Good Food Co: A Great Catering Concept
A Great Concept
Good Food Co
In the hands of the skilled Chef Virendra Rawat, Good Food Concept is leading Bombay’s catering fray, serving a range of cuisines across a spectrum of events
Buffet tables are always the highlight of any event, be it a wedding or a corporate meet, a private party or a gymkhana night. We often overlook the role of the hands behind the food we partake of, indulge in, remember much after, while we make merry. But we must! For memories of the food is what you take back most from any event, and caterers have an arduous task to make sure it’s fond memories you return with. Good food makes it all worthwhile.
Which is why lunchtime at the office was much-awaited the day we were aware a tasting menu was coming our way, from the Good Food Concept. Our editor had heard of and sampled food from this well-known catering company at a dear friend’s house party in Bombay as well as at a wedding in Mount Abu. Here we were, today, with a few dishes before us, with a couple of expectations mingled in. They were met well and we spaced out the food over two days as portions were generous and our bellies were happily sated for the day.
A galouti made of beets stuffed with goat’s cheese, a grilled panini filled with grilled veggies in pesto, a pancake roll with lamb shawarma, a chicken pâté on sugarcane sticks from Vietnam and a biryani with pulled jackfruit. Dessert: a Baked Kesar Pista Kulfi Cheesecake and a Chocolate Marquise slice. We’re not sure if the delightful Korean BBQ Chicken was thrown into the mix, too, for that’s another must-order when catering with GFC. Thus was the menu presented by Chef Virendra Rawat, Founder of Good Food Concept, to formally introduce us to the brand, get our feedback on some innovations and just make our day with some ‘good food’. It worked. Not just for the taste - the pesto in the veggies and the guac on the galouti lingered on the palate – but also for the presentation which represented the chef’s culinary artistry and hard work put in.
Chef Virendra has often been described as a culinary artist, running the show alone since 2014, when GFC was launched, mainly as a catering company. Today, he’s been awarded with an ‘iconic caterer of the year’ and GFC as ‘one of the best caterers in the city’. ‘Alone’ would not be quite the right word, for his team of 120 strong, who focus purely on outdoor catering, keeps him and GFC going. “I am not a one-man army, I have my team to thank for everything we achieve daily,” says Chef Virendra. “I took Good Food Concept forward on my own in 2014 but I would not have been able to cater as we do today, if not for many hands.”
Outdoor events across the country, private parties to the tune of 78 per day, God’s grace, corporate events, weddings… you name it and GFC is there for you! The magic takes place from their central kitchen in Goregaon, a 5000 sq. ft. large space which plays host to cooking workshops, too, and is equipped with its own herb garden. From where the freshest of produce is translated into multi-cuisine fare that caters to top clubs in the city as well as banquet halls and events at hospitals, too. Chef elaborates, “Under Good Food Co, we cater to Bombay Gymkhana, Dadar Banquet Hall and Hinduja in Mahim on a regular basis. Clubs in Bombay are a common feature and private parties and intimate gatherings, too. Weddings are, of course, a big part of our services, like the one in Mount Abu, when I met your editor, Farzana Contractor, for the first time.” Everything is well-taken care of, from the appetisers to an elegant wedding cake to slice into on your big day!
As for the herb garden, he shares proudly, “We grow our own veggies at the ‘farm’ at our central kitchen in Goregaon. We’ve got lettuce, herbs of a variety, chillies, cherry tomatoes… and we plan on growing most of our produce here, in the near future. It’s a farm-to-table concept at GFC. Sustainable methods in cooking are imperative.”
These include hydroponic farming – one very effective way to maximise the use of resources and combat rising food prices by using skilled labour, availability of clean water, seeds, soil and favourable weather conditions – to ensure food security and sustainability, reusing waste materials, reducing overall waste of ingredients in the kitchen, no chemicals, fertilisers or pesticides, and no plastic whatsoever in packaging prepared food and solar panels – both of the latter are to be implemented soon, as Chef informs us. They are also working on shifting to electric vehicles for their outdoor vans which consume a lot of energy right now.
Among the very few challenges that GFC faces is the lack of infrastructure for its vans when at an event outdoors, and the hassle they face from authorities for the same. “Government policies which include taxation and licensing are among the greatest challenges we face as a catering company,” Chef states and is pretty vocal about. “Otherwise, I cannot think of any other problems running GFC and doing what I love doing.”
It’s been two decades for GFC, catering for events across the country, with Chef Virendra at the helm, as sole founder since a decade ago. Earlier, Chef Virendra was in partnership running the catering company full swing, guns blazing, catering to all the big clubs including Willingdon, Wodehouse, Khar, Bombay Gym, around 10 clubs of Bombay. And his experience goes further back to 1999 when he began his career with Sun-N-Sand, Juhu.
