMAN SIDE OF HOSPITALITY

As a journalist, even though you witness this up close and personal, you don't stop by to ponder upon it. From the critic's monocle, service feels imperative, and the science of customer experience design is a lost art that we, especially in India, are yet to master.

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IT is true when they say that one doesn't understand someone's journey till they have walked in their shoes. Over the years as a food writer and columnist, I've seen the rise of restaurants very intimately. This took a new turn at the end of last year, as part of a new project with an upD coming restaurant. Needless to say, much of my experiences have changed the way I thought.

Over the past two months, I have been shadowing a successful restaurateur to understand what truly goes behind building a successful brand. During this time, our experiences included food trials to gauge items that would be starred as must-haves on the upcoming menu and dishes that we unanimously felt were too close to what competitors already offered. What was even more exciting was the process of agreeing upon the finest aspects of the restaurant in the making the prints on the crockery and the texture of lamp shades to ensure optimum lighting without being overbearing.