‘Oyster is Bangalore’s only bar that welcomes pets on all days at all times’

If you happen to be at HSR Layout in Bengaluru, you simply can’t miss Oyster Bar and Kitchen. The pet-friendly haunt for young working professionals, hosted by one of the city’s emerging F&B retail brands, TripGo, has had a fairly successful run over the last three years. In fact, the brand was able to safely navigate through the pandemic period and sprung back into business to register profits within three months. At the helm of affairs is Lucknow-born daughter of a retired Army officer, Devanshi Tripathi who worked in the development and edtech sector with various start-ups after graduating in Economics from Pune and following it up with an MBA in Rural Management from Anand, Gujarat. It was in 2019 that she started her maiden venture in the hospitality sector and now runs it successfully as its Founder and CEO.

In an interview with BW HOTELIER, the young entrepreneur talks about coming back strongly post-pandemic to register profits, popularity among the working professionals in the city and expansion plans. Excerpts:

You introduced Oyster Bar and Kitchen a year before the pandemic hit the world. How challenging was that period of uncertainty and how did you manage to sail through it?

Despite having made provisions for unforeseen circumstances, the pandemic was an unprecedented period for all businesses, and was doubly hard for me, because it was my first time at a business. As a restaurant owner, I reduced excessive costs by optimising workflow, shutting down immediately and cutting off electricity, making use of excess food supply by sharing it with employees who had no source of income. Making a runway for the next few months while also utilising my reserves judiciously, negotiating rentals and reducing costs, were extremely beneficial in sailing through the pandemic.

When did you manage to get to par and thereafter start registering profits? 

I started my business in November 2019 and we broke even within three-four months, by February-March 2020. However, Covid19 occurred as soon as we achieved the mark. Even before the lockdown was implemented, we noticed a decrease in customer frequency. When the lockdown measures were lifted and we began operations, our profit margins were extremely low, but we were able to cover our costs with the revenue we generated.

What, in your opinion, were those unique introductions to the business that helped you succeed? 

When I first started my business, I met with a lot of restaurant owners to learn about the industry’s dos and don’ts and to gather information on what can lead your restaurant to profitability. However, you learn much more practically in order to truly understand what works best for you. There were several things I learned the hard way, like how important it is for a restaurant to get the food, service, and ambience just right. Although it may seem obvious, many restaurants get it wrong and eventually shut down. Focusing on being the best in any of those areas while maintaining a reasonable standard in the others is essential for any restaurant. Finally, I can’t emphasise enough on how important it is to establish a physical and digital presence through advertisement, signboards and food aggregators to truly gain visibility and become successful.

What makes Oyster Bar and Kitchen different from its competitors? 

Oyster is Bangalore’s only bar that welcomes customers with pets on all days at all times. While some establishments in Bangalore do allow pets, they do it on certain days of the week and for a restricted time period. Hence Oyster, Bar & Kitchen becomes the go-to choice of pet owners as they feel we are pet-friendly in the true sense. Additionally, we have a pet menu, specifically curated for pets, which attracts pet owners.

Is it only with the working population that you are popular or…? 

Oyster is primarily popular among the young working class because it is located in HSR Layout, a start-up hub. However, we now have a “no smoking section”, which has drawn a lot of families with young children to our restaurant. They also appreciate our pet-friendly environment, open rooftop and diverse menu offerings. Hence Oyster is also becoming popular among the families that like to step out for food and drinks.

Did Devanshi Tripathi face any challenge in a sector dominated by men? 

When I started thinking about the idea and exploring it in my head, I never thought that being a woman in a male-dominated sector was challenging. But obviously, that was not the case – society does not look at it like that. I used to get questioned a lot on whether I will be able to manage things by myself or not. But since it was never something I considered in my head as a big challenge I never looked at it like that which was really helpful.

What the future has in store for Devanshi? 

In the future, once my brand – Oyster Bar and Kitchen – has established itself in the city, I would like to expand and open two or three more branches in different locations of Bengaluru. In fact, we have already expanded in the current location where we added an extra floor to our restaurant, so that the seating capacity increases from 150 to 250. Once I have established a stable brand for Oyster Bar and Kitchen with multiple units in Bangalore, I wish to expand into other cities like Goa and Pune. I intend to launch a new brand under TripGo Hospitality, which will be something very different from Oyster, Bar & Kitchen and will cater to a different TG. What and how is something which is still a work in progress. But from the top of my head, it will be a premium gourmet cafe offering a variety of handcrafted coffees and another one would be a high end, elite, very premium bar catering to a very niche segment that enjoys artisanal cocktails.

How do you keep your team motivated?

Employees are willing to switch jobs in the hospitality industry even if they receive a slightly higher salary elsewhere, which is understandable since they get a very similar working environment at most restaurants and usually work at low salaries. At Oyster, we retain our team by paying them on time – a practice not very common in restaurant industry, providing them with comfortable accommodations, offering incentives linked to performance and through service charge. To ensure better coordination and a friendly work environment, we hire our employees in “teams” or with people they’ve previously worked with.