Chrome Hospitality from Mumbai
India’s middle class is growing, travelling, trying new things – and demanding international standards in gastronomy and lifestyle at home too. This is where Chrome Hospitality from Mumbai comes in: the ambience, branding, service culture and the standard of food and drink in its restaurants, bars and hotels combine quality with personality. The company started out as an agency for school parties. We trace its success story.
A roundabout route into the hospitality industry
“I never actually planned to end up in the hospitality industry”, says Pawan Shahri with a smile as we meet at the Berlin bar “Fabelei”. But it all came about through organising parties for school pupils and managing social media. Even as a teenager in the late noughties, the Mumbai-born entrepreneur was earning extra money by promoting high school events that took place during the day at various clubs and bars around the city. Facebook was booming; Shahri used closed groups to invite people to exclusive events, earning his money through revenue shares and entrance fees.
From social media for restaurants …
In 2011, he founded Chrome Nightlife and managed ticket sales for various party and concert venues across the city, whilst studying management at the same time. “After a few years, though, going out four times a week until six or seven in the morning became too much for me”, he recalls. With his company, now called Chrome Communications, he began using social media to attract guests, primarily to restaurants. Together with his girlfriend and now wife, Nikita Harisinghani, Chrome also built up digital marketing, PR and social media services for the hospitality industry. “We’ve always been very sales-driven and were able to make recommendations through our large network of guests. Our clients benefited from this”, says Shahri. With a team of 45, they soon managed around 100 catering establishments in Mumbai and across Indi
… to our own restaurant group
In 2018, a chain with several restaurants asked if we could also take on the day-to-day running of their business. “By then, we’d become quite adept at pinpointing why a business wasn’t performing well. Sometimes it was the operations, sometimes the interior design, sometimes the marketing, or of course the menu itself. That’s why it was a fantastic opportunity for us”, says Shahri. With its expertise, Chrome slotted in between the board and the operational management – and did so across a wide range of concepts.
After the pandemic, they felt ready for the next big step: opening their own restaurants. The first to open, with financial support from family, friends and investors, was the restaurant “Eve” serving international cuisine; there are now three outlets in the city. This was followed by the Italian concept “Donna Deli” and “Gigi”, which fuses Japanese and European cuisine. Calimex food and cocktails are available at “Lyla”, and the boutique hotel “Kaia” in Goa opened in 2023 as the first project outside Mumbai.
Carpaccio and ceviche are becoming increasingly popular
Despite their clear differences, what these concepts have in common is professional branding – every image on social media is glossy yet authentic – and a very international appeal. Is this primarily aimed at foreign tourism? No, we are told, it is primarily aimed at domestic consumption. And it is on the rise: India’s economy is growing dynamically and will have overtaken Japan to take fourth place among the world’s largest economies by 2025.
By 2030, India aims to become number three, a position currently held by Germany. Purchasing power among the middle class is rising, particularly in the major cities. Shahri: “Many Indians travel; they see and try a lot. Dishes such as carpaccio or ceviche have become very popular in recent years.” At the same time, expectations are rising – guests expect at home what they see around the world, whether whilst travelling or on Instagram. The first impression is crucial, says Shahri: “Either the guest never comes back, or they return regularly and share their experiences.”
Guests are made to feel right at home
That’s why Chrome Hospitality makes no compromises when it comes to service, alongside the atmosphere and the quality of the food and drink. “Our staff aren’t just doing a job. They’re like hosts in their own home”, explains Nikita, who is primarily responsible for the “guest experience” and marketing, whilst her husband oversees business strategy and the figures.
The service team decides independently which extras to offer guests – for example, a small plate of a dish the guest has never tried before, on the house. A “bag chair” for guests carrying heavy luggage is also part of the service. With such thoughtful touches, the businesses stand out from the competition for guests – particularly from concepts entering the market with little service experience, explains the entrepreneur.
The same applies internally: the now approximately 650 employees are paid above the average, receive profit-sharing when certain turnover targets are met, and are trained – for example, by Pawan Shahri himself in the use of AI. “If you stand out as a company with great projects and a good team culture, more and more people will want to work with you. We offer them long-term prospects”, says the founder.
Late Checkout: Bar culture on an international scale
In 2025, the restaurant group opened its first bar, “Late Checkout”, in Mumbai’s Lower Parel nightlife district. The venue is a former textile factory – the neighbourhood used to be a hub of the Indian fabric manufacturing industry. High ceilings, exposed brick walls, heavy steel beams and large skylights meet warm wood, plenty of greenery, soft lighting and a play of colours that – as in all its venues – combine elegance and comfort. With its sophisticated cocktail menu, “Late Checkout” aims to position itself at the forefront of the Indian bar scene, which is currently developing at a rapid pace. Younger guests in particular are enjoying mixed drinks, whereas spirits were traditionally mostly drunk neat. As enthusiasm for international cuisine grows, so too does the demand for high-quality drinks. The techniques behind them are also becoming increasingly well-known.
With “Late Checkout”, Chrome is also making its mark on the international scene – guest shifts by teams from globally renowned bars such as “Paradiso” in Barcelona and “Tayēr + Elementary” in London have already taken place here; conversely, “Late Checkout” has already made guest appearances at bars in New York, Berlin and Singapore, amongst others – further “takeovers”, as they are known in the bar world, are set to follow. “We want to represent Indian bar culture globally”, says Pawan Shahri. Two further openings are also in the pipeline for 2026: “Late Checkout” is getting a spin-off, and Chrome Hospitality is also launching another dining concept. The journey continues!
Further information:
www.instagram.com/chromehospitality
From Genusspunkt 1/2026
© Chrome Hospitality
