Man is a creature of habit. The same place, the same food, the same friends, the same style, the same taste, the same plans…these are the traits that defined man in what we used to call civilisation. Today, man has tweaked the definitions somewhat and added a significant dose of experimentation and adventure.

No longer is it enough for a restaurant, for example, to dish out the same favourites year after year. This may have worked in the past and we still have establishments famous for just the one or two items that they continue to serve and expect their clientele to only come for these dishes. Idlis, Dosas, Paranthas, Puris, Biryanis, Steaks, Desserts…speciality dishes like these have stamped their signature on several iconic and legendary restaurants and eateries.

But the times, they’ve been busy changing. People have had to, because of their increased travel opportunities, confront so many cuisines that they have lost count. And they have become more discerning too.

No longer can Pulao pass off as a Biryani variant. Nor can a Biryani pretend to be a Fried Rice. The client who walks in for a meal knows what he wants and especially in the domain of international cuisine, he has definite and quite authentic benchmarks.

The Pizza Lover is no longer just a Domino’s bred junkie. He is more than likely to have tried out the original stuff in the back streets of Rome or Venice. The Burger Maniac has chomped on the real McCoy off an American Street Corner and the Steak Sizzler has gorged on Texas breakfasts as much as continental meals.

Given this background and many more such interesting insights, my visit to Fusion 9 to chat with owner-chef Shankar Krishnamurthy was something I was really looking forward to. I mean, here was a restaurant that can be truly credited with having changed the very eating habits of most Hyderabadis. The number of times people stepped out for a meal has come up in the last few years predominantly due to this decade plus old establishment. And it is no wonder that more people have maintained that F9 is their favourite restaurant for more years than they have ever said the same about any other multi-cuisine place.

And guess what makes the F9 phenomenon more interesting. The team that cooks up the F9 delicacies has largely remained unchanged ever since their establishment. Their retention rates have been exemplary…both when it comes to their chefs and when it comes to their loyal clients and customers. What could be the reason? Given that other outlets were playing open and shut games with alarming regularity, what really made this place tick with sustenance…and were there any lessons to be learnt.

With this in mind I descended onto the effusive Shankar and tried to probe into his take on what was happening, and what we could look forward to.

The fact that he is a friend made it awkward at first, but as he warmed to the topic, the business side of the legendary chef began to rear its impressive head. One of the very few Chef Owned restaurants in the country that were of this scale and enjoyed this level of success, F9 he said owes its success to a simple belief. Any outlet has to satisfy two urges of the customer. The urge to eat his comfort food in a warm, friendly and familiar environment. And the urge to try out something new knowing full well that the experiment would be supported by authenticity. From the style of cooking to the use of most appropriate ingredients, no shortcuts were taken. Today I know quite a few restaurants that have wood fired ovens to pizza their bases, but F9 is, if I remember right, the forerunner of this small innovation. Not for F9 the convenience of Microwave Cooking.

Even today their Goan Crab Curries at group restaurant Coastal Spice, are made from regularly imported Goan Crabs that reach the kitchen live.

The other side that amazed me was this whole family approach to innovation. It is almost as if there is an unofficial competition of sorts going on, trying to figure out who among the wonderful team can come up with the most viable innovation. And the quest for new dishes and new ways of ensuring customer satisfaction drives them to regularly import Chefs from other parts of the world and also visit Food Expos in foreign lands. So the team stays in tune with what is happening in the rest of the world and keeps a close watch on what is trending.

Becoming synonymous with good food in a food loving society like Hyderabad is difficult and at the end of it all, a constant struggle to retain the honour and also a huge responsibility. F9 has managed this for over a decade and that is truly awe inspiring.

But what got me thinking was that in their own simple and often humble way, the F9 team seems to have stumbled onto a formula that is sure to work in other environments too.

Is yours a Sob Story? Relax, I mean a Service Oriented Business? Is yours a business where customer expectations are being more and more  driven by international expectations? If so, do look at the F9 model. Of how they keep pace…of how they ensure manpower retention and loyalty…of how they’ve mastered the art of representing the calm of comfort food while at the same time flying the flag of discovery and exploration.

Instead of basking in the glory of knowing that you can expect good food in a comfortable, non intrusive ambience when you come to F9, the team has managed a small but critical inquisitiveness that ensures that customers always ask “how else will F9 mesmerise me today?”

More importantly they have managed to reassure patrons that they are constantly working up new and more satisfying answers to their questions.

One old favourite and one new dish every time I visit F9 from now on…that’s the idea. Do you think I’ll be able to complete the journey in a year…before their menu is re-invented, again. I don’t know…but I hope I do. Hell, I hope that many of us do. Cheers.