Life could have been a breeze for Rizwan Amlani. Yet, he left the umbrella of his father and brother’s business legacy, searched further into the cauldron of life, to create his own body of work.
A staunch believer in the power of intentions, Rizwan, once a state level table tennis player, gourmet chef, and counselor on drug abuse, decided to bite into the Big Apple to learn about ‘sauces’ at the French Culinary Institute.
“I represented my state, won medals. Infact, I am working with Reliance IMG to bring about the Indian Table Tennis League (like the IPL and ISL), very closely with one of the owners of ChennainFC, on creating table tennis tournaments, sponsoring players, mentoring them,” says Rizwan Amlani.
“I also help an organisation DAIRRC — Drug Abuse Information Rehabilitation and Research Centre, where we work with people addicted to alcohol and drugs, talk to them on the Intention Theory, as my life has been all about it.
Everything I am, and have wanted, I have always had, touchwood,” smiles the young entrepreneur who was in the city to launch brother and hospitality Czar Riyaaz Amlani’s ‘Green’ Social a part of Impresario, while on a beanful search for his new coffee initiative Roasted Today.
Chef hat and apron touting, Rizwan got his hands dirty, by starting at the bottom of the food chain. A stint with his brother Riyaaz Amlani’s Mocha, the Impresario empire could have sufficed. But Rizwan, if any thing, seems a do-er and believer in the power of positivity. So, he left the cushy confines of his South Mumbai home, decided to eke it out like a newbie, standing for hours on end, to get the right texture to his hollandaise…
“I studied at the French Culinary Institute. Alain Sailhac, who founded the French Culinary Institute, Jacques Pepin, were all lecturers, it was pretty amazing. From the mise en place to the final product, it’s all process driven and structured. It’s all about the sauce. The school placed us at restaurants, we were part of French festivals on Pier 39 in New York City. It was brilliant,” Rizwan recalls, adding, “We were cooking a dinner for Barack Obama’s campaign. I messed up an entire lasagna. After the day was over, I sobbed, yet learnt so much,” he enthuses, his energy infectious.
He worked with Chef Daniel Boulud at Daniel Boulud’s Gastric Bar, “I worked my way up. The top line is always French in any Daniel restaurant. I suddenly found myself four years down the line as junior sous chef. We launched a DBGB in Bowrie district and I was heading that for three years.”
But gourmet has finer tenets that Rizwan ached to unearth, “I came across coffee roasting during that time,” he explains. As a coffee lover, he found solace in the bean, “Roasted Today came about when a partner dealing with decaff coffee wanted to introduce fresh roasts at Social. Riyaaz and I decided we would roast it ourselves,” explains Rizwan, adding, “Monsoon Malabar is on the top shelves of Harrods, Bloomingdales, but what you are paying does not come back into the country. Why not bring it back to India? We want to roast hourly, a bespoke roast, serve it in many ways — cold brews, rip pots, cold presses, using siphons, equipment, etc. We have even come up with an algorithm on coffee usage, where you get supplies at your door. Roasted Today will take up the entire coffee for Impresario, especially Social, with a December launch,” he adds.
The half-Parsi has cupid’s blessings too, “I just got engaged, to Shahzeen, a practicing aesthetic dentist. I have known her since I was 12 and have had a crush on her since,” smiles Rizwan who holds his brother Riyaaz’s advice in the highest esteem. He loves Bengaluru’s vibe and energy. “The power of what you want to achieve is in you, if you want something, and are positive and believe in it, you can make it happen,” says the staunch follower of Thaleb, quantum physics, anti fragile and the Intention Theory.
