Melt House stands as a testament to comfort, inclusivity, and gastronomic innovation. This culinary haven, renowned for its ‘upscale comfort cuisine’. The establishment seamlessly marries the charm of a European bistro with the allure of rustic pub vibes and offers an unforgettable dining experience.
Melt House, as the name suggests, is synonymous with indulgent treats that melt in your mouth, from their popular gourmet grilled cheese sandwich to their gooey New York Style Cookies. Founded by Rohit Beniwal the cafe debuted in 2021 in 32nd Avenue Gurugram, following their immense success there, they launched the second outlet of Melt House in Greater Kailash 2.
Melt House has received an enthusiastic response from customers, becoming a go-to destination in Delhi’s vibrant dining scene. Building on this momentum, the brand plans to expand to major cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, bringing its signature blend of artisanal cuisine and unparalleled service to a broader audience.
As Melt House embarks on this exciting journey, Rohit Beniwal shares his journey and provides detailed insights into the brand’s expansion strategy in an exclusive interview.
1. What motivated you to venture into the F&B industry, and how do you view the evolving food and beverage landscape in New Delhi?
I have nurtured a lifelong belief in the power of customer-facing brands that rely on storytelling as a means of connecting and forging bonds with their customers. Such brands can capture the imagination of their audiences and acquire a perception beyond that of mere ‘commodity’. At Melt House, we believe that ‘food’ is one such category that naturally lends itself to building a powerful story-driven brand. Food and beverage evoke a strong emotional response and most people are very opinionated about this category. Because of this universality, crafting and curating a brand narrative becomes an exciting possibility and this became the foremost reason why this category attracted us so much. In the same breath, it’s also an industry with a relatively low barrier to entry and is by no means an easy business to undertake.
I also firmly believe that given the strong economic headwinds in India’s favour and our increasing global eminence, the consumption story will continue to grow multi-fold over the next decades and this is clearly evident from the rush of so many global brands trying to enter the Indian F&B market. The ‘Indian consumer’ is increasingly well-travelled and is developing a more global palate which allows for more diverse and innovative concepts to stand out and get noticed. This trend is also being amplified by the increasing penetration of social media where traction for food and beverage related content can serve as a good indicator which kind of concepts are getting attention.
2. Following the success of Melt House in Gurgaon, why did you choose South Delhi for your next outlet, and how has the local customer response been so far?
Choosing South Delhi after Gurgaon was both a strategic and emotional decision. Strategic in part because of the centrality of South Delhi when expanding our brand across NCR. Being in GK II M-Block allowed us to be accessible to our audiences in Delhi as well as parts of Noida. A lot of our audience had been pushing us to open in Delhi to make the brand more accessible. Emotional, in part because of some of our most favourite restaurant brands while growing up, where we discovered what great restaurants could be and now served as ‘role models’ in a way from various parts of South Delhi. GK II M-Block itself boasts some of the best bars and restaurants in the country and we couldn’t be more proud of calling ourselves their neighbour. In our experience, lifestyle and dining destinations can scale rapidly when locations develop as ‘hubs’ or ‘clusters’. A lot of brands can complement each other, offer a more diverse selection of cuisines and attract a wider diversity of audiences that aids discovery. The GK II M-Block market was one such cluster which was developing in a very interesting way and we took a plunge while good real estate was still available.
3. What are your future expansion plans for Melt House, both within Delhi and beyond?
With Melt House, we are following a very focussed and deliberate expansion strategy where we choose territories that are adequate ‘apart’ from each other and yet we can find a receptive audience similar to our demographic. Internally, we set a very high performance benchmark for each location and thus, several factors must align before we are able to select a location. This might mean that our expansion might not appear very aggressive to an outside observer but we focus on over-delivering and surpassing expectations of our investors, our team and our partners at each location and that can only be achieved if we follow a very rigorous process. Our aim is to expand to not more than 7 locations within Delhi-NCR followed by expansion within metros and Tier II cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore etc. The plan is to scale the brand to 40 locations within the next 10 years.
