Late night time prospects at Akash Auto Biryani in Sholinganallur.
| Photograph Credit score: B. VELANKANNI RAJ
An auto-rickshaw puttering across the streets of Chennai just isn’t an uncommon sight, however this one, with its vivid, orange paint, LED lights, and steel tub the place the passenger would sit, is certain to boost a couple of eyebrows.
Akash Auto Biryani has been serving biryani to the folks of South Chennai in a novel approach, by means of the again seat of an auto. Okay Akash, the proprietor and founder, is 23 years previous, and has a formidable checklist of jobs below his belt. “I’m a motorbike stunt-rider and mechanic,” he says, aside from his work along with his restaurant. “Earlier than this, I used to work at Bai Veetu Kalyanam, the well-known biryani restaurant in Navalur, and I used to drive an auto.”
Since his school and diploma days, Akash has all the time needed to start out his personal enterprise. “There are such a lot of new ideas for meals vans, like bike barbeques, however no person had completed something with an auto,” says Akash. He redesigned his auto, eliminated the seating space, and added cabinets and platforms to maintain the massive tubs of rice. The ‘meals truck’ is positioned on Outdated Mahabalipuram Street, close to the Sholinganallur junction, and has been there since October 2022. It’s open at night time, from 8pm to 2am, and largely caters to the residents of the encircling suburb, and the late-night staff of the close by IT places of work.
After realising that his prospects would wish a spot to take a seat, and to serve the daytime crowd, Akash opened a restaurant close to Thoraipakkam below the identical identify. It’s a cosy, yellow-walled nook on OMR, with the entrance half of an auto coming out close to the restaurant doorway. If it was as much as Akash, your complete area can be auto-themed. “I would like folks to take a seat in auto-seats, and have headlamps and small followers together with it,” he says. His final objective is to boost sufficient funds to open a restaurant in Anna Nagar, and make it as yellow, and auto-filled as potential.
Akash runs the restaurant and meals truck alongside along with his brother, Okay Vignesh. “I’ve 5 years of expertise within the lodge and meals business, however have all the time needed to create a brand new and distinctive enterprise,” says Vignesh. On a regular basis, a recent batch of biryani is ready by 7pm, with 50 kilograms on weekends, and 30 on weekdays. The meals truck has a aromatic inventory of each rooster and beef biryani, with raita, brinjal curry and an non-compulsory aspect of Hen 65.
Akash credit YouTubers for serving to enhance his reputation when he first launched the thought. “I got here after watching a vlog, the idea was fascinating,” says Manoj Kumar, a buyer on the store. One of many movies had almost 4.4 lakh views. And, those that come for the auto, return for the biryani. Costs stand at ₹120 for limitless biryani, with further prices for add-ons like Hen 65. R Gowri, an HR skilled, lives in Medavakkam however travels right here for biryani. When requested why, she giggles. “It’s good biryani, I don’t want one more reason.”