When the Millennium hit, Chef moved on to an illustrious vocation with Moshe Shek, both young and raring to go. He worked on the opening of Athena, the biggest nightclub in Bombay at that time, then on Basilico, with Farhan Azmi as Moshe’s founding partner, and on Moshe’s, the eponymous Mediterranean chain of cafés that has stood the test of time, emerging amid a clout of cafés and delis to hit Bombay like a storm post 2000. By 2008, Virendra was in partnership for the catering company that preceded Good Food Concept as we see it today, with Chef Virendra Rawat as Founder extraordinaire. A quiet man who hails from Uttarakhand and has captured Bombay’s catering scene with flair. A chef who works behind the scenes, diligently, keeping up to expectations from food lovers and party hosts who want the very best and nothing less!
Chef shares the food concept at GFC. “Food is multi-cuisine at Good Food Concept. We aim to modernise the dishes that are already popular. For instance, I started making a kebab of khaman, the ingredient that makes the dhokla so popular. It’s called the Khamini Kebab. It’s an all-time favourite, a vegetarian version of mutton galouti, done here with beetroot as the main ingredient, stuffed with goat cheese and topped with guacamole.” You have other items like Mini Taco Cones served in matkis, Water Chestnut Cakes, Baked Potato Baskets, Paneer Makhani Vol au Vents, a Burmese Samosa Curry, Chocolate Chip Cookie Gulgules, Pista Kunafa Chocolate served layered in jars… Delicious, as regular customers will attest to. Big clients with GFC on their roster, the likes of Google, RPG, Deloitte, HSBC, Amazon, so on and so forth. Add Shilpa Shetty to the list, too.
Whether a big event or a small home affair, Chef Virendra ensures you get the very same quality and attention from GFC. He keeps the ever evolving tastes of the consumer in mind, as is called for if you wish to stand apart and succeed in this big, bad, competitive world of F&B. The healthy eater, for example, is one with increasing demands and needs, and taste has to replicate the unhealthy version, mind you! It’s a challenge when you’re catering for a larger crowd, especially, to ‘stay healthy and tasty’, but Chef Virendra has found the solution. Keep it simple, and go Asian!
“80 of the 100 who are health conscious like Asian food, and we work with that,” says Chef. “Stir-fried or steamed dishes. Sushi – like the Avocado and Cucumber, Dim sums like the Edamame Truffle, Thai fare like the Khao Suay, Middle Eastern dishes like the hummus, and even some European food from its proximity to Asia…it’s the most favoured choice of cuisine.” When we ask him what his favourite dishes are from his repertoire, his quick response is Asian! “I like steamed fish with soy sauce. Done simply, served with steamed rice and chilli. Hits the spot, and I can eat it day in and day out.” It has to be fish straight from the dhakka – the docks – and no other way, he warns. He stays away from chicken due to the way it is produced and sold today, he emphasises.
Go Asian or Continental, or Middle-Eastern, what have you and your guests, and GFC has got you covered, at a reasonable price point. A dinner menu at a private event, let’s say a housewarming, to give you an idea, would cost Rs 1250 per person, depending on the cuisine and the array you wish to present, with complete service. Cleaning et al, Chef clarifies. So, what you get when you cater through GFC is one chef who cooks the prepped food at the venue – the drama, too, if you so desire – two to three waiters, dishwashing staff and a supervisor. They will cook and clean and leave the place spotless. You’d think a party was never thrown in your house! There is bar service, too, if you order for it, at a separate charge, of course. Let’s be reasonable about ‘reasonable’ pricing, folks!
GFC does its best to bring joy into your home, to your event, into your life, through the best way known to man – food! And they’re doing a mighty good job at it. It’s a mammoth task, undoubtedly, one that Chef Virendra and the team undertake with precision. The discipline that comes with the job, especially as captain of the ship, comes naturally to a man from a hospitality background. He states, “I come from a hotelier family that moved to Bombay when I was five years old. We stayed in Juhu then. I studied at Podar High School, around 1987-88, and did my catering from IHM, Mumbai, thereafter. Hospitality is all I know, it’s in my blood.”
Hospitality does keep one on one’s toes leaving one with limited time for oneself. Or for family and other passions. We ask Chef how he manages to balance work and home, and life itself. He replies, “I try my best to give two hours every day to my family. The weekends are very hard, just no time in events. Once a year, I make it a point to take the family out on a vacation, mostly during summer break, in May and June.” Family includes two children and, as Chef laughs loudly and says, ‘just one wife’. Best we keep it that way, chef!
Good Food Concept
Mob: 0 98208 42525
Visit: www.goodfoodconcept.in