Indian venture for Sloan and Gizzi

Paul Sloan and Mario Gizzi have a new venture in the shape of the Chaakoo Bombay Cafe.  The two, who teamed up to launch Topolabamba a few years ago, have moved from Mexican to Indian and Iranian food with the new restaurant which is located on the  site of the former Irish theme bar Failte on St Vincent Street in Glasgow. The Chaakoo Bombay Cafe has been designed by IBDP, the interior designers who also worked on Topolabamba. There are also plans to roll the concept out to Edinburgh next year.
General Manager Denny Pereira told Dram, “I originally started working with Paul at The Waterfront Fish House in Oban, and came to Glasgow to work on Topolobamba. We’ve talked about creating something like Chaakoo for a while. The restaurant will have 130 covers and will serve Iranian and Indian cuisine in the form of small plates, curries and kebabs. Our Head Chef Man Mohan Prasad will create tastes from Bombay, India and Indo-China inspired food. ”
Chaakoo-which means knife in Hindu – will also open from 9am, serving hot breakfasts, cakes, fruit juices and the traditional yogurt-based drink, lassi.
Pereira continued, “In terms of design, we have kept as many of the original features from Failte as possible. We tried to keep the feeling of the late 1950’s but with a Bollywood twist for instance we’ll be hanging original Bollywood posters we’ve imported.”