Skip to main content

Four decades and more to go..



Eureka moment after seeing a hospital scenario and landing to hospitality is the story of Gopi, a name known for Gujarati thali in Ahmedabad. While chit chatting with Dilip Thakkar, one of the team members, I was keen to know as to how the story of this famous restaurant really began.

The foundation stone of a very humble place was laid down by Late Damodarbhai Thakkar on 14th February, 1979 which at a very later stage, after western influence took over, they learnt that 14th February, happens to be Valentine’s Day.

Near Vadilal Hospital, they commenced operations under a rented shed in order to serve home style food to the relatives of patients who used to travel from nearby towns. Hence the thought process or the intention behind was very noble... if that is the seed then growth does occur completely on a different tangent. In no time Gopi transformed to a structured dining hall, became a landmark place, a hot favourite for tourists and got listed in ‘The Lonely Planet’ also.

“We had the largest waiting area, in our Ellisbridge branch, as people used to throng to get tiffins packed, or wait for their turn to have our Thali. We serve it in three variants.. i.e Fix Gujarati Thali, Unlimited Gujarati Thali and Kathiawadi Thali (served at night). We also used to prepare boiled food for patients of Vadilal Hospital on request. Moreover consistency has been our key, serving authentic Gujarati food without any fusion or experimentation, which has been one factor for us to again consistently, year on year, receive awards by various media houses”, said Dilip Thakkar.

Dilip Thakkar and Team


This May month, Gopi has completed two years at their Prahlad nagar outlet, where I could witness their noble spirit. With rising mercury and heat wave warnings being floated by meteorology department, they have started free chaas (butter milk) service, on a daily basis. A stall has been put up outside their restaurant, at Anand Nagar Cross roads, where auto rickshaws, passersby, big cars, two wheelers etc. stop by to quench their thirst and get respite from heat by this natural coolant.. served till three hours for free.
Hence apart from hospitality.. nobility too runs in their blood!!  
Spic and span kitchen with a lamp on one corner says it all..



Gujarati Thali Rs. 360/- Unlimited and Kathiawadi Rs. 390/- respectively



Comments

  1. Jay Jani22 May 2018 at 08:47

    Inspirational journey Dilipbhai.... Free chhass initiative is an amazing noble gesture.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Upcycle Concrete

  Upcycle is an interesting "GREEN" practice nowadays followed by many!! For goods and commodities its good, but in the era of shifting sands, preferences, fast evolutionary changes, the need and demand for more excitement the malls, unlike old markets, have a very short life span. A decade is quite long, then they slowly organically fade out. Ahmedabad, unlike the metros is quick silver. The life span of malls is shorter than those in metros.. few which have swept off infront of our eyes in two decades are; Gulmohar, Fun Republic, Gallops etc. Gallops though with best brands, infrastructure couldn't survive the cost concious market. Two days ago I happened to step into Iscon mega Mall, Mega like the word suggests, its gigantic. Reliance hyper market was inaugurated on 15th August 2006 by Sh Mukesh Ambani, it was his big bang entry into retail segment. In this mega structure, today hardly 10% area is functional, rest is all unused.  If Westside and Reliance are functional...
1 comment
Read more

Parallel Worlds - Perspectives from Gwalior

India is a land of Gold mine for Archeologists and architects.. any region we travel, there are ballads and narratives found in every corner of the country. After various emperors who travelled and did their territory demarcation.. today the politically divided States as per the Sovereign Social Republic clearly reflect the culture and Unity in Diversity in various aspects, be it culture, space, region, food or architecture. Madhya Pradesh, today being the centre of the country is a classic example where you can find historical structures, monuments and living spaces from across eras. Mughal, Marathas, Rajputs, Sikhs, Britishers etc.  Apart from this, there is a lot of correlation found in the architecture of structures found in other states which have been built in other eras. Twin temples with elephant carvings as base Sas Bahu Temple Gwalior (vishnu temple) Sun Temple Modhera in Gujarat and Sas Bahu (as ...
2 comments
Read more

Less noise and more cushion, Akasa marks it's streak on Jeddah skies

Thin Skeleton, strong core and more Cushion, the technologically advanced new fleet of a 19 month old Akasa Air marks its new International territory today by taking off its maiden flight from Ahmedabad to Jeddah. 14 million passengers and more leg room, one of fastest growing airline with a double digit growth of 29% in Ahmedabad currently flaunts their fleet of 26 Boeing 737 Max. The cutting edge experiential and technological benefits when you fly with low cost airlines adds them on a premium economy segment and preferred list.  The focus of Akasa Air is more experience based humane approach. 40% less cabin noise and quiet no announcement (except regulatory) night time zones so that passengers can comfortably rest is in itself a cutting edge differentiator. The Akasa Cafe menu has elaborate choices like a hot chocolate and a croissant sandwich; moreover the menu is braille so that even visually impaired, apart from their taste buds can get an infight feel. They play with  c...
Post a Comment
Read more