From a small chicken shop to becoming a household name in Delhi, Brand Moets has seen it all. The multi-cuisine restaurant, brainchild of Sandeep Bindra, has evolved over time to carve a niche for itself among the foodies in the national Capital. Moets started off as a tiny outlet in Defence Colony in 1965. It was a 6×20-feet corner outlet, situated next to a fruit shop. After a few months, Bindra took a singlestorey building on rent across the road and Moets, the restaurant, started functioning from there.
But he was not satisfied. Along with the restaurant, he wanted an open-air barbeque. So, in 1969, Bindra took an adjoining place on tehseeldari (lease) and started an outdoor barbeque. The idea had come to him after seeing the city’s first-ever barbeque joint Baree Kebab at Hotel Ashok, Delhi’s first five-star hotel.
Open barbecue idea
“Our family was a regular visitor to Baree Kebab, where one could get the choicest tikka and kebabs. We all used to lap it up. It then struck me that we, too, could start an open barbeque and sell the same stuff at a much lower price. That’s how Moets started selling the tandoori stuff,” says Bindra. The barbeque clicked and drew lots of customers for Moets from all across the city.
In 1977, Moets was confronted with a major challenge when its tehseeldari didn’t get renewed. “A new food safety commissioner, who happened to visit Moets, didn’t like the idea of an outdoor tandoori restaurant. As a result, its lease was terminated,” recalls Bindra. That put him in a quandary. “Our flourishing business had suddenly come to a halt. I was told to shut the most profitable part of my restaurant, and I didn’t know what to do. It was then that my father Prithvi Pal Bindra came to my rescue as he purchased an adjoining building for Moets,” says Bindra nostalgically. He, then, pulled down the old building completely and rebuilt Moets as a fourstorey multi-cuisine restaurant, with each storey serving a special menu.
Foray into catering
Moets’ foray into catering – which is its mainstay today – is steeped in history and had a tryst with royalty. King Juan Carlos I was in India on an official visit in 1976 and the Spanish Embassy staff in New Delhi wanted to showcase tandoori stuff to him. The only place they could think of sourcing it from was Moets, Defence Colony. “We could not have hoped to start our catering business on a better note. King Juan Carlos and his team from Spain were the first beneficiaries of our outdoor catering. We were thrilled to serve Moets palate to the royalty; a huge kick-start for us!” says Bindra.
The foundation laid by Bindra has been deftly strengthened, and Brand Moets efficiently carried forward, by his family members. His son, Rahil, daughter Mehreen and daughter-in-law Nitika have played a big role in ensuring that Moets not only grows but also ventures into newer – and greener – pastures.
Taking it forward
Rahil, who joined Moets in 2008, wants to take the popular chain into luxury segment by creating a five-sense culinary experience. Currently, he is busy with newlyopened Red Door, Moets’ first South East Asian joint, in Rajouri Garden. Nitika, as the Creative Director of Moets, is helping Rahil in setting up the décor and ambience for Red Door with her keen eye for detail and design.
Bindra’s daughter, Mehreen, who joined her father’s business after completing her MBA from Wolverhampton University in the UK, opened Dirty Dough Pizza for Moets and is currently heading the outdoor catering division of the brand. The phenomenal success story of Moets’ catering business is succinctly summed up by Anjali Mann, who handles PR and Marketing for the group. “We are on the panel of almost every top-notch club in the national Capital, like Delhi Gymkhana, Delhi Golf Club and Chelmsford Club to name a few,” she says.
