We stayed in Navsari which is a hub for NRI’s- non-resident Indians - you can read more about them HERE . And due to the economic impact NRI’s have on India’s economy, especially in hub cities like Navsari, there is a huge market catered directly to them. What happens in that in villages surrounding these hub cities, for whatever reason, there is a mass immigration over several decades. Families migrate to other countries like the US, England, Canada, Australia, etc. and call their families over. But every couple of years, they tend to come back to visit their relatives who stayed and shop, bringing copious currency into the market with them. So there are shops that subsist entirely by catering to this group of people. But very few people do it right.
Waffles to Fries, in Navsari, is one of the ones that does.
Waffles to Fries, or WTF as the sign boldly proclaims, is tucked in between two brightly lit shops. The sign stands almost like an inside joke with native English speakers. Most Indians residing in the small town do not know what WTF alludes to, nor do they recognize what a waffle or a fry is (I asked around). India’s tradition (like I mention in my clothing shopping article here) is to attract customers with lights and pizzazz, like the Las Vegas strip.
The bigger, the brighter, the better for NRI’s is the motto.
But WTF is dimly lit, like a hip restaurant in downtown Manhattan. The lighting is ropes and lightbulbs – reminiscent of eclectic chic which I have never seen in India before outside of Mumbai, the biggest city in the country, India’s New York. When you step inside, it feels like you have been transported to either Mumbai or even back home to USA, and that is by design. The smallest details: the trash can imported from America in the corner, the menus with distressed wood as covers, the dim lighting, the wallpaper which is designed to look like exposed brick until you get super close, the hidden kitchen and walk up ordering system which makes you think of food trucks- it breaks every Indian rule in the book. All of these things are contrary to traditional Indian restauranting styles, something you would never expect to see in India. But it reminds NRI’s of home, with an Indian twist (the food… you can top your fries with toppings like paneer and tandoori sauce).
I walked into the shop with a family friend, a local. She had lived her entire life in this city and had never even seen the shops. She was so used to bright lights, her eyes skipped right past the subtle orange glow of the shop. Whereas for me, it was the first shop I saw when I drove past the complex. When we walked in, she looked around, confused by things I mentioned above. But to me, I felt welcomed. I didn’t feel like I was in a foreign land anymore. Its not intuitive how to order, unless you have ever ordered at a food truck or a dive with a roll-up counter before. Then, it makes total sense. Everyone speaks English there, from the hostess to the cook. Even if you start speaking in Gujarati, the local language, they switch to English.
On paper it seems like it couldn’t work. Not in this tiny town, in the middle of India, breaking every rule in the book.
But it works. It totally works.
It feels like the perfect date spot. NRI’s cannot help but stare at it while driving past. Once you walk in, you remember the shop. You tell your friends about it. If you are me, you write a blog about it. The risk these two young entrepreneurs from Mumbai took paid off in spades. Every night the tiny shop is jam packed with a wait, like the hippest joint in town. And it is filled with foreigners who do not balk at the prices. It has become a local favorite by breaking rules and the key is design. They paid attention to every detail to orchestrate an experience which calls out to their targeted customer. Albeit, their customer is a very small niche in the vast Indian population; they absolutely are catering to a minority. But they do it so well, that it has become the most lucrative endeavor in town.
So ask yourself: who is your targeted customer? What do they look for in your business? And how can you make every detail in your business so on brand, so unified in creating the experience they desire that they cannot help but come on in.