The owner of an Indian restaurant in a Buckinghamshire village has talked about his passion for bringing ‘authentic’ Indian food to customers while looking after the community.
Jai Vardhan Hada has steered The Kokum restaurant on Elizabeth Avenue in Little Chalfont with his business partner Tajesh Ghag since September last year when their ‘authentic’ Indian restaurant launched.
The duo and their restaurant team are on a quest to spread the joy of Indian cuisine to foodies in the Chilterns.
Jai, who hails from Rajasthan and moved to Amersham in 2016, said: “We’re not a traditional curry house.
“We serve authentic Indian cuisine, and I can proudly say we’re quite different from any traditional Indian restaurant in the area.
“If you go to any Indian restaurant you can find Korma, Jalfrezi, Balti chicken - we don't have those. That’s why we are different. We’ve got regional dishes, which possibly some of the people have never heard of, or in fact some of the Indians wouldn’t even think of having in the UK.”
Their menu boasts dishes from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kashmir and Punjab regions among others.
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“People love to experiment in today’s world, and we’re able to provide that to them.”
The idea for the restaurant began brewing shortly after physiotherapist Jai and IT expert Tajesh met playing cricket in Amersham. They struggled to find any “proper Indian restaurants” in the area, he said.
Although they spotted a gap in the market, their decision to launch the restaurant was driven by “passion for food,” Jai said.
“This project is our baby, and we’re kind of raising our baby at the moment,” he added and laughed.
Despite launching during a financially difficult time for both consumers and the hospitality sector, Jai firmly believes in the project.
“It’s weighing on the pockets of the people of course, and we do understand that and we do try to help with that.”
The restaurant has launched offers and free delivery within a five mile radius to help consumers without compromising on the quality of their food.
“We have a responsibility to look after our staff as well.
“We do not want to tamper with the authenticity – that is our business model,” he added.
The environment and helping the community are high on the agenda too.
For takeaways, the restaurant uses packaging made of sugar cane pulp.
Starting in April, The Kokum will host a monthly lunch club for elderly people in collaboration with Buckinghamshire Council.
“In today’s world a lot of elderly people are lonely and in need of company,” Jai said.
“We try to help the local community, we all have to look after each other.
“We try to source our products locally as much as possible. All our meat comes from the local butcher in Chesham for example.”
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