Built with Soul: Narayan Poojari on Building the Shiv Sagar Legacy

That was the entire business model. “One day a customer walked up to me and said “Why don’t you start pav bhaji? I want to eat it here. I smiled and said let’s do it” shared Poojari who has created a legacy with Shiv Sagar ruling hearts of Mumbaikars and Indians for its lip-smacking pav bhaji. 

“I was running an ice cream parlour then, but I had spent 13 years working in canteens and hotels. I knew pav bhaji. I knew flavours. And I knew customers” he shared as he worked on the dish, experimented, and worked day and night until he perfected it. “That pav bhaji counter changed the direction of my life. From there came South Indian, Mexican, North Indian, Italian, each cuisine opening a new door” he smiled. 

There are questions we ask the world and then there are questions we ask ourselves.

“For me the most important one has always been, How do you scale a brand without losing its soul?” he shared.

From a Small Shop to a Big Vision

Poojari started his dream project at a small shop in 1999. A year later, he knew it was time to scale. “My mentor and partner Mr. Bhagubhai Patel, stood by me and together we opened our second outlet right opposite The Dream Restaurant at Churchgate” he proudly shared as he is now thinking to take the brand on the global stage.

For him this business was about manifestation, consistency and a bit of stubbornness. As a 13-year-old working in a canteen and attending night school, he would walk past that restaurant every night whispering to himself about opening one like it someday.

Today Shiv Sagar Group has evolved into multiple brands across multiple cities. Every concept is different but the heart is the same. Indian hospitality the guests.

Learning from Each Concepts

Every brand has its own journey, its own personality its own lessons. “I have learned something or the other from each brand. And every concept has a completely different journey. It comes with its own thinking” he shared as Shiv Sagar taught him discipline, recipe and identity. Mahesh Lunch Home, where he is one of the partners, taught him to respect the sea its freshness, its tradition.

At Butterfly High, built together with his daughters Nikita and Ankita, taught him the joy of building as a family and of course, the newest baby, Kyma, the Cafe And Bar concept taught him how the next generation thinks.

“We never chased numbers. We chased experiences as scaling for me is not a race. It is like cooking a biryani slow flame, patience and soul” he smiled as he took Kyma and Butterfly to other markets like Hyderabad where both the daughters spent their time at the college. 

The Real Secret of Scaling

Young entrepreneurs often ask “How do we scale fast?” he laughed by adding that he always tell them scaling is easy maintaining the scale is the real challenge. Every single day, the same warmth, the same taste, the same discipline that is the real test.

People think consistency means control. But consistency doesn’t come from control. Consistency comes from care. And part of care is hygiene. I tell my team to keep the place clean as if your family is coming for a feast. But at the heart of it all a restaurant’s real product is not food. It is people. “Our chefs, our managers, our servers are the heartbeat of the brand. Guests might forget the dish they ate. But they will never forget how they made them feel” he mentioned.

A long-Lived Legacy

After 35 years in this industry, I want to share four truths Consistency is more important than creativity, don’t chase trends as trends fade but trust remains and never scale a problem fix it first. Always, treat staff like family, but don’t turn the business into family drama.

And the biggest secret ingredient is presence as the brand grows based on what the owner sees on the floor and in the kitchen. And our mission is simple to take Indian flavours and Indian hospitality across the world. We don’t want to export only food.

We want to export Indian warmth. Our aim is to build a legacy of taste, tradition and heart one that travels across continents” he concluded proudly.