Sona, Neuma, Bastian: Bollywood stars taste success in the restaurant business

From Mumbai and Dubai to New York City, Indian celebrities have opened outlets frequented by legions of fans

• 

  Neuma by Karan Johar in Mumbai offers a mood board instead of a menu, and serves modern European cuisine. Photo: Neuma

• 

  Bastian by Shilpa Shetty is very popular with Mumbai residents and visitors. Photo: Bastian

• 

  The Haryana branch of Garam Dharam Dhaba by Dharmendra.

• 

  Rue Du Liban by Juhi Chawla serves Middle Eastern fare in Mumbai. Photo: Rue Du Liban

• 

  Asha’s by singer Asha Bhonsle opened its first branch in Dubai in 2022. Photo: Asha's

• 

  Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas performed a prayer ceremony at the opening of Sona restaurant in New York. Photo: Instagram / @priyankachopra

A host of Bollywood stars are foraying into the restaurant business and launching spiffy dining spots offering exotic fare.

Award-winning chef Diwas Wadhera claims celebrities have a higher chance of succeeding in the food business compared to others. “More than the tangibles like food, it is the intangibles such as a connection with the celebrity, ordering what they probably eat and a chance to meet them at the outlet, which drives footfall,” says Wadhera, who is the executive chef at Eros Hotel in New Delhi.

“Moreover, in a social-media-obsessed world, it has become fashionable to associate oneself with celebrities and visit places [owned by] them to acquire bragging rights.”

Wadhera cites the example of the time when he was managing a popular five-star outlet frequented by Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. “Dozens of fans would troop in and ask what Sachin had ordered that day and place exactly the same order. Such was the craze that with dozens of fans asking for the same dishes — usually pad Thai noodles and tandoori pomfret — the kitchen would soon run out of ingredients for these.”

It’s not only fans who benefit from visiting celebrity restaurants, either. “The business also helps the celebrity entrepreneurs to become more relatable,” says Wadhera.

If you're heading to India or the US this summer (or even if you're staying put in the UAE), here are six celeb-owned restaurants to check out.

Neuma by Karan Johar

Filmmaker and Koffee with Karan host Karan Johar became the latest to join the celebrity restauranteur bandwagon when he launched Neuma on his 50th birthday in June. The modern European diner is nestled in a restored colonial-era Portuguese villa in Colaba, a posh Mumbai area.

Neuma bases its offerings on a “mood board”, and diners can take their pick from a section of the menu that best reflects their mood on a particular day. Options include Sun Porch, Garden Cafe, The Courtyard, Blanc, Verde, Nautica Room and Rose Bar. The menu features ingredient-driven dishes, offering sticky soy, purple sweet potatoes, crackers, watermelon radish, caramelised celeriac croquettes, remoulade, poached salmon and more.

Neuma has hosted high-profile stars including Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor.

Bastian by Shilpa Shetty

No stranger to entrepreneurship, with a number of fitness and fashion-related businesses under her slim belt, Shilpa Shetty, 47, turned her attention to food by launching Bastian in 2019. The 8,000-square-foot seafood restaurant — featuring gargantuan chandeliers, a vaulted ceiling and boho-chic furniture — exudes an opulent vibe and often has a long waiting list.

Within months of its launch, the place was buzzing with glitterati, as Bollywood actors such as Tiger Shroff, Alia Bhatt, Tara Sutaria and Madhuri Dixit Nene trooped in to tuck into Bastian’s signature dishes, such as salmon jalapeno, tuna poke, soft shell crab and creme brulee cheesecake.

Sona by Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Priyanka Chopra Jonas teamed up with chef Hari Nayak to launch what’s perhaps the most high-profile of all Bollywood outlets. Sona opened in New York City in 2021. Offering modern cuisine in an ethnic setting, Sona (which translates as gold from Hindi), “reimagines the wonders of Indian fare in a space that evokes a bygone era of a boisterous yet elegant” country, claims its website.

The restaurant’s decor is dominated by a hand-plastered wall that pays homage to Indian women, while the menu offers dishes such as kofta korma (ricotta dumplings in cashew sauce), chili cheese naan and Thalssery biryani crafted from kalma rice, grown in the south Indian state of Kerala.

Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal have dined at Sona, among other celebrities.

Rue Du Liban by Juhi Chawla

The restaurant bug bit actress Juhi Chawla and her businessman husband, Jay Mehta, in 2018 when the duo launched the lavish Rue Du Liban in Mumbai. Art Deco-inspired interiors and burgundy banquettes characterise the 3,200-square-foot space, which is speckled with antique lamps and brass bric-a-brac, and has olive leaves hand-painted on green walls.

It serves Middle Eastern food in a contemporary avatar “capturing the spirit of the souq, the heart of the people and the zest of ingredients synonymous with the sun-drenched Levantine region”, reads the menu. Apart from hot and cold mezze, signature dishes include kharouf shank (slow-cooked, bmaharat spiced lamb shank served with yoghurt tahini, moghrabieh and biwaz), shish touk with allspice grilled chicken and kastaleta (marinated Australian lamb cutlets with toum).

Asha’s by Asha Bhonsle

Melody queen Asha Bhonsle, a self-confessed foodie, channelled her love for Indian food by launching a chain of restaurants called Asha’s. Starting with Dubai in 2002, the legendary singer’s culinary empire has expanded impressively. The Dubai outpost has bagged a Restaurant of the Year from the Middle East Hospitality Excellence Awards in 2016.

Currently, Asha’s has a presence in Kuwait, London and Birmingham, with plans afoot to open more outlets across the Middle East. The Birmingham branch is often in the news for hosting Hollywood stars. Last year, Tom Cruise had an authentic Indian meal here.

An elated Bhonsle, 86, took to Twitter and wrote: “I was very happy to hear that Mr Tom Cruise enjoyed his fine dining experience at Asha’s and I look forward to him visiting us again soon.”

Garam Dharam Dhaba by Dharmenda

Another octogenarian actor-turned-restaurateur, Dharmendra — the original “He-Man of Bollywood” — often posts photos and videos of food growing on his farm on Instagram, where he has more than a million followers. Combining his love for food and films, the star launched a chain of Bollywood-themed restaurants across New Delhi in 2015. Garam Dharam Dhaba serves rich north Indian cuisine, akin to the food served at highway eateries or dhabas. Fans of the actor can also lap up the decor, which is strewn with memorabilia from Dharmendra’s 100-plus movies.