Continuing the legacy of his family of serving high quality food to guests, Jayant Shrimali has been carrying forward the business set up by his forefathers to a new height.

Jayant Shrimali hails from Udaipur. His grandfather Shri Bhuralal Ji Shrimali started the iconic Natraj Dining Hall in 1956. He, along with his other family members, have followed his grandfather’s footsteps to carry down his legacy of treating each and every guest as equivalent to ‘God’.

Since the establishment of the hotel, it has been through a lot of changes. The hotel started as a dining hall with a ‘thali’ system which allowed guests to order only a pre-fixed variety of recipes. With time, a la carte has been introduced and now guests have the liberty to order whatever they want. Along with that, Natraj has also incorporated ice cream in its list of varieties. Today, they have a couple of branches including a restaurant, a dining hall and a banquet hall. The motto behind this being, the customers getting different varieties of food at the same place at a good price.

Speaking of his grandfather, Jayant says that all of his restaurant business is built upon the faith of his customers. Before starting his own restaurant, his grandfather used to serve food at another restaurant where he used to start at six in the morning and used to work till late at night.

Jayant says his grandfather faced a lot of struggle in his early days but despite all that, he had very good relations with all the customers that visited that restaurant. One of the customers lent his grandfather the money to start his own restaurant because he thought he had the potential to do so. His grandfather was hesitant at first, as it was a huge sum, but he was ready to take the risk. He started the dining hall with just one aim, and that was to provide the best quality food to all his customers. Gradually, his restaurant business picked up. Jayant’s grandfather paid up all his loans in just a couple of years and today, their business has flourished to become one of the most renowned and trusted restaurants in Udaipur.

Jayant feels that the pandemic was a huge hit on everyone, financially. He says it was a time where his business, along with many others, was working on a no profit- no loss margin. He too faced issues at first but he says that because of the faith and trust of the people that the restaurant had gained over the years, his business never took a halt. He and his family members also decided to give their entire staff their full salaries as all of them were dependent on the restaurant. On the contrary, Jayant got a lot of free time to renovate the restaurant’s interiors and was able to improve it’s toilet facilities as demanded by his customers.

Talking about leadership, Jayant says that all his staff in the restaurant have been working with him for more than thirty years, and that is because all of them feel an affinity. They have always been treated like family and whenever there has been any issues with them, he has always supported them.

For the newcomers in the field of hospitality, Jayant advises them to take it slow and try to understand the needs of their customers. He says the restaurant line is a very practical line, and what students learn during their hotel management courses cannot be directly applied as it’s not the same as working in a five star or a three star hotel. They should first gain some experience and then take a dive, because it is all about the supply and demand of the customers.

Showcasing the achievements of his restaurant, Jayants says he was humbled when a famous chef from Discovery Channel, Anthony Bourdain visited his restaurant in 2004 for a survey and left with appreciation in his heart for the food, the staff and the restaurant. His restaurant has also starred on famous TV shows like Zaika India Ka and a lot of celebrities keep frequently visiting his restaurant because of the popularity of the restaurant in the city.

If he could go back in time, Jayant wants to relive his college days because he got great support and motivation from his teachers in college to study and establish himself as a successful person.

Jayant’s role models in life are his late grandfather and his father. He says whatever Natraj is today, it is because of the kind and helping nature of his grandfather. His grandfather had taught him how to satisfy a customer and treat them in the right way. His father, who was into politics, has taught him the value of time management and to work for the betterment of  society.

In his free time, Jayant indulges himself in different sports activities to keep himself physically fit and active.