Meet the new owners of the popular Coriander’s Indian restaurants in the first of Chris Lynch’s Out & About series. The Newstalk ZB host and Christchurch personality recently visited Coriander’s St Asaph Street to talk about the fantastic food and unique atmosphere.
“What an amazing place,” Chris says in the video. “You must be really proud of what you’ve turned Coriander’s into. I mean, it’s a household brand name in Christchurch.”
“It’s always been like that for the last 14 years,” says Coriander’s managing director Gaurav Soni. “But since we took over on the 1st of March, all of the restaurants – Bush Inn, Rolleston and the city restaurant – our goal was to transform it and take it to the next level.
“We have multiple new branches coming up, with Coriander’s Sumner coming in, and there’s another branch we are thinking to have in Melbourne. So it’s going big, and that’s thanks to the support of people in Canterbury: our customers and our loyal staff.”
Chris then speaks to Coriander’s operations manager Harpal Singh. “When I said to a couple of friends I was coming to interview you in Coriander’s, they said ‘oh it’s such great food!’ – and you are responsible for that great food. Is it a hard thing making sure you’ve got all the fresh ingredients and everything you need? Because I know you’re a perfectionist in everything you do.”
“Food is the backbone of business, especially in hospitality” says Harpal. “It’s not really hard, Chris. I just look around, travel around. The relationship is very important with the suppliers.”
“It’s not just the food though,” says Chris. “I feel it’s also the atmosphere you have.”
“Yeah, it’s the atmosphere,” says Gaurav. “We don’t run these businesses like your typical Indian restaurant, boutique style. It’s a big operation, so we want good business ethics: look after your customers, look after your staff, and everything goes well. The two big stakeholders are the people coming in to eat, and the staff looking after them. And if you get the equation right, you’ll never go wrong.”
“And the food is spectacular,” Chris concludes.
