Article

Morgan makes the leap from Smashburger to Tava Indian Kitchen

Tava aims to expand throughout San Francisco and into Denver.

August 1, 2014 by Brenda Rick Smith — Editor, Networld Media Group

Imagine you are the senior vice president of marketing for a successful chain of restaurants.

Despite a crowded and competitive market, your brand is strong and consistently recognized as one of the best in your segment. You've been a key part of that success, helping to take the brand from a small regional concept with 50 units to a national player with 270 units in 32 states and six countries.

What's your next move?

If you are Jeremy Morgan, your next move is to become the CEO of Tava Indian Kitchen, a fast casual concept with three restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area.

Morgan left his job as marketing chief for Smashburger earlier this year to take the helm of Tava. He's served on the company's board of directors and as an advisor for the past 18 months.

"The opportunity with Tava was just the right fit at the right time," said Morgan. "It's an opportunity to do something really entrepreneurial. I get a lot of energy from building and growing something. Tava gives me the chance to be at the helm and lead from the ground up."

He'll spend his first few months as CEO putting together proposals for series B fundraising pitches as Tava Indian Kitchen pursues its goal of expanding to 12 locations. The brand hopes to grow its footprint in San Francisco, where it already has real estate in the pipeline, and expand into Morgan's home base of Denver. Morgan hopes to open the first Tava Indian Kitchen in Denver by the end of the second quarter of 2015.

Morgan and his team will be scouting locations in flagship trade areas that position Tava as a strong choice for catering, as well as lunch and dinner.

It's the right time for fast casual concepts like Tava, said Morgan.

"I think fast casual is the way that consumers like to access and use restaurants today. It's all about the food quality and convenience. More and more new concepts will emerge," said Morgan. "There's a lot of excitement from consumers to access new food flavors from new ethnicities and have more control over the options."

Differentiating through flavor profiles

Tava's layout and ordering process are familiar to fast casual customers, explained Morgan, but the Indian flavor profiles and ingredients help the brand differentiate from other concepts. Customers start by choosing their base: a "burroti", a burrito-style wrap, made fresh with Indian roti bread; a rice bowl featuring white or brown basmati rice; or a salad bowl of romaine lettuce.

Customers then choose a protein. Options include chicken, lamb, paneer bhurjee (crumbled Indian cheese with peas, roma tomatoes and bell peppers) or goan garbanzos (chickpeas sauteed in coconut milk and spices). Next, customers select tikka or daal sauce, and top off their item with one of six chutneys that range from cool to spicy.

If the process sounds familiar, that's because it is. According to Business Insider, Tava Indian Kitchen's founders, Vijay Brihmadesam, Jason Pate and Hasnain Zaidi all quit their jobs in finance several years ago to work on the assembly line at Chipotle. They used what they learned to shape Tava Indian Kitchen.

"It's this generation's way of eating. It's taking a big bite out of the mass casual industry," said Morgan.

About Brenda Rick Smith

Brenda has more than 20 years of experience as a marketing and public relations professional. She invested most of her career telling the story of entrepreneurial non-profit organizations, particularly through social media.

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