Changing the scape of the restaurant industry, Shaan Gidwani, one the youngest restaurateurs around, aged 23, is here to turn heads with his array of brands spread across Mumbai, with Acapella Hospitality. His company houses restaurants like Cafe Panama located in Lower Parel known for its Latin American cuisine and its chic interiors; Loci and Toot in the heart of Bandra – a healthy and organic all-day cafe during the day and an upscale casual bar during the evening. And delivery kitchens like Lil Gamby serving artisanal handcrafted Sourdough Pizza, Italian Panuozzo Sandwiches, Pasta & Fries, Hungry Buddha serves Pan Asian Cuisine with an emphasis on Chinese, Thai, and Japanese preparations and Kokum – A Regional Indian Coastal Cuisine Restaurant in Vasai.

Shaan’s inspiration and guiding light has been his father. Witnessing his three-decade-long journey in the world of business, setting up a vast financial services empire along with various fruitful investments in the F&B space that includes one in the Olive Group of Restaurants over 15 years ago, has allowed Shaan to explore the F & B industry and led him down his
entrepreneurial path. This background along with his affinity for stellar cocktail bars, clubs, fine dining and casual dining has ignited his passion for starting his own venture in the hospitality industry.

Speaking about the brand, Shaan Gidwani, Founder & Managing Director of Acapella Hospitality said “I set up Acapella over 3 years ago with the objective of taking advantage of predominant market trends and patterns. The essence of Acapella is to form a living, breathing conglomerate that embodies simplicity with all its products and experiences being provided. Whether it’s through the electric Sunday Brunch at Café Panama, a romantic evening at Loci, Toot, lip-smacking sourdough pizza from Lil Gamby or wholesome buddha bowls from Hungry Buddha, each one of my products have a strong recall value, which I seek to further enhance.”

Shaan’s vision is to build a sizable F&B empire in the years to come. Leveraging his passion for great food, brand development, marketing and design, he plans to establish and grow a plethora of F&B brands across segments such as resto bars, cafés and cloud kitchens that resonate with his audience. Apart from expanding across India, Shaan also wants to set foot internationally.

His aim is to solidify the presence and success of the existing dine-in and delivery brands within Mumbai. Within the next few months, he plans to expand his company’s delivery vertical and operate various kitchens across the city. Opening more larger format restaurants through the expansion of existing brands as well as the creation of new brands, is also part of the plan for the 2023-2024 financial year.