The art of entertaining

It's hard to miss him at a social soiree – a kurta worn with a voluminous pyjama and layered with a jacket or baby pink linen suit. He's one of the few men who can easily pull of androgynous drapes and silhouettes. Stylish, affable and warm – AD Singh gets featured on every style list in the country. Of late, the hospitality Mughal has been on a massive expansion spree.

The new offerings
"Olive group has been in food business for many years and we have noticed good opportunities coming from across the country. We have created properties which are very well priced, affordable, exciting and fun. We've created the Olive bistro which offers the distilled Olive experience. We have already opened it in Pune and Gurgaon and we are opening it at the airport at the end of this month. The bistro we feel is a huge market across the country. We have created SodaBottleOpenerWala – our tribute to the Irani cafes –we've captured the chaos, quirkiness and madness. It's very popular. It hits the right note with food and style – we are in talks with malls and spaces. We feel it's a great value add for mall owners. We are trying to convince them (laughs). Monkey Bar is India's first gastropub brand owned by us in partnership with Chef Manu Chandra and Chetan Rampal. We will have at least five of them – all offer great food, wine and woman-friendly spaces. On the back of these products, the company is growing across India. We also have a couple of boutique products – one is called Guppy by ai which has flavours of the Oriental Japanese. We have opened first in Delhi and looking at opening another one in Mumbai. Le Bistro du Parc is very popular in Delhi so we have a range of products," says he.

Success mantra
"'The harder I work, the luckier I get' – the adage rings true for me. I work all the time. I enjoy what I do. It's a lot of hard work. I've been fortunate to retain good people over the years and these people are the backbone of the future. They are stakeholders in everything. We've managed to track good partners in the last few years, who have balanced my creativity and vision with practicality and pragmatism. Last year we got Aditya Birla Private Equity money so that also helped us to fund our growth. All these factors have come together," he shares

Bombay vs. Delhi palette
"Delhi is India's best market – in terms of opportunity, per capita income, real estate availability, Mumbai is second and Bengaluru perhaps the third. Sophistication wise, everybody is just the same. Bengaluru people are not class and status conscious which I like about them. Mumbai crowd is very chilled out, so as far as the bar scene goes, there is a balance of hipness and laidback vibe. Delhi has spending power, great customers but is not yet chilled out as Mumbai is," he quips.

Art of throwing a soiree
"It might surprise you but I'm fairly a reserved person. I'm not good with new people. Having been in this line for so long, I entertain friends or people who are going to be friends."

Personal style
"Most of my old friends laugh because I used to be a typical guy – pants down to knees and holes in my shirt before it became fashionable. Over the last so many years, I have come to appreciate good clothes and good fashion. I am a restaurateur so I have the liberty to wear whatever I like. I have the liberty to experiment. Outside the fashion/gay community where do people have style? The straight men in India it's fairly limited. Good style here means good business suits and brands whereas in most international cities, it's so exciting to see what people are wearing. I'm somewhat androgynous in my taste so I don't mind wearing flowing things or drapes, which might look a little feminine but if I like that style, I'm fine with that. Being in my business – designers like Gaurav Gupta, Lecoanet Hemant are friends – I have access to, given my fairly busy life."

Sabina and I
"Sabs actually drives the design of the company so she's involved in all our new projects and refreshing our old ones. We work together all the time. But outside design, I keep her away because it's important to have space in a relationship so when you meet you have something to talk about. Otherwise differences in work should not spill on to the personal front."

Fatherhood
"We are also blessed with a baby girl right now so Sabina is busy with her. She is two-and-a-half going on 13. Zoe is my whole life. I wake her every morning and bathe her. I try to make time. It's not easy because my work is very hands-on. This morning I left before she went to school and I'd probably, won't see her till last night. Luckily my daughter doesn't sleep till 12.30-1 so I get to see her till the end of the day."