Riyaaz started his career as a shoe salesman, but has gone on to become one of the country’s top restaurateurs, with as many as  63 restaurants across 18 cities in the country in his fold. He is Riyaaz Amlani, the founder and MD of the Impresario Handmade Restaurants.

Riyaaz set up his first café Mocha Coffee & Conversations in 2001. This was a at a time in post-liberalisation India when the business of both restaurants and bars were taking their first baby steps towards transforming into the modern avatar that you see now.

Mocha, as was conceived by Riyaaz,  was about coffee as well as experience, a safe space for youngsters to catch up between meals.

The success of the concept led to  bigger things over the last two decades. The umbrella of brands  under Impresario  now include SOCIAL, antiSOCIAL, Smoke House Deli, Salt Water Café, BOSS Burger, Lucknowee, Ishaara, Slink & Bardot, Prithvi Cafe, and Mocha, many  of whom have gone on to become iconic names themselves.

Riyaaz  believes that bars and restaurants are not simply a business but a movement that contributes towards the socio-cultural and economic evolution of the country, where communities, subcultures, entrepreneurs and artists are provided a creatively charged environment to grow and thrive.