It’s a Sunday morning.
We, the older ones, are visiting our company guesthouse — home to our young engineers.
Steven puts down a mountain of garlic in front of us.
Our job is to peel every clove, hand it over, and then wait — patiently — for his legendary chilli pork (sorry my vegetarian friends. No offence meant)
Even after 27 years, the taste still lingers.
By day, Steven handled the Foreign Exchange module of our product — a pucca techie.
By night, he was our resident foodie guide.
We were a small company, living those Narayana Murthy hours — but we didn’t mind.
Not when Steven led our midnight food trails —
- Fish curry rice at 1 AM in St. John’s canteen
- Sheekh kebabs at Fanoos, after 11 PM
- Andhra meals (if we made it before 11 PM)
- Bheja fry at Empire on Residency Road (not after 1 AM)
One day, Steven followed his calling — he left to start his own restaurant, Mangalore Pearl.
Today, Mangalore Pearl is one of Bangalore’s top-rated restaurants.
Back then, it was the only place in Bangalore that served Bombay Duck. The Sole Curry he makes is the best in the world. (Okay, maybe I’m biased.)
Steven still works long hours — buying fish at 4:30 AM from Russell Market, closing his shutters at 11 PM.
When he first told us he was quitting to start a restaurant, I thought: “He’ll make it — he cooks brilliantly.”
Only later did I realise — making Prawn Ghee Roast is probably the last skill you need to run a restaurant business.
Running a restaurant, like running a company, takes everything — finance, people, marketing, resilience, grit…..
**
Maybe every organisation should host a mock Shark Tank — To grill employees who dream of entrepreneurship, and give them a taste of reality.
What do you think?
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