Vijay Mallya’s short-lived pizza kingdom

In fact, a lot, since L-9 Connaught Place (CP) is a historic address. Situated right in the heart of the capital’s retail heartland, the corner shop has a strange and mysterious tryst with its café. Situated at the intersection of CP Outer Circle and Janpath, visible from all four directions, this is where young people have gathered for decades, either to pick up a book from the sidewalk stalls or to shop among the many shops that have sprung up One quick bite and gone for years.

The current tenant is the coffee shop chain Sandoz, and judging from the average wait time of 45 minutes, its business is clearly booming.

Troubled history

So why has a series of high-profile chains sprung up over the years in such a coveted location? Wimpy’s, Domino’s and Dunkin’ Donuts have all come and gone in the past, but none survived long enough to leave a lasting impression.

But it’s Pizza King’s quick entry and equally sudden exit 40 years ago that creates the best story of them all.

This was India’s first real pizza chain, opened in 1983 by Mallya’s McDowell, and became an instant hit. In its rather short life, it served up some of the best pizza in town as well as grilled sandwiches, complemented by a milkshake and salad bar. The atmosphere is elegant and the service is pleasant and prompt. Soon, this place became a meeting place for fashionable young people in the capital.

This is different from the food giant Nirula who dominated CP back then. Offering dal makhani, burgers and ice cream, Nirulas is a family choice, not a place to stay. In contrast, Pizza King is a place where you can sit for hours drinking lemonade in a tall glass, giving you the feeling that you’re ingesting something more intense. To be fair, it has the typical Mallya signature style and refinement that was later replicated and amplified on his gilded Kingfisher Aviation.

Unfortunately, Delhi of that era was a city run by petty bureaucrats who had no respect for Mallya’s lineage or his taste. Invoking one municipal law or another, the harassment continued, not all of it unreasonable given Mallia’s financial shenanigans. Fed up with the constant irritation, one fine day Malia called the division’s CEO and told him: “tie up and sell“(Shut the damn thing down).

At that time, the chain started opening stores in Delhi and Mumbai, with plans to open more stores in other cities. The ultimate goal is to have 100 stores across the country in the next few years. A series of Pizza King Express stores offering takeaway pizza are also under construction. With young India starting to eat out, now is a great time to enter the industry. Businessmen like Anil Nanda and Ramesh Chauhan have realized the emerging need for fast food and interesting food and started starting businesses to make money.

Sadly, just five years after it opened, Pizza King came to an end. It was one of the many businesses Mallya exited after the initial fanfare.

However, the location was attractive enough for a quick change, and British businessman Kanwaljit Singh Siddhu, who brought Wimpy to Delhi in 1982, jumped at the opportunity and opened what became an extremely popular quick service store. The restaurant remained open for the next 20 years until closing in 2009. By then, the franchise was already experiencing a series of problems.

Again, CP is at the mercy of multiple municipal agencies that are digging it ahead of the expected influx of foreign tourists for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As a result, tourists failed to arrive, but the disruption caused led to the closure of many signature shops, including Wimpy discount store.

After a brief hiatus, another international chain, Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts, entered the space but closed a few years later as part of a cost restructuring exercise.

Sandoz, named after its legendary founder Jagir Singh’s passion for bodybuilding, is the corner’s newest resident. Hopefully it will break the curse that hindered previous efforts.