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.
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| 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!!
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| Spic and span kitchen with a lamp on one corner says it all.. |
Gujarati Thali Rs. 360/-
Unlimited and Kathiawadi Rs. 390/- respectively
Inspirational journey Dilipbhai.... Free chhass initiative is an amazing noble gesture.
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