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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

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