VINAYA WALAVALKAR – MANTRI

TNV’s Vinaya Walavalkar Mantri in conversation with Vishal Ashok Kadam about his business journey from Mumbai to Goa.

Q:How long have you been in Goa?
– I am staying in Goa for the last one year.

Q:What motivated you to shift to Goa leaving a job in a place like Mumbai?
– I wanted to try my luck at business, I dint want my life to be exhausted working for someone else.

Q:Where were you working before?
– Previously I was working withExotica restaurant at Thane in Mumbai as bar manager.

Q:When in Goa, did you face any difficulties because of the language barrier?
– Well, I am fluent in English, Hindi and Marathi. The customers coming to the restaurant are mostly outsiders so language has not actually been a problem, also many locals do communicate in Marathi.

Q:In a place like Goa which has a huge fish eating population and also the tourists who visit Goa come here to relish on non-veg delicacies, why did you think of starting a veg restaurant and that too in Calangute?
– Goa receives all type of tourists; Punjabi, Gujrati, Maharashtrian, South Indian, and of course foreigners. We have a preconceived notion that only the Jains,Gujratis and Marwadis are vegetarians which is not true. There is a huge population of vegetarians spread across India, and moreover those who don’t eat on certain days of the week. Where would they go? This was the basic thought which made me start a pure veg restaurant.

Q:What are your future plans?
– I dream big and I have huge plans for the future. Veg or non-veg I wish to start at least five more restaurants across the state. In the coming years I want to be known by the people as one of their own.

Q:Staying away from home and starting a new business would have been very hectic. What gives you the energy to keep going?
– My family has been my core inspiration. They have stood by me at all times. I am very thankful to them and especially my brother Mr. Prasad Kolambkar for his unending support for all these years.