THE big advantage the ITC (Welcomgroup) Hotels have in Habib Rehman, their managing director, is that he is a great connoisseur of food. This, naturally, puts him in the happy position to promote Indian cuisines through his chain of hotels nationally. And he has been going about this in a very thorough manner. First Habib Rehman introduced India to North-West Frontier Province food through the Welcomgroup�s Bukhara restaurants. Then he gave us the entire South on a platter called Dakshin restaurants. And finally, with Master Chef Imtiaz Qureshi, he revived the lost art of Dum Pukht cooking with a several restaurants in the Welcomgroup Hotels under the same name.

But Habib Rehman will deny that he has influenced Welcomgroup�s F&B growth through his own personal likes and dislikes. Or that he is the tastebuds of the Welcomgroup hotels. He admits he is a foodie, this is due to his Hyderabadi past, and believes that man should live to eat rather than eat to live. However, the hotel business does not depend on the likes and dislikes of the people in authority or responsibility, he says. �True, leadership can influence the course of events, and we have created insightful and skillful teams that could accomplish successful F&B missions,� he admits. �But Welcomgroup always had a great tradition of nurturing cuisine and providing the space to experiment and innovate. This did help a great deal in formulating my views on various cuisines.�

Habib Rehman has a military past, and from the army to the service industry has been quite a change. How did he know he would be a success?

�At the Indian Military Academy, you are trained to be a success in whatever you do, with loads of common sense, commitment and integrity laying a most important platform for success. Even otherwise, there are many similarities in these two services. Firstly both are 24-hour industries, and secondly, the eventual personalities that are developed are such that they can be easily recognised. A hotelier or a service officer can be recognised by his look and demeanour as well as his lifestyle characteristics.�

Habib Rehman believes that what makes a hotel successful is the leadership that, in turn, creates teams and which lays the foundation for guest satisfaction (�delight�) in systems, services and attitude. He would like the ITC Hotels to be present in the upmarket business segment of the country, the four metros, and in the cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore. Alongside also the mid-scale segments in the mini-metros, to cash in on the opportunities as they come along. �Similarly, at tourist locations we will help owners restore and market their properties, creating a steady stream of income for the owners, generation of employment within the location and foreign exchange for the country.�

Talking about food again, he admits that his fondness for food has not really taken him into the kitchen (at home or in his hotels). �Very early I realised that I did not have the temperament to cook. I also realised that you could either be a successful supplier or a consumer. I opted for the consumption side. Perhaps the fact that I am on the side of the consumer, may also be one reason for Welcomgroup�s success in F&B.�

On food again, he says he has a definite fondness for Chinese cuisine. �But that aside, kebabs, caviar and salmon are great with me.� The Bukhara, Dakshin and Dum Pukht restaurants notwithstanding, Habib Rehman is delighted that Indian food has replaced Chinese as the number one food of the world. What put us right on top? Our geographical location, climatic conditions, cultural contacts and absorption and scientific temperament. Then, we have the ability to assimilate regional and global influences through our long history of contacts. Plus, our own spread of sun, sand, rain, mountains, spices, flora and fauna have resulted in an incredible array of cuisines. A range that is unmatched by any culture and country,� he says.

Food is important to Habib Rehman, and to the Welcomgroup hotels �it is still the cornerstone of our endeavours and success�. His own success since the day he quit the army to become a hotelier, he measures with the crisp words of a commanding officer to new-born lieutenants: �It is more prudent to do your best and leave the rest to forces that judge. And it is better to be a first-rate major than a third-rate major general.