EP Business in Hospitality Issue 49 - April 2014

An infusion of
style
VIVEK SINGH, FOUNDER
OF THE ICONIC CINNAMON
CLUB, HAS REINVENTED
INDIAN FOOD AND CHANGED
THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE IT
HERE IN THE UK AND ABROAD.
EP WENT TO FIND OUT MORE
Vivek Singh had a vision
of creating an Indian
restaurant like no other.
He arrived in the UK in
December 2000 and on the
21 March 2001 he fulfilled this dream
with the opening of the Cinnamon
Club, a 250-cover restaurant. Once
known as the Westminster Library,
the Grade II listed building now
serves discerning diners dishes
inspired by classical Indian recipes
with an international twist. Through
the opening of his restaurant, the
innovative chef has transformed the
face of Indian fusion cuisine.
Vivek was born in a small coal
mining community in the Bengal
region of India. Like most Indians,
he had set out to follow in his father’s
footsteps and pursue a career in
engineering. When he did not achieve
the grades for Engineering College,
he had to consider other options. He
laughs as he reminisces; his sister’s
friend was studying hospitality at the
time and she often spoke about “what
a picnic” the course was – there were
no notes to make and no exams to sit.
Liking the idea of a three-year long
‘picnic’, the chef decided to enrol in
the Institute of Hotel Management in
New Delhi.
Selected as a trainee chef for the
Oberoi Group, Vivek considers this
job when he began to take his career
seriously. After training he spent
five years working within the group
across the various states of India, from
Maharashtra and Bengal. Towards the
end of his tenure with Oberoi, Vivek
became the chef at the Rajvilas
in Jaipur.
Working at the Rajvilas, Vivek felt
constrained to traditional cooking
methods, he was not able to be as
innovative as he would have liked.
People visiting Jaipur and the hotel
wanted to experience authentic Indian
cuisine and that’s what the restaurant
had to serve. Early in 2000, Vivek met
Iqbal Wahhab, a PR guru, who shared
his same vision and ideas and later
became his business partner.
“Iqbal was frustrated with the level
of Indian restaurants that existed in the
UK and wanted to create a restaurant
that pushed the boundaries and set a
new benchmark in Indian dining. He
had met a lot of people but none that
were able to articulate this aspiration
in food and when we met, it was
almost like a meeting of minds.
24 | April 14 | EP