A novel culinary experience | Daily News
Hotel Manoli at Food Studio, One Galle Face

A novel culinary experience

HOW FOOD STUDIO BEGAN

Food Studio was established in 2017 by Chairman Lim Tain Toon, Vice-Chairman Naveed Cader, and Nadeem Rajabdeen. Nadeem has served as the Executive Director since January 2019 and assumed the role of CEO post-pandemic. The company was formed with the vision of revolutionizing the food court experience in the rapidly developing urban areas of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

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If you want to experience the very best of Levantine cuisine, then Hotel Manoli at Food Studio, One Galle Face is the destination you must visit. The food they serve is absolutely delicious, and once you taste their dishes you will be hooked! That is how good it is. It will be a new experience and you will find that visiting Food Studio at One Galle Face Mall, was a great choice and smart one at that. The food is great and the ambience is just right!

The Levant compromises of Turkey, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, and Syria. Levantine cuisine celebrates the deep food heritage from the entire region. Dishes and preparations at Hotel Manoli integrate all these cultures and traditions. There are many restaurants in Colombo that are termed as ‘Mediterranean’ and ‘Middle Eastern’, but Hotel Manoli can be identified as the only restaurant serving ‘Levant’ food – which is basically a mix and match of food from both those regions.

Levantine cuisine is a mixture of healthy, vibrant, clean, and tempting food. The food is often simple and consists of only a few modest ingredients. But you are served with meals that ignite absolute rich flavours! So, it doesn’t always have to be a big and expensive purchase. It is very popular with the health-conscious younger generation for its freshness and simplicity, and as folks gravitate more to vegan food, they find this cuisine in particular to be a good option.

Hotel Manoli, located at One Galle Face Mall, Food Studio has many repeat customers already. The difference with this cuisine is that it is an acquired taste, and the customers they serve are those who would go looking for the type of cuisine, as opposed to any other fast-food restaurant which usually thrives on impulse buying of customers. Its very niche base, but the fact that they already have many loyal repeat customers is proof that the food is up to its mark.

“Food Studio is all about redefining the food landscape in Sri Lanka. We don’t consider ourselves a mere food court. Our goal is to bring new and never-before-seen food concepts to our outlets, and we have also launched our own culinary concepts arm in order to fulfill this objective. We don’t just feed diners; we transport them. And to that extent have no qualms in investing our time and money into food concepts that work,” said Louzanne Perera, Head of Commercial for Food Studio.

This is the fourth new food concept they have introduced to their food courts in the recent past. Champion Slice (NY Style XL Pizzas), Bamboo Boy (Noodles & Dumplings), Khayaban (Authentic Pakistani Cuisine) are other one-of-a-kind concepts in addition to Hotel Manoli.

Serving authentic food is a challenge due to the limited availability and high cost of imported ingredients, such as sauces from the various regions, masalas, grains, etc. In this atmosphere Food Studio now strives to source locally as much as possible, especially for meats, spices, vegetables and fruits.

“The great thing about Food Studio is that it serves a range of cuisines including South Asian, South East Asian, Western and special concept food stalls along with cafe and stalls for beverages and desserts. It is important to note that no one stall will cannibalize the food offering of the other. E.g. there cannot be two stalls selling the same cuisine unless the products are different,” said CEO, Food Studio, Nadeem Rajabdeen.

Food Studio has a range from Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lanka, Indonesian, Singaporean, Japanese, Thai, Chinese, Pizza, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern. They serve authentic dishes and smaller menus and aim to deliver it quickly without compromising on quality. 


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