In this interview, Panchali Mahendra reflects on her journey so far, the realities of the industry and why passion, not just profit, is key to building restaurants that last
With over two decades of experience in the hospitality industry and a track record of launching around 70 restaurants globally, Panchali Mahendra is one of the region’s most respected names in food and dining. As CEO of Atelier House Hospitality, a boutique Dubai-based group under the US-founded Altamarea Group, Panchali has helped shape some of the city’s most talked-about dining concepts. Known for her bold vision, creative flair and hands-on approach, she has been instrumental in steering the company toward thoughtful expansion, prioritising originality, quality and intention in every project.
How would you describe the journey so far?
I think the journey has definitely aged me more than it should have. I feel like I’m wiser than my years. The restaurant industry, in particular, ages you faster. It’s one of the hardest industries to be in. I’ve been part of it for almost 23 years now. I did my graduation and master’s in hospitality, so it’s really in my DNA.
What I love about my job and the industry is that I get to wear so many hats. It’s never a boring day. One day you’re an architect, the next you’re doing HR. You’re managing numbers, handling people, working on food and creativity. I like doing a lot of things. I can’t do just one thing every day. So it was important for me to have something that ticked all my creative boxes, and this industry definitely does that.
This journey has been a rewarding one. When you’re passionate about what you do, and I genuinely am, that makes all the difference. You have to love restaurants to be in restaurants. Otherwise, you just can’t survive it. You can’t be a restaurateur or a chef without that passion because it requires you to be switched on 24/7. And honestly, I don’t think I know how to do anything else.
What do you think is the most rewarding part of introducing a new concept to the UAE?
There’s so much love and passion that goes into a project. Then to see it come to life, it’s like having a baby. You spend all that time building it, and then it’s finally here in front of you. I don’t have kids, so I can’t say for sure, but it must be a similar feeling, that joy of seeing something you’ve worked so hard on actually become real.
When you’re building a restaurant, it starts as a vision – just dreams and moodboards. Then, suddenly, one day it all becomes tangible. That’s the most exciting part. It’s so surreal to see your thoughts and ideas turned into a real, working space.
Opening day is filled with gratitude. It’s a momentous occasion, but it’s also scary. You get cold feet because now, your love and passion are about to be judged.
You’re not just waking up every day trying to make your restaurant grow. You’re just trying to sustain it. With so many restaurants and thousands more opening every year, it’s just insane. The market share, the pie, is small and getting smaller.
So yes, it’s anxiety-inducing. You’re responsible not just for your business, but for the livelihoods of 50 to 100 people per restaurant and their families. You carry that responsibility. You’re constantly thinking: how do I sustain the brand? How do I take care of the team? How do I make money? Because at the end of the day, it is a business.
It’s very scary and very unnerving. But what I’ve learned is to filter out the noise. There’s no point in constantly looking at what others are doing. It just leads to more worry. I’ve learned to focus on my own product. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, then I accept that this is a business. It’s a bit of a Russian roulette at times.
What does Atelier House Hospitality do differently in terms of strategy?
I think one of the main reasons we’ve been successful is that everyone in the team does everything. Each person is as passionate, if not more passionate, than I am. We’re also not opening multiple restaurants in Dubai. We’re expanding globally, but in Dubai, it’s one or two restaurants a year, and only ones that are really worth it. For example, Gerbou took three years to open. It wasn’t done overnight. We planned it carefully and gave it the R&D and love it deserved. So yes, every concept we launch is built with intention.
Even now, I don’t care about titles. Whether I’m a manager or a CEO, it doesn’t matter. I’m still very hands-on. My team doesn’t always love it, but I micromanage. That’s just how I’ve always operated. I started the company by being deeply involved in every project, whether that was serving guests, cooking, or just being present in every single detail.
Yes, I can be quite irritating. But that attention to detail is what sets our restaurants apart. When the founders or heads of a company are that involved, the level of detail and care is naturally much higher. It’s not just “Let’s get it done.” It’s about doing it properly, with intention.
That’s one of the things that’s given us an edge. We prioritise quality over quantity and are extremely selective about what we do. Each of our restaurants is designed to be completely different from the others. We don’t do franchises. We want to create our own concepts. We have the calibre, we have the talent, and we believe that every restaurant should offer something new to the market.
For example, we launched the first elevated modern Indian street food concept about eight years ago with Mohalla. Then we introduced 11 Woodfire with open-fire cooking – something no one was really doing at the time. That concept earned us a Michelin star. After that came RSVP, which brought together French cuisine with Japanese techniques. Then we created the first modern Emirati restaurant. And now we’re working on an even more elevated concept under that cuisine. There are one or two places doing Emirati food, but they’re quite standard. What we’re building is a high-end space with a licensed bar and a very unique speakeasy concept hidden in the kitchen. It’ll be something completely different.
We also launched INJA, the world’s first Indian-Japanese fusion restaurant, and that’s been doing incredibly well. And this month, I’m heading to Mumbai to open our first Franco-American concept in the country. It’s inspired by New Orleans and Louisiana, a bit of that NOLA flair, and the restaurant will be called Soba 20. It’s going to be fun dining and a creative take on French-American cuisine.
