If there is one thing the pandemic taught us, it was the importance of comfort food in raising our spirits. Unfortunately, more often than not, comfort food is restricted to unhealthy variations, but that notion is changing with the delightfully delicious yet healthy burgers from Aku’s—The Brrgrr Co. Since its launch a mere three years ago, chef Akriti Malhotra’s brainchild has grown both in popularity and size.
Ankit Malhotra and Akriti Malhotra.
The vision for Aku’s—The Brrgrr Co. was to create a space that is informal and serves food made from responsibly sourced ingredients, at par with the offerings at fine-dining restaurants. Based on the unique concept of ‘Fast Casual’ food, Aku’s—the Brrgrr Co. is one of the first places to have brought New York style dining to the people of Delhi. This enabled it to be labelled the ‘OG’ or ‘original gangster’ of quick service restaurants that serve real and healthy food in a quick span of time. Their popularity is further bolstered by the choice offerings on their limited menu, and their hassle-free food pick-up services.
When asked the reason for the phenomenal success of the brand in such a short span of time, Chef Malhotra explains, “We have always run Aku’s—The Brrgrr Co. as a place with slow-food values and fast-food service, which essentially means serving great quality burgers in a quick service format. When we first opened, Chef Ritu Dalmia shared sage advice with us. She said if our food is good, we will definitely do well in the long run. That is the guiding principle we stick with and I believe that is also the reason that customers enjoy our food.”
Good food is the backbone of any restaurant, but what sets Aku’s—The Brrgrr Co. apart from its competitors, is their ability to adapt to a world increasingly choosing healthier options over unhealthy ones. They are known to serve burgers that are both healthy and tasty with an ideal patty to bun ratio—a policy that has held them in good stead. Though they believe in fulfilling orders quickly, they choose to stay away from cost-cutting methods that go hand-in-hand with fast food. All their patties, sauces and buns are made in-house on a daily basis. They even offer the option of bun-less burgers for people who prefer healthier options, allowing them to enjoy the same burger with less carbohydrates and without the attached guilt.
The pandemic was certainly a challenging period for the brand, as they were all set to open their second outlet at DLF CyberHub when it hit. That operation was stalled immediately and regular business badly affected. The team worried about being able to keep afloat in case revenues would not pick up, yet they were able to overcome their problems and surge ahead.
They were keen to hold on to their entire staff and by staying on the front line as a premium food delivery option, they were able to do that. Ultimately, owing to the popularity of their food, they were shut only for two weeks during the lockdown. Their loyal customers continued to support them during the lockdown and afterwards.
In fact, Chef Malhotra even felt a burnout after a while. Speaking of that difficult period with candour, she says, “There comes a stage where no amount of praise or revenue is enough and one just needs to take a breather and get away from work to be refreshed. A week-long trip with no Internet connectivity worked wonders for me. I believe it is extremely important to keep yourself challenged and stay passionate about what you do, otherwise it is hard to keep going in the long run!”
Three years on, the continued success of Aku’s—The Brrgrr Co. has given the team confidence to expand further and keep growing as a brand. “The fact that customers really trusted us during the pandemic made us realise that we are doing something right. Currently, we have two locations in Delhi-NCR at Defence Colony and DLF Cyber Hub. We are preparing to open more spaces in a similar format serving fast casual and delicious cuisine – taking one city at a time as our target,” says Malhotra, signing off with a smile.