If you want to open a restaurant,

By Markis Cheng

Photos by Shashank Beri

Illustrated by Abbey Piatt Price

You’d have to be crazy.

Raring to take my culinary endeavors to the next step, imagine my surprise when I shared to Manish Mallick, owner of Rooh and Bar Goa, about my potential plans to open a restaurant. His response wasn’t exactly the hope-filled encouragement friends and family had so earnestly expressed to me prior. To the defense of my naivety, I thought talking to Mallick would reveal the best-kept secrets to restaurant success – too, would I be able to replicate my own restaurant stardom. I mean, Mallick had only kept Rooh and Bar Goa’s initial doors open during the height of the pandemic, along with high reviews and ratings to follow suit.

Initially, Mallick’s experiences seem only tangentially related to being a restaurant owner, serving as a program manager for General Motors, before getting his MBA and Master’s in Computer Science at UChicago. However, after years of seasoned traveling where he developed a globetrotter’s palette, he yearned to share his unique culinary experiences back home in Chicago. When an opportunity presented itself in the heart of West Loop, he and his wife, Reena, took a leap, opening Rooh, and after its success, its sister restaurant, Bar Goa, in River North.

There is a point in our conversation where Manish’s voice tightens with gravitas, and he beckons me to listen. Restaurants exist as one of the riskiest business ventures, but if your pur pose to open a restaurant is for monetary gain, you’ve already failed – your true goal is to create a unique dining experience that you will be confident in and that your guests will enjoy Fundamentally, you are competing with other restaurants to not be more profitable, but to sell experiences not found anywhere else. If you’ve come into the industry looking for a profitable venture, look elsewhere.

I continue to listen - owning a restaurant is also a lot about managing its people and their expectations, alongside the food you serve. Whether it be the livelihood of your staff, or the experiences of your customers, people are what drive the lifeblood of your restaurant. Chefs want a space where their creativity can flourish. Customers are always looking for their next life-altering experience. Learning to manage the people and their expectations are critical in being a successful restaurateur.

However, and this is especially important, inspiring your frontline is what makes the difference between a standard restaurateur, and a standout one. Front-house staff hold the most tireless professions, carrying the burdens and expectations of both the kitchen staff and front house all at once. The restaurant owner may create the strategy, but the servers, hosts, managers, and those interacting with customers are the ones carrying out the battle plan. They jointly shoulder the burden of the restaurant’s reputation and the experience of the customer.

No general has ever succeeded without the loyalty and support of their army, and it is the same for the restaurateur. For Mallick, that comes with showing his full support to his house staff – his respect is always a given; wages will always be competitive; mistakes serve as learning opportunities and not moments of humiliation . It includes igniting a passion to work in the restaurant industry, the good, the bad, the highs and lows, Mallick aims to inspire and uplift those around him. Bar Goa’s manager, Kim Keang, rekindled her passion for the industry through Mallick’s sheer enthusiasm, overcoming the burnout she had faced from the industry once before. To him, this is the true mark of a successful restaurant owner – to have a passion and character so bright, people have no choice but to follow.

In the fleeting moments of our conversation, I asked Manish to recollect his best memories as a restaurant owner.

“It was when I would wake up with butterflies in my stomach, wondering if I would have enough staff, enough to distribute tips, or even complete service for the day, but telling myself it would get done, no matter the way. To look back and see how much I’ve accomplished, those are my best memories.” He pauses, triumph and pride undeniably resonant in his voice.

And I’d be crazy if I didn’t do it again.