A name synonymous with ‘exceptional service’ in Pune, ECO (Elephanta and Co.) is the brainchild of 3 best friends from IIHM -A. After working with The Taj, Oberoi and Hyatt and managing the best of restaurants, serving the who’s who of the country – Karan Khilnani, Anuj Solaknki and Karan Kulkarni quit their jobs to start ECO in 2016. They left Bombay to enter a new market and deep-dived into understanding the Pune market and people.

Elephant symbolizes royalty and that’s how every guest who walks into ECO feels, important. The stakeholders are Taj graduates, so a lot of value system comes from there.

“The focus was service and cocktails at the start, but over a period of time we invested in great consultants and the kitchen – today we do great business on dry days and have a repeat lunch clientele as well” – Karan Khilnani (Ex- Taj Mahal, Taj Burj Khalifa, Oberoi)

There are 2 Elephants in Pune and we have a new one launching in March in Goa. It’s a crowd-funded brand with zero outside investment, so we have managed to keep the ethos and values of the brand alive. Pune people love Elephant and Elephant loves them right back 🙂