Manoj Padmanaban, popularly known as Big Bandha, is a Chennai-based restaurateur and entrepreneur widely recognised for being a first mover in shaping the city’s contemporary food and beverage culture. His work is marked by originality, strong storytelling, and the ability to introduce global ideas in a way that feels authentic, local, and confidently Chennai. Manoj first made his mark with Pandan Club, India’s first modern Peranakan restaurant, co-founded with MasterChef Australia winner Sashi Chelliah. Building on this foundation, Manoj went on to found BORN – Beyond Ordinary Restaurants & Nosh, a hospitality collective focused on creating distinct, story-led brands rather than formula-driven concepts. Under BORN, he currently operates Jolly Indian, FU FU, Double Roti, Double Dashi, CherryPond, and SORTD—each designed with its own culinary logic, visual language, and audience, yet unified by a shared belief in originality over replication. A key differentiator of Manoj’s work is his hands-on leadership of brand storytelling and marketing. At BORN, he actively shapes how each concept communicates—using narrative-driven menus, unconventional design choices, and engaging, culturally rooted marketing to build strong recall and community around every brand. This approach has helped change the script in Chennai, moving the conversation from “what’s trending elsewhere” to “what’s being built here.”
RI PASS