If you know the Chai Pani or Botiwalla restaurants, you know Molly Irani. Co-founder with her chef-husband, Meherwan, Molly infuses heart and soul into each of the vibrant, Indian-inspired restaurant locations (find them in Asheville; Decatur and Atlanta, Georgia; Washington, DC; and Charlotte) as well as their spice brand, Spicewalla. In her debut book, Service Ready: A Story of Love, Restaurants, and the Power of Hospitality (Scribner), she shares the dramatic backstory of how and why the couple opened their first Chai Pani in Asheville in 2013 and all of the twists and turns that arose as they bootstrapped their businesses, built a strong and enduring culture based on “mindblasting” hospitality, and shaped a supportive family and coupled life along the way. The book is a guide to surviving and thriving in the restaurant space, yes, but also applies to all forms of entrepreneurship and leadership. And, unlike most other restaurant and service-focused books, Molly’s unique (and especially female) perspective provides an endearing, emotional thread that carries the narrative while speaking directly to her reader with raw honesty and vulnerability. We caught up with Molly to hear more about what prompted her to write the book, how she wove together a love story rather than a service manual, and why she’ll probably keep writing.
The Local Palate: Tell us about the catalyst for the book. At what point did you think, “I really want to put this on paper?”
Molly Irani: The impetus to start the book came in waves and was motivated by different things at different times. Originally, the first call that I identified of wanting to put it all down in writing was—and this was pre-pandemic—the feeling that as we were growing our business it was harder and harder for Meherwan and I to personally be working alongside all of the people in our company, and we didn’t want to lose the thread of them having a sense of who we are and what our “why” is. I wanted to capture the stories behind the why—not just a bunch of to do’s or protocols in a handbook, but getting people to understand. And then the pandemic happened, and everything went upside down. Emerging from that, I realized what we were doing by restructuring all of our businesses and trying to get them profitable again was something that all small businesses all around the world were struggling with. How do you hold onto culture within your team, within your business, and also make it profitable and be able to take care of people? That was when I thought there’s something important going on here that I really want to share, particularly with our industry. And, ultimately, the last wave, when I decided to start a proposal, was this feeling that this information is what I needed when we were starting our business. How do you build a culture when you are bootstrapping it?
TLP: Had you written anything of this length or magnitude before?
Molly Irani: I’ve never written professionally at all. I was doing a lot of writing in house for our team, capturing everything that had to go into our handbook. But on a personal level, I had started spending time with a group of my women friends in a sort of free-writing group. We met every week to free-write, so it was more of a creative process. But what we were really doing at the end of the day was sharing our truths with each other. It was like a vehicle to come together as a circle of women and share the difficult things we were dealing with, and be honest and vulnerable and not have it become a therapy session. That became a thread that wove through this phase of deciding to write the book because I realized I loved it. I loved the process of writing and thinking into that creative process.
TLP: This book is so different from other restaurant industry or hospitality books—many of them come from the fine dining space, and are often written by men. Your story, though, is really a love story. Talk about why you wanted that to be a central focus.
Molly Irani: I so appreciate that question because I would get very frustrated when we were starting this business, searching for tools and books to help inform and guide us. A lot of books about service are really focused on the points of service, which is coming from the fine dining perspective, and we were trying to do something very different. I would just throw them across the room because it just felt like, oh my god, this is just an instruction manual. When I first discovered Danny Meyer’s book, Setting the Table, it was the first time I felt that somebody had articulated exactly what we were trying to do. Danny’s book, literally every other page in my copy is dog-eared, and it’s still mandatory reading for our managers. But what I felt was missing, and what I wanted to really touch on was the story side of the bootstrapping restaurateur experience, where you’re coming in without any financial backing, without any experience, without the professional training or degrees that are available out there. So many restaurants get started that way, and I didn’t see that side of the story represented much in print.
TLP: And there is so much vulnerability here, too. How was that process of putting your heart on the page? Were there challenges to getting it on paper?
Molly Irani: Yes, definitely. When I started the process of writing this book, I was focusing primarily on the takeaways, and my wonderful agent, David Black—who’s the person that ultimately helped me shape this book and get a contract to write it—he really helped me understand that I needed to show people who I am before they would care about what I have to say. And the best way to do that is through the real, true stories of how we got here. He encouraged me to share the vulnerable truth. At first, I argued with him, and said, “That’s a terrible idea. Why would I ever want to do that?” It’s already hard enough to run a business as a married couple where everybody knows everything about you, and you’re totally on display—every time you have a debate, it’s for all to see. We’re two different people bringing two different perspectives at all times, and sometimes, in our meetings, our team is sort of mildly chuckling because everybody knows exactly what direction he and I are going to go. But what I realized, quite literally through the process of writing the book, was how much our vulnerability around our marriage, and what it’s like to run a business with your life partner—when our team is seeing the tension in the room—how much work we’ve done not just to save our marriage but also to bring balance to a business culture. We had to really stretch ourselves, individually, on a very personal level, in order to be able to function as business partners. All of that benefited the work culture that we created because we were ultimately creating balance for each other. In the book, I talk about the hero’s journey and the heroine’s journey, and how under-understood the heroine’s journey is. Our narrative arc has been a heroine’s journey, because it’s a collective story. It’s a story about us, this team of friends that came together and built this business.
TLP: And how did Meherwan respond to that vulnerability in the book?
Molly Irani: He was on board with it. I felt more nervous than he did about sharing the truth of how hard it is, the messy parts. There’s this whole phase of our marriage, but also as a business, what I refer to as the “messy middle.” My agent, David, said this is a directional change so be sure that you and Meherwan are both comfortable with that, because it’s more of a personal story. When I went to Meherwan and told him, he was like, “Hell yes, that’s the story you should share.” He was very supportive of it. And what he also did was, in order for me to really be able to focus on writing this book—while also dealing with life and the [Hurricane Helene] floods—I had to write the book by going away for big chunks of time and really deep diving into the writing process. He encouraged me to write the whole book exactly as I saw it and felt it.
TLP: As you point out in the book, despite all that you’ve accomplished and pushed through, you’re still very much in the middle of your careers and your story. How did that shape what went into the book?
Molly Irani: Right, because the storm hit while I was in the middle of writing it. And I remember this moment where I was sharing in the book these 12 management principles that we use, and I had the realization as I was writing that chapter, by the time this book goes out, we will have rewritten these management principles, because that’s who we are as a company. We are constantly changing and evolving. And I tried to articulate that, because I think the point of it is not that these exact principles are going to apply to everybody. It’s more the idea that you need to find your own way.
TLP: You also mention, toward the end of the book, how you’ve finally felt empowered to step into who you are and who you’ve been all along. Has this book empowered you to do more writing?
Molly Irani: I would love to have more writing in my future, even if it’s just me alone, creatively writing. I discovered that I really enjoyed the process of writing. My goal right now is to be able to take this moment of time where I’m not needed so much in operations, and be able to get time with our people, our team, and share our stories, share this book with them—and share their stories with the world. That feels like a real journey to go on.
Find Molly Irani on book tour this spring; details at mollyirani.com.
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Erin Byers Murray
Erin Byers Murray has been digging into stories about food and wine for more than twenty years. Based in Nashville, she is the editor-in-chief of The Local Palate and has authored or co-authored half a dozen books, including deep dives into oysters and grits, as well as several cookbooks. Her work has been published in multiple publications, including Food & Wine, Wine & Spirits, the Boston Globe, and three editions of Best Food Writing.