4. What are some signature dishes that guests should not miss when visiting Melt House?
Our name gives away that we’re focussed on a bit of indulgence and the joy that a great meal can bring to our patrons. Given that we’re called ‘Melt House’, we go really big on cheese and chocolate. Our sourdough grilled cheese sandwiches, the New York style cookies and the hot chocolate were the standout products that helped us gain prominence and one must absolutely try these when they are dining with us. I would also highly recommend anything from the baked pasta section as most of the patrons are completely in love with these pastas and they are as American-Italian as it gets.
5. What is the inspiration and concept behind your newly launched cocktail menu? How do these drinks enhance the dining experience at Melt House?
The inspiration was always to build on and focus on our story and the cocktail menu is an extension of that idea. Our cocktail menu focusses on nostalgia and flavours and stories from our past which most of us will find relatable. For example, ‘A road trip to the hills’ is a cocktail that reminds one of the summer holidays from the days gone by, where entire families would head to Mussoorie or Nainital every summer. We use brandy paired with Pine needle tea and homemade brown butter syrup and hickory smoke as pine is a smell that instantly transports one to the hill stations. Likewise, ‘The Initiation’ is all about the memory of one’s first encounter with alcohol. It’s a riff on a simple Rum and Coke but elevated with homemade coffee and chocolate bitters and a malt and cream foam. The idea really is that when someone picks up the menu and reads the name or the description of the drink, they are instantly transported to their memories and the menu itself is a great conversation starter. Cocktails are known as social lubricants and our effort has been to initiate conversations, find common grounds and pepper every drink with that all powerful ingredient: Nostalgia.
6. What inspired the unique concept of Melt House, blending American-Italian comfort food with European bistro and pub vibes? How do the design elements on each floor enhance the overall dining experience?
Design has always been an integral part of our success as unlike a lot of other wonderful places across town, our spaces are never designed to impress or intimidate with their grandeur but instead our design brief was to build more of a sanctuary/safe space with familiar, old school and relatable finishes that makes the whole space appear very welcoming and cozy. Since our food philosophy is all about ‘comfort’, we were clear that we want that to come across in our design too. Choosing a European bistro as a template was also relatively straight forward as our food is from those parts of the world and we all believe that there is something just so different and endearing about sitting on side by side chairs overlooking the street in a Parisian boulevard as the sun is about to set and buskers are playing just across the street. It makes you feel as if you’re part of the life in and around you and we are always keen on replicating that feeling in our spaces.
7. In your opinion, what sets Melt House apart from other restaurants offering similar cuisine in the city?
The ‘Melt House’ experience is an amalgamation of several factors really, the food, the mood, the music, the warmth, the sense of inclusiveness and welcoming, the out-of-the-way hospitality amongst several others. I think our patrons have over time, really come to appreciate how we obsess about our ingredients and practices. It’s the minor differences that add up and create a difference. For example, baked pasta is easy to find anywhere in town. But at Melt House, you’ll know that your Pasta is a Conchiglione made in house every morning, it’s paired with homemade lavender Ricotta, the Gouda is from the lower Himalayas, the Cheddar is 18 months aged Gloucestershire Cheddar and the dish is served piping hot and still bubbling on the table. This level of detailing is both an education and also inspires appreciation for subtle differences and the effort put in by producers all over the world.
8. Could you share the thought process behind your inclusive menu, designed to cater to a variety of dietary preferences?
We have our very best to cater to a very diverse audience set and ensure that their dietary preferences are addressed. A lot of patrons are well travelled and are familiar with global best practices and trends that dictate food consumption. Over the last decade, there has been growing awareness about the impact of food on our health and people are more open to prescribing and trying out various dietary patterns. We now offer several of our menu items in customisable forms where elimination or addition or certain ingredients can address these concerns. Given that we are so big on cheese, dairy was an obvious problem but we have introduced several vegan cheese options, we offer Gluten free pasta selections and low-GI dishes that are diabetic friendly. We have also been trying to move away from importing a lot of cheeses and finding very good quality local producers to make our sourcing more sustainable and support local producers. Similarly, we always keep experimenting with alternatives and new ingredients. Like recently, we have been exploring Monk fruit as a sugar alternative for some of our desserts. We also ensure that we have a healthy selection of Jain items on the menu and several seasonal items are introduced to ensure that our customers are able to enjoy the Melt House experience that aligns with their beliefs.
