Nisha Katona: ‘Mowgli will have my hand on it forever’

A colleague remarked that when visiting Arcade Food Theatre under the revamped management of JKS Restaurants, the food hall was like being taken on a sumptuous eating tour of Asia.

In one corner there are the fiery noodles of Liu Xiaomian hailing from Chongqing in China; Hanoi-inspired bánh mì sandwiches are served up at Viet Populaire; Nepali street food is the order of the day at Tipan Tipan; while Javanese street stalls from the warungs and night markets of Indonesia are delivered at Bebek! Bebek!

If JKS is delivering on the early promise of food halls with a feast for the senses, a Parts Unknown experience without the expensive airfare, then TriSpan is attempting a similar globe-trotting trick in casual dining with its latest portfolio investment.

One of the higher profile investors in a field not known for its keenness to step out of the shadows, TriSpan’s restaurant dedicated Rising Stars Fund has made Mowgli Street Food its latest acquisition. The fund is fronted by European operating partner Robin Rowland, the former YO! Sushi CEO who led the Japanese-inspired brand through three sales, and becomes Mowgli’s chairman.

Having acquired a majority stake in Rosa’s Thai in 2018, and then Pho in 2021, the private equity firm now has a trio of promising restaurant groups, each representing a hot cuisine category, loosely inspired by street food, from the diverse continent of Asia. (And for those with more western tastes there is also American-inspired Thunderbird Fried Chicken).

In its carefully curated platter of brands, Rowland is picking proven operators with plenty of potential for the future. Each have moved the dial from the previous generation of casual dining brands, many of which have gone through painful periods of fatigue, over-expansion and downsizing. This cohort are vibrant and fragrant, contemporary and on-trend, with an appeal to young consumers. They have proudly created identities, a clear sense of design, and offer value for money as well as experiences – they are not going to break the bank during hard-pressed times. And crucially, the private equity firm sees headroom for growth and value creation, with each at an earlier stage of their journey than longer established brands. 

Each also has a strong founders’ story, with Alex and Saiphin Moore creating Rosa’s out of a passion for authentic Thai food. While they have now stepped away from the day-to-day business, Thailand-born Saiphin remains an ambassador for Rosa’s at new site openings, a valuable asset to the management team.

Another husband-and-wife team who nurtured their brand from birth, Stephen and Juliette Wall were inspired to open the UK’s first specialty pho restaurant after travelling around the world and falling in love with Vietnam’s national dish. Likewise the Walls have have also stepped back from day-to-day operations, but they remain the “DNA of the business” and involved at an executive level, according to Rowland.

In Nisha Katona, TriSpan have their strongest founder yet, less a secret weapon and more a force of nature. An author, broadcaster, former barrister and all-round media personality, her public profile is bonded to the Indian Street food brand through her highly personalised family stories and recipes.

A self-confessed workaholic, she has overseen almost every part of the business since its inception – from PR and marketing, to people and culture, to food to interior design. As a trained lawyer she is even able to negotiate her own property deals, and is known to only sign off on a new site if her beloved dogs give the sniff of approval. (All restaurants are naturally dog-friendly).

“I’ve set the standard, I’ve built the model. Everything is catalogued. Every brick is locked down. It can continue to be consistent. It will have my hand on it forever.” - Nisha Katona 

Given this heroic work rate, as the 15-strong group continues to expand (and it has several upcoming sites in the pipeline) Katona may now have a chance to relinquish some of these responsibilities to avoid burning the candle at both ends – though she will stay on as CEO. “There will be a point when I can’t continue to work at this rate,” she previously told MCA, in an interview in 2018. “I work from 8am until 2am at night, seven days a week. All I do is work. There will come a point when I need someone to take over part of the business.”

But for all Rowland and the TriSpan team’s considerable experience in operations and restaurant expansion, they will certainly want to make the most of her distinctive tone of voice, enthusiasm and self-described “curry evangelism”. Having such a high-profile, effusive and articulate founder must be worth its weight in gold in the current challenging trading climate. Indeed, just a few months ago Rowland was waxing lyrical about the incredible value of committed founders – so long as the numbers stacked up and there was a strong management team in place. TriSpan will have done its due diligence here, and Mowgli’s numbers appear to be holding up well, the company reporting an “extremely strong return to trade” post-pandemic, and a “largely positive” Christmas.

Meanwhile, Katona is a believer in a progressive people culture, and has worked hard to make Mowgli an attractive proposition to prospective staff, saying she wants to make her majority under 35 workforce “nourished, purposeful and fulfilled”. “How do you create an environment where people come into work and go out walking taller?” she told MCA’s Restaurant Conference last year.

So, if TriSpan’s Rising Stars fund represents the future of casual dining, then what does the next stage in Mowgli’s story look like?

In keeping with current conventional thinking, Rowland told MCA’s Omnichannel Foodservice Conference he believes the days of the cookie cutter mass roll out of brands are over. Operators need to be more flexible with their concept, and utilise more than one format, he said. Expanding on the theme, he described how TriSpan was keen to explore ‘express’ formats and also other avenues of growth such as franchising – something that will no doubt be discussed at the first board meeting as the new partners begin working together.

How the new investor harnesses Katona’s personality for the benefit of the restaurant group and associated sales channels – without risking overexposure – will be an interesting balancing act. While Katona’s name is not above the door at Mowgli, her personality and brand are hard to separate, something she told MCA in 2018 could be a positive and a negative as her profile grows.“Therein lies the jeopardy. If people don’t like you, they will punish the business,” she said. 

Under the terms of the investment, Katona and her management team will maintain a “significant interest in the company”, with Matthew Peck and Lucy Worth staying on as chief financial officer and chief operating officer respectively. Rowland will chair the board, while Dame Karen Jones will step down as chair but remain as a non-executive director.

Whatever happens over the coming years, Katona has previously said she will “always be the voice of the business”.

“Even if I took a minority position, the dishes would march on with my name attached to them,” she told MCA in 2018. “I’ve set the standard, I’ve built the model. Everything is catalogued. Every brick is locked down. It can continue to be consistent. It will have my hand on it forever.”