Will you take the pizza challenge in Sopore?

The town of Sopore in northern Kashmir may have witnessed many an insurgency and conflict in the last three decades but food has always in some way healed its wounded spirit Sopore which is around 45 km northwest of Srinagar is also known as the Apple Town of Jammu and Kashmir boasting Asiarsquos second largest fruit mandi But despite being bountiful the food experiments here have been limited to regional mealsThe wazwanmdasha multicourse Kashmiri cuisine comprising nearly 20odd decadent dishes from rogan josh to aab gosh kebabs and the meatball gravy ristamdashcontinues to be a part of every feast and celebration ldquoDuring weddings everyone participates in making the wazwan Many of the dishes are cooked overnightrdquo says Kashmiri entrepreneur Jibran Khan The wazwan is so popular that it can be found in every nook and cranny of the region be it a roadside stall or restaurant Having lived a peripatetic life working in Chandigarh Delhi and Dubai he wanted the locals to enjoy foods and flavours that he had been exposed to during his travelsThatrsquos when the idea of a fast food eatery came to him Khan who had been running a travel company that took tourists to Gurez Valley since 2015 decided to spend the next few months training at a friendrsquos restaurant at Defence Colony in Delhi Here he did everything from front of the house tasks to working in the kitchen Finally in August 2018 exactly a year before the special status granted under Article 370 was abrogated in Jammu and Kashmir Khan along with his business partner Javid Mahroo launched a firstofitskind restaurant Zero Miles Grills and Cafeacute in SoporeJibran Khan 31 who launched Zero Miles Grills and Cafe with business partner Javid Mahroo seen along with his staffOn the menu is an exhaustive roster of dishes boasting the best of different worlds including Indian Italian Chinese and the more popular Continental fare Though butter chicken seekh kebabs and mutton kanti are still hot favourites unfamiliar treats like Mexican and barbeque pizzas grill steak French fries chow mein Alfredo pasta and aglio e olio are now close competition A chef from Delhi helped him curate the menu he says adding that later his local staff was trained to prepare these meals ldquoThis kind of menu might seem ordinary for those living in big cities and towns But here in Sopore most residents have never even eaten pizza or pastardquo he shares in a telephonic interview ldquoSopore is a small townrdquo he says adding that it has been in the news mostly for wrong reasons ldquoSince the 1990s it has suffered greatly especially due to uprisings So starting something here was definitely challengingrdquo he remembers However within a few months of opening he says residents embraced his restaurant ldquoBy the following year I was employing almost eight peoplerdquo adds KhanKhan and his team recently created a 20inch round Mexican chicken pizza which he says is the largest in Jammu and Kashmir ldquoAnyone who eats it in 20 minutes will get a cash reward of Rs 5000 So far two people have attempted the challengerdquo he saysItrsquos around this time that Article 370 was revoked the curfew and looming crisis put JampK in a state of uncertainty ldquoOur restaurant was shut during this time but I had to still find a way to pay my staff at least 25 per cent of the salary so that they could run their homesrdquo recalls Khan ldquoWhen things started opening up I flew out of Kashmir and posted on social media requesting for a job To my surprise a lot of help and support came my wayrdquo Khan eventually took up a job on contract basis in Dubai to help tide through those difficult months He returned three months later to start a new franchise outlet along with another entrepreneur Tahir Hussain in his hometown Bandipora around 40 km from SoporeThe COVIDinduced lockdown that hit a month later once again saw Khan scramblingmdashthis time with two branches and double the number of employees ldquoAll we could do was wait Eventually a few weeks on we were allowed to do deliveries and since I already had a system in place we managed to get goingrdquo The interiors of the outlets are inspired by the rich legacy and history of the towns they are located in For instance one of the walls at the Sopore outlet has been designed in such a way that it looks like a pile of apple boxesNot one to give up the 31yearold gamely overcame the business setbacks only to last month open a third outlet in Baramulla which is being run by Aarmir Maqbool Khan spends two days a week in each outlet sometimes also joining the waiting staff or cooking up a meal in the kitchen ldquoAt present we have around 24 employeesrdquo His hope he says is to draw in more youth into the food and beverage industry which he says except for a handful of cities like Srinagar is still very nascent ldquoWe also had speciallyabled staff and thatrsquos our way of giving back to societyrdquo The plan is to soon expand to the North Central and South of KashmirAll the three outlets are home to small libraries where readers can borrow read and donate books ldquoWhen things get better we hope to have book launches and other cultural openmic and educational events to draw more youthrdquo Graphic Uday MohiteThe interiors of the outlets are inspired by these small townsrsquo rich legacies and history For instance one of the walls at the Sopore outlet has been designed in such a way that it looks like a pile of apple boxes This says Khan is a tribute to the townrsquos most delicious fruit ldquoWe kept another wall for the local youth of Sopore to showcase their work which is why you will see so many photographs sketches and calligraphy work aroundrdquo Since Sopore is famous for horse carts Khan also hung a wheel at the entrance of the cafeWhere pizza parties are now becoming commonplace in the neighbourhood Khan has added a new twist to it with a pizzaeating challenge ldquoWe recently created a 20inch round Mexican chicken pizza which I think is the largest in JampK Anyone who eats it in 20 minutes will get a cash reward of R5000 So far two people have attempted the challenge but failedrdquo But with how quickly locals are warming to the Italian dish that goal he says is not too far away