Today we’d like to introduce you to Navin Hariprasad.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started my career towards pharmacy working as a pharmacy tech while obtaining my first bachelors in biology from the University of Texas at Dallas. After working 5 years as a tech and graduating, I decided that it was not my true calling. I ran into my high school friend who happened to be a registered dietitian and I thought, “wow, this career covers my two favorite topics, food, and science.”
I went back to community college to retake some courses and eventually got accepted into the University of Houston to obtain my second bachelors in Nutritional Sciences in a year and a half. When attending my first class, Food Science Lab, I realized that I chose the right profession for myself and that I was truly passionate about it. I got accepted into the accelerated dietetic internship at the University of Houston and became a registered dietitian in 2010. I moved back to Dallas to be with my partner and started my Masters in Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at UT Southwestern as well as starting my career as a clinical dietitian at Parkland Hospital working with congestive heart failure and cardiovascular patients.
One of the major challenges I saw was dietary non-compliance with patients largely due to aversions to healthy foods, not liking the cuisine during their stay in the hospital, and barriers for patients to adhere to their diet (i.e. low socioeconomic status, low food availability). I was offered a management position after 1.5 years and accepted immediately as I saw an opportunity to modify diets in the hospital to help improve flavor and hopefully improve dietary compliance post discharge. Although successful with modifying diets, I was still not able to fully explore different options as some patients felt black pepper was too spicy or some foods were too decadent for them post discharge.
My partner and I had also been planning events and catering for our high-end luxury lofts in Downtown Dallas beginning in 2012. We saw several restaurants turn over in the base of our building and did not see a tenant for 8 months. An idea sparked to start a healthier Indian concept where people could get fast, take out options with a healthier spin. In November 2014, we began working on Spice as a “to-go” concept only. The first day we opened, we sold out of our entire week’s worth of food in one day so we knew this was a great concept. As time passed, we observed customer comments and modified our structure based on our customer’s needs. We eventually added a few casual tables for dine-in and got to a point where we had no room after 1 year. We began to consider expanding services into a full restaurant/bar after 1.5 years and expanding upstairs.
Spice has grown significantly over the 3+ years it has been open. We have modified into an Indian/Tex-Mex healthier fusion concept that provides fast casual service. You order downstairs at the window and we bring it upstairs for you plated. We have been featured on CW33, NPR, KXT, and Food Network. We have had the opportunity to also cater for Bollywood and Hollywood stars as well. We hope to launch our sauce and soup line this year as well as to continue to fine tune our concept so we can open up another location by this year or next.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening up a restaurant is no joke. You have a lot of challenges when it comes to running your own business. If you are not mentally, financially, or physically prepared, you will ultimately fail. Location of your business and the available resources makes a big difference as well.
I was very fortunate to have learned a lot of different food service skills while in school as well as teaching Food Service Management as a clinical professor at UT Southwestern for 3 years. All of this knowledge has been applied into practice and has been well utilized to ensure the success of our business. I would not recommend any person deciding to open up a restaurant without significant capital and the knowledge to deal with multiple variables and adapt quickly.
Spice in the City, L.L.C. – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As the owner and executive chef, my primary responsibilities have been menu planning, implementation, oversight of staffing, production, scheduling, payroll, recruiting, and hiring. Over time, I have been able to place well-experienced individuals in these roles and oversee which has allowed me to continue to pursue my primary passion of creating new, unique fusion food concepts. I am extremely proud of our growth in such a short period of time, this is often unheard of in restaurants.
I am also so humbled by the amount of opportunities that have come our way organically. Being a healthier ethnic concept has really set us apart from our competitors as well as modifying perceptions of our consumers who have had aversions to spicier/ethnic foods or had bad experiences eating at other establishments. Our goal is to provide foodie, flavorful, portion centric foods that will have people coming to our restaurant regularly without feeling guilty about it.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment was being contacted by Food Network for their “Spiciest Episode” on Guy’s Grocery Games and competing with 3 other chefs. This was not only an amazing experience to go through but it has taken my career to the next level when it comes to recognition as well as peaking people’s interest in trying Spice in the City. I also loved catering for Ajay Devgan and Kajool who are two famous Bollywood movie stars at their private preview of Shivaay. Who would have thought that I would get to meet these stars that I have seen in movies since I was very young?
Pricing:
- Tikka Sauce and Soup Line will range from $7.99-$9.99
- Average price point to eat at Spice is between $13-$18
Contact Info:
- Address: 1512 Commerce Street Suite 100, Dallas, TX 75201
- Website: www.spiceinthecitydallas.com
- Phone: 469-554-0348
- Email: spiceinthecitydallas@gmail.com
- Instagram: spiceinthecitydallas
- Facebook: facebook.com/spiceinthecitydallas
- Twitter: @spiceinthecity_
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/spice-in-the-city-dallas-dallas
- Other: chefnavin.com
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