What are the challenges of being in the industry, especially the toll it takes on mental health?
Of course, there’s a lot of support in the industry. But you also have to understand that, at the end of the day, this is a business, and everyone is working for their own livelihood.
I feel there’s an underlying level of competition, which nobody really talks about, but it exists. Because in the end, friendships don’t feed you. They’re great for emotional support, but when it comes to putting food on the table, if your business isn’t doing well, you’re out on the street. No one’s going to step in and help. So I think the industry is really fighting for its share. And it’s not anyone’s fault. You can’t really point fingers at anyone in particular. It’s just how things are.
Also, it’s so easy to open a restaurant here. There’s no lack of real estate. People keep launching new concepts. That’s very different from smaller cities like Bombay or New York, where space is so limited. People can’t even imagine opening a 200- or 300-seater restaurant just like that. Thirty to forty seats is great. That kind of stabilises the market and gives a little uniqueness to each project.
But in Dubai, look at J1 Beach. In one go, eight restaurants opened with probably 500 covers each. That’s 5,000 covers added to a city just like that. How do you sustain that?
So obviously, the failure rate is much higher. That’s what causes anxiety, because people know it’s basically a 50/50 right now. It’s not a 75/25 or 90/10 chance of success. Either you do really well, or you shut down in six months.
In that scenario, no words or friendships are going to help. That underlying competition is always going to exist in a saturated market. And that’s where we are now.
When it comes to mental health, I do think people are talking to each other more. There’s a lot of open communication happening, and that creates empathy. It helps to know you’re not the only one going through this. Everyone is in the same boat, and that support system, even if it’s just through conversations, makes a difference.
Personally, I’ve started going to the gym or swimming. It really helps me reset, release that adrenaline, and quiet the noise. I think the older you get, the more you start realising that it’s fine. If it’s meant to happen, it will happen. You just do your job. You don’t have to stress too much about it. I try to take less stress. It doesn’t always help, but with age, you learn to stay a little calmer. You start to think, “Okay, if it shuts down, it shuts down.” There are more solutions in your head than questions.
With all the experience you have now, is there something you had to unlearn?
I come from a family where my parents never differentiated between a boy and a girl, or a man and a woman. We were given equal rights and equal opportunities. In fact, I think I was pushed even harder than my brother to go play sports. That’s how I ended up playing basketball for India. Sports were a very big part of my life growing up, all the way through school. So I grew up with this very idealistic and rosy perspective that everything is equal. Women are meant to succeed, and we can move forward. I never thought about gender differences. Even in sports, we weren’t taught that. We played with men. We forgot we were women. We just played as equals. College was the same. It was co-ed, and I never felt a difference.
But what I had to unlearn came when I entered the workplace. And then, unfortunately, when you start to succeed even a little, you realise there are many more people waiting to pull you down. They don’t see where you’ve come from, or how many years of hard work have gone in. People always question why you’re successful. They only see a small fraction of you. I think even until last year, I was very edgy and ready to jump on people. I’m known to have no filter. I am who I am, and it’s got me into trouble a lot. I used to say, “No, I’m not meant to be treated this way. You cannot say this to me. I’ve done nothing wrong.” I never played the woman card. I don’t agree with that. But then sometimes, you’re forced to and that’s so unfair. What I’ve learned now is: don’t care. Let people talk. Let them do what they want. Let them bark on the side. Nobody cares. That’s the learning.
The unlearning for me was that I cared too much. It emotionally broke me down into pieces. Every time somebody said, “You suck at your job,” I would be like, “How dare you? You don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t deserve to judge me or question my success.” That’s something I had to learn. It’s not going to be fair. But the good news is, we’re on the right track – for women, for a lot of inclusivity and diversity. We’re on a great path. Maybe the current generation and the next ones will see a much better life.
What do you wish more people would understand about the realities of building a business in the UAE?
That there are just as many failures as successes. Don’t only look at what’s successful. Also, study what hasn’t worked. I always tell people, especially when it comes to restaurants, if you think it’s glamorous and you want to open a restaurant to make money, then do at least one month, even if you’re a millionaire or a billionaire. Get your hands dirty. Do at least one month of internship, or start working in a restaurant just to see what it really takes to have one and run it every single day.
It’s like any other industry. Just get to know it. Do your due diligence. Be a part of it. Then decide if you still like it or not. And you’ll be surprised how many people, after doing real operations and not the “foo-foo” stuff about let’s design and buy things, but actually doing the everyday running of a restaurant, they’re like, no, this is not for me.
So I think there has to be a more realistic approach and not just getting struck by the glamour. A lot of people think it’s a great money-making, glamorous business. At this point, of course, there’s beauty in great food, in great beverages, and everything else. You get to meet some of the top people in your life.
But the fact still remains: every day, you have to get your hands dirty. Every day, you also have to take care of angry people, or an issue with staff, or the food, or some other problem. It’s just nonstop.