KHIL's new restaurant, to be thrown open in the third week of June, would be the first in the chain of vegetarian restaurants to be set up under the `Vithal Kamat' brand, KHIL director Param Kannampilly told The Financial Express.

The restaurant is spread over 3,500 square feet with a sitting capacity of around 120 people. The restaurant is owned by a local Indian from San Francisco and KHIL would be operating the restaurant for a management fee. It would also receive a percentage of the gross profit, Mr Kannampilly said.

"We will be keenly studying the operations in the first three months subsequent to which we would proceed with the setting up of restaurant chains at other locations," he added, stating that New York and Los Angeles are the next two locations under consideration.

Mr Kanampilly declined to comment on the projected revenue that the restaurant chain is expected to generate for KHIL.

All `Vithal Kamat' restaurant chains would have product standardisation and would follow self-imposed environment friendly practices which has already been worked out. However, each restaurant will have the flexibility of having the interiors of its own choice, he said. KHIL, which owns and manages `The Orchid' 5-star hotel in Mumbai, would eventually take the tally of restaurant chains to around 50 with the response that it has already been receiving throughout the US and Canada, he added.

With the improved occupancy at `The Orchid' leading to a better cash flow, KHIL has restructured its debt of Rs 30 crore during the quarter. This would bring down the interest cost by around 5 per cent.