Dishoom
Serving up London's most-loved restaurant to the north.
The Brief
Irani cafés, as the name suggests, were an import to Bombay. Welcoming all sections of society, they were real melting pots. A homage to these cafes, London-based Dishoom was founded in 2010. We had the delight of telling Scotland the good news – that Dishoom, the restaurant with cult-status where people would queue round the block – was on its way north; the first of a number of openings in a UK-wide roll-out.
The Insight
No two Dishooms are the same; part of the way Owners and cousins, Kavi and Shamil Thakrar, are redefining the term ‘multi-site operator’. Edinburgh’s inspiration was Sir Patrick Geddes (1854-1932). Co-creator of Edinburgh’s New Town, Sir Patrick also co-founded the University of Bombay. It’s quite a tale of two cities.
The Big Idea
Mirroring the inspiration behind Dishoom – namely Bombay’s Irani cafés that brought disparate groups of people together – we developed and ran an intensive multi-channel PR campaign that united a huge spread of different outlets from Scotland’s mediasphere – broadcast, print, online, trade, influencers and – not least – word of mouth itself. Utilising Sir Patrick Geddes’ story to open up conversations with key editors and tastemakers, our campaign resulted in a level of coverage that ensured Dishoom became a chilli-hot topic of conversation and the capital’s ‘must visit’ restaurant; if you could get a table that is!
The Results
We generated wall-to-wall coverage. Wherever there was a double-page spread, there was Dishoom. Targets have been exceeded week-on-week since the doors first opened. The queues outside braving the weather are testament to this.
80
pieces of coverage in target media
Winner
The List Magazine's 'Reader Award'
Queuing
round-the-block
500+
LOCAL LUMINARIES ATTENDED THE LAUNCH PARTY
