A well-known figure in the restaurant business, AD has been at the forefront of the Indian hospitality industry for the last 28 years. AD made his restaurant business debut in 1990 with Just Desserts, a jazz café that served only coffee and desserts. Immensely successful and filling a huge void in the casual dining space, the restaurant was described by India Today as the ‘phenomenon of the nineties’.

When AD opened Olive in Bandra in 2000, he changed the way Bombay perceived the suburbs and introduced the city to Mediterranean cuisine.

In 2003, AD opened The Olive Bar and Kitchen in New Delhi, which was honoured among the ‘best new restaurants in the world’ by Condé Nast Traveler. Soon, Olive became one of the most popular restaurant brands winning numerous awards and accolades across Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

In 2018, the much awaited (for 17 years) Olive Bar and Kitchen launched in  Vagator beach of North Goa, with a casual, rustic ambience. In 2013, Olive Bistro opened in Hyderabad, and two years later in Goregaon, Mumbai.

AD has launched 15 restaurant brands throughout the country. He is credited with many ‘firsts’ in the Indian restaurant scene. Bombay’s first floating bar - Suzy Wong, India’s first gastropub - Monkey Bar, Olive - the country’s first truly standalone restaurant, and Guppy - one of India’s first Japanese restaurants.

Some of AD’s recent successes include SodaBottleOpenerWala – a Bombay Irani Café & Bar that serves typical Parsi and Irani specialties. Ek Bar in Delhi - a new Indian cocktail bar serving a fresh, regionally-inspired modern menu and award-winning innovative cocktails. The Hoppery, Hyderabad is thehe Olive Group’s first microbrewery.

Other notable names under the Olive umbrella are Lady Baga - the Goan Beach Shack in Mumbai, The Grammar Room - an all-day cafe borne out of a mutual love for grammar, food and coffee, The Fatty Bao - an Asian gastro-bar, and the East Village, NYC inspired and gastronomically curious - Toast and Tonic.