Chef and entrepreneur Kunal Makhija gives Amber Dias a behind-the-scenes peek of his cloud kitchen, Arabisque.

From his family’s restaurant, to working in the kitchens of some of the most prestigious hospitality groups, to founding and running his own cloud kitchen, Kunal Makhija’s journey in the culinary realm has taken a few twists and turns. The Chef and entrepreneur is now the heart and hand behind Arabisque, the cloud kitchen service that delivers authentic Middle Eastern flavours to your doorstep. We sat down for a quick chat to learn more about what makes him tick and why Arabisque has become a hot take-out destination for Middle Eastern bites.

For The Love Of Cooking
Some of the best chefs in the world started out in their home kitchens, where they got their first taste of the magic that can be conjured with just a few ingredients and the delight it can bring people. For Kunal Makhija, that spark was lit in his family restaurant in Dubai and went on to be fueled by some amazing experiences and a lot of hard work. He reveals, “My interest in the kitchen was sparked at an early age as I would spend my time at my family’s restaurant in Dubai. I decided to pursue my culinary education at the Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad. After completing my course in 2016, I was fortunate enough to work with prestigious hospitality groups like Taj, Marriott, Indigo Delicatessen and a few standalone restaurants in Dubai. I also had the opportunity to intern at Chef Gaggan Anand’s restaurant Gaggan in Bangkok for two months in 2017. After spending three years in Dubai, I decided to move back to Mumbai to start Arabisque.”

Reaching For The Cloud
Starting a cloud kitchen was the thing to do during the pandemic with so many professional and home chefs transforming their kitchens into professional spaces and selling their delicious wares. But what prompted Kunal to take the leap?
He says, “I was in Dubai during the first wave of Covid-19 and that’s when many of my friends in Mumbai started selling food from their homes. That was the basic idea that prompted me to start something of my own. Due to legal compliances in Dubai, that would not have been possible and I always had the inclination to move back to Mumbai.”

Making the transition, however, was not without its challenges. “My biggest challenge in the transition from being a Chef to being an entrepreneur was that now I would be responsible for the overall well-being of the brand and not just the food quality. If I had to name one major challenge though, it would be social media and marketing. Speaking from a cloud kitchen point of view, the dependency and need for social media is extremely high. As we do not have a physical presence, we are highly dependent on Instagram and Facebook to find new customers,” he reveals.

The Arabisque Story
Kunal’s culinary journey has been varied and intriguing, but all roads have led him to Arabisque, which offers delicious Middle Eastern cuisine. He tells us more, “Because of my experience in Dubai and spending a brief part of my childhood years in Dubai, Middle Eastern food felt like the right choice to pursue for my business. The menu focuses on simple dishes made well, hearty portions at reasonable prices. All the recipes are a combination of all my work experiences at various hotels and restaurants in Mumbai and Dubai.”

Middle Eastern food has its fans but the classic Indian palate can be a tough customer when it comes to appreciating new cuisines. Kunal, however, didn’t find adapting to the preferences of his new customer base much of a challenge. “To be very honest, the taste and flavour profile of Indian and Middle Eastern food aren’t that far apart. Middle Eastern food is packed with various spices and aromatics, it’s just not spicy (theeka), hence we did not have to change our recipes a lot to suit the market. One example from our menu would be the Piri Piri Hummus where the addition of piri piri seasoning elevates the flavour of the classic hummus, adding a bit of spicy and chatpata flavour notes to the dish,” he shares.

With so many restaurants and cloud kitchens alike focusing on offering authentic Middle Eastern food, we had to ask: What sets Arabisque apart? Kunal avers, “Quality is our number one priority both in terms of food and customer satisfaction. We try and keep our recipes as authentic to the Middle East as possible and also source important ingredients from there. One example is zaatar powder which is used widely in our menus from marinations to spreading it on top of our flatbreads, and also finishing certain dishes. We bake all our bread in-house and to order, only when an order is placed for hummus, the pita bread, which is an accompaniment to the hummus, is baked.”

The Next Step
As Arabisque continues to grow and find more fans, the question now turns to what comes next for Kunal and his brand. He shares, “Being an entrepreneur is a continuous learning curve. This experience has taught me to not get overwhelmed as each day comes with its set of tasks and challenges to tackle. The plan for the future is to hopefully convert from being a cloud kitchen brand to a sit down operation. We are always on the lookout for collaborations in which we could expand our work portfolio.”