Rahul Akerkar: The Untold Story of Building Indigo & Losing It | Table 1 with Vir Sanghvi

Rahul Akerkar: The Untold Story of Building Indigo & Losing It | Table 1 with Vir Sanghvi

For more than three decades, Rahul Akerkar has been one of the defining figures in Indian hospitality.

In this episode of Table 1, Rahul Akerkar sits down with Vir Sanghvi for an unfiltered conversation about entrepreneurship, ambition, failure and reinvention. He reflects on building Indigo into one of India’s most influential restaurants, the challenges of scaling a hospitality business, navigating investors, rebuilding after devastating setbacks, and why success can disappear far quicker than most founders ever imagine.

Beyond the headlines, Rahul opens up about his early years washing dishes in America, overcoming a lifelong stutter, the lessons that shaped his leadership, why he has always chosen substance over celebrity, and what he believes is fundamentally broken in the restaurant business today.

This is an honest conversation about what it really takes to build a restaurant empire in India. And what happens when you lose control of the company you created.

Table 1 with Vir Sanghvi, produced by Culinary Culture Studios, brings together influential chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers and hospitality leaders for honest conversations about ambition, failure, risk and the realities behind building successful empires.

Watch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations from Table 1.

00:00 – “I’ll Tell You to Your Face to Fuck Off”
06:05 – Marathi-Jewish Heritage & Growing Up in Bombay
12:06 – Washing Dishes in NY & Overcoming a Severe Stutter
21:52 – “I Was a Cook, Not a Chef”
29:28 – Under the Over: The Ultimate South Bombay Hotspot
30:54 – Throwing Badly Behaved Guests Out of Restaurants
36:00 – Launching Ode & The Problem with Instagram Influencer Culture
38:35 – Opening Indigo: Redefining Modern Fine Dining in India
44:50 – The Wild Years: Partying & Losing Focus
49:50 – The Expansion Trap
53:01 – Getting Scammed by Investors
1:01:05 – Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie & The Daniel Pearl Connection
1:05:50 – Real Betrayal: When Investors & Employees Turned on Rahul
1:18:42 – Rebuilding: The Next Chapter

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