M. Mahadevan
From teaching students on how to set up their own establishment to building his own empire of restaurants, Dubai-based restaurateur M Mahadevan has emerged as one of the most successful leaders in the food business.
M Mahadevan is by no means a conventional restaurateur. Setting out as a marketing professor in the portals of the famed Madras University more than 25 years ago, he has made a mark for himself in the hospitality industry as a brilliant entrepreneur owning 64 restaurants and 20 bakeries across 18 countries including the US, Middle East, India, UK and France.
It has been a meteoric rise for the professor, better known as 'Hot Breads' Mahadevan. But life has not been without its bumps. While he was training students on how to run an establishment – its management, costing and accounting - in Chennai, the youngster had his heart on setting up his own venture. "Food was always my passion and I love meeting people. So I started moonlighting in a hotel," he says sheepishly.
Later he moved on as a teacher to Parallel College in Kochi and worked as a front office manager in a three-star hotel called Ceylon. He was invariably drawn to the kitchen and would look at what the chefs were preparing. After gaining considerable experience and understanding the average Chennaiite's culinary tastes, Mahadevan started in 1982 China Garden, a departure then from the conventional restaurant with its thatched huts and tiled roof.
Then came Cascade that served South Asian specialties and is incidentally one of the most popular eating joints. There has been no turning back ever since. The year 1988 saw the opening of Hot Breads, Bakery & Confectionary, considered a landmark in the hospitality industry. It was a novel idea and people were skeptical about the concept of selling bread, croissants and donuts in tradition-driven Chennai. Puffs, Danish pastries, buns and croissants, made by highly trained staff, formed the South Indian's palate. Today there are about eight Hot Breads outlets in Chennai and more than 40 in South Africa, the Gulf, Far East and America.
It is to his credit that the famous Saravana Bhavan touched foreign shores a few years ago. Apart from that, South Indian restaurants like Anjappar, Kerala-based Paragon, Bangalore-based Nandini and Wang's Kitchen have branches abroad.
With more than 170 business partners and 64 restaurants already in operation across the world, the enterprising restaurateur continues to roll out new ventures, including an exclusive Kerala restaurant and a chocolate lounge, La Brioche, with renowned chocolatier Christian Vautier, in his hometown.
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