New Silk Route-(NSR) backed Moshe’s Fine Foods, a Mumbai-based restaurant and café chain, has opened its first café at Phoenix Market City Mall, Pune. A growing cosmopolitan city, Pune was a choice for Moshe’s initial expansion to other cities.

“My partnership with NSR has enabled us to find the resources to expand into newer cities…. Pune is our first stop in what will be a journey into many new cities across the country,” Chef Moshe Shek said.

In October last year, PE firm NSR had acquired a majority stake in Moshe’s Fine Foods, through its food and beverage portfolio company Gastronomy, as part of a plan to build its own casual dining platform in India.

The $1.4-billion (Rs 8,560 crore) India-focused fund has allocated $100 million to invest in the food and beverage sector. The Moshe's deal is the second acquisition of Gastronomy, which picked up a stake in Bangalore-based Vasudev Adiga’s Fast Food last year.

Founded in 1988 by chef-proprietor Moshe Shek, the chain, specialised in Mediterranean and West Asian cuisine, operates in Mumbai through three formats – two casual dining restaurants, seven cafes and two quick service restaurants.

>rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

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