When the humble quick-service restaurant Swati Snacks in Mumbai recently began trending on Indian Twitter, the reason was simple: Asia’s second-richest man, Mukesh Ambani, had identified it as his favourite place to eat. The Indian billionaire, 64, revealed his love for the eatery on the autobiography of its owner Asha Jhaveri, eponymously titled Swati Snacks . “We are three generations of the Ambani family who cannot live without ordering from Swati Snacks every week,” reads the industrialist’s quote on the book’s grey-yellow cover. Perhaps the appeal for him lies in the restaurant’s repertoire of regional Indian delicacies, mostly from the western state of Gujarat from where the Ambani clan hails. But Ambani is only one of many celebrities, from Bollywood stars to cricketers, to have dined at its tables since in opened in 1963. The eatery’s menu is based on traditional recipes from Indian homes, says its second generation owner Jhaveri, 76, who took over the reins from her mother and founder Minakshi when she died in 1979. Jhaveri’s business acumen helped expand the brand from one outlet in Mumbai in the 1960s to the current four – two in Mumbai and two in Ahmedabad as well as a cloud kitchen launched last June. Jhaveri, whose two nephews help to run the chain, says Ambani’s favourite dishes include chaat (street food) items like sev puri, paani puri and dahi batata puri – deep fried dumplings served with lashings of creamy curds, tangy tamarind sauce and a garnish of sprouts and freshly chopped coriander. “The Ambani couple – Mukesh and his wife Nita – used to visit our joint quite frequently, and would often stand in the queue to get in, but now they mostly order takeaways. We recognise their staff from their uniform when they come in to pick up the food,” Jhaveri said. The idea for the restaurant came about because her mother, who was single, would entertain friends and family at home with her cooking. “Her chaat had people licking their fingers. Her famous hand-churned pumpkin ice cream had people clamouring for its recipe. So when she opened the eatery both items were incorporated into its menu.” ‘Melt-in-the-mouth goodness’: How an Indian temple town’s cuisine spread across the world Her mother’s idea for launching the cafe was to leverage her culinary skills while providing for her two children, Asha and Anand. Both of them now manage the Mumbai outlets while the Ahmedabad ones are managed by Jhaveri’s two nephews. The food is prepared by 25 local cooks with fresh ingredients procured daily from local markets. The original outlet in Mumbai’s downtown Tardeo area has evolved over time. The stainless steel-top tables and benches have given way to a chic contemporary décor and steel crockery was replaced by canary yellow plates in 2000. New dishes too, have been added to the menu while retaining their original homestyle simplicity. The hands-on restaurateur reaches the eatery daily at about 10.30am and leaves late afternoon after lunch service. “I don’t have a fancy degree from a business school nor do I know how to cook, but I make sure the restaurant is run efficiently and our customers get to eat tasty food. We often have three generations of diners eating at one table,” she said. Chef Mayur Gupta, owner of Curry & Co., a Delhi-based regional Indian cuisine restaurant, said the success of eateries like Swati Snacks rested on great quality food, consistency and taste. “Multigenerational eateries can only survive if they consistently deliver good food which diners want to keep going back to. They rely on fresh local produce, source their spices and masalas locally, often roast and hand pound them in their kitchens and employ only local cooks who are aware of the nuances of the region’s cuisine.” Gupta added that though such restaurants serve up clean, simple flavours, the food is homey and without frills, which appeals to all taste buds. “You’d rarely find such restaurants being flashy or recruiting star chefs to attract footfalls. They are unpretentious and have character.” No surprise then that, in the past six decades, Swati Snacks has had so many famous faces coming through its doors. India’s hot debate: is curry a racist hangover from British colonialism? “We treat all our customers the way we would guests who visit our home. I supervise the cooks and personally inspect the produce and spices so that our customers are well looked after,” Jhaveri said. Around 25 to 30 delicacies are prepared daily in the restaurant’s kitchen. These include satpadi roti (spicy masala bread) paired with gatta nu shaak (gram flour curry) and fada ni khichdi (cracked wheat pulao). Many dishes have been given a unique twist such as the paani puri (chaat) water which is infused with a secret masala that only Jhaveri knows the recipe of. The eatery’s hot seller panki – also an Ambani favourite – is crafted from rice flour and steamed in a plantain leaf. “The rice and turmeric batter for the delicacy is directly poured on leaves greased with oil and then cooked in a steamer. The pancake has to be carefully disengaged from the leaf to be eaten,” Jhaveri said. Jhaveri laughed as she added that when the dish was introduced at the turn of the century nobody knew what it was. “It is mostly made by home cooks and not available commercially, so I had to go from table to table to explain to our guests what the dish was, how to eat it and prevent them from gobbling up the banana leaf!”