Rohit Khattar is a creative entrepreneur with interests in Hospitality and Entertainment.

In Hospitality

Rohit Khattar is Founder Chairman of Old World Hospitality Private Limited (O.W.H.). Rohit founded the company in 1990 with his first restaurant Chor Bizarre, New Delhi which he then opened in London in 1997. Rohit has created over a dozen much loved restaurant brands including The All American Diner, Oriental Octopus, Eatopia, Indian Accent, Hosa and many more. 6 restaurants have also been franchised to The Waterfront Shaw in Lavasa.

Chor Bizarre at Bikaner House, New Delhi is one of the most iconic Indian restaurants and was India’s first theme restaurant when it opened in 1990 at its original location at Hotel Broadway. Chor Bizarre serves traditional Indian fare, adorned in a very interesting ‘thieves market’ atmosphere.

The group has two catering divisions – luxe catering via Indian Accent on Location and corporate catering through Events Etc. www.oldworldhospitality.com
Some of the restaurant brands have been rolled into a new restaurant company EHV International (www.ehvinternational.com) which owns and operatesIndian Accent, New Delhi, Mumbai & New York, Comorin, Gurugram, Hosa, Goa as well as the New York Times 3 star rated French restaurant Koloman in New York. All these concepts are market leaders and path breaking restaurants in their respective cuisines. EHV is launching 3 new brands and has many restaurants slated to open this year onwards.

Rohit conceptualized Indian Accent, which opened in New Delhi in 2009 and is considered the pioneering restaurant for inventive Indian cuisine. It is currently ranked at No. 19 in the ‘Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list. In 2016 Indian Accent opened a successful outpost in New York and in 2023, it opened its doors at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai.

Comorin, Gurugram is an all-day restaurant and bar which is equally known for its food as well as its beverage programme. It was voted the No. 3 restaurant in India at the FoodFood Top 30 Restaurant Awards and was voted the ‘Best Restaurant Bar in India’ by 30 Best Bars India in 2021 & 2022.

Hosa, Goa explores the culinary diversity of South India, beyond the familiar and also features a creative and energetic bar. It was awarded ‘Best Modern Indian Restaurant’ and ‘Best Restobar’ in Goa by Times Food & Nightlife Awards.

Koloman, NYC is a contemporary French restaurant where Chef Markus Glocker blends Parisian creativity with Viennese tradition. Within a few months of its opening, Koloman had already made it to Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America list for 2022 and received the coveted 3 stars in New York Times.

With Koloman’s kitchen helmed by Chef Markus Glocker, EHV’s foray into other cuisines has begun with an upcoming project in India with the Australian chef most lauded for his Thai cuisine, David Thompson as Culinary Director.

Rohit is credited with several firsts in the hospitality and entertainment sector – the first public private partnership in the arts (Habitat World), India’s first theme restaurant (Chor Bizarre), India’s first Food Court (Eatopia) and many more.

Rohit was featured amongst ‘The Big 10 of the F&B industry’ and amongst ‘The 99 superstars who changed our lives across India’ by Time Out. He (along with Vir Sanghvi) was honoured with the ‘IFCA Award of Excellence’ by the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations “in appreciation of his outstanding contribution to the development of the culinary profession and society.”

He was named ‘Restaurateur of the Year’ at the BBC Good Food, FoodFood Awards 2019. He received the ‘Icon of the Year Award’ at the Zee Zest Unlimit Awards 2023.

Rohit was conferred with the ‘Joon S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award 2021’ by Michigan State University from where he graduated in Hotel, Restaurant & Institutional Management.

While Rohit now focuses mainly on growing his restaurant company, as a serial entrepreneur in the past, he has founded several companies and created many brands.

O.W.H. designed and for over two decades successfully operated the hospitality and cultural facilities at the country’s most comprehensive performing arts and convention centre, Habitat World, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Rohit conceived the cultural vision for India Habitat Centre, New Delhi making Habitat World at India Habitat Centre India’s leading performing arts centre hosting over 3 live events a day when O.W.H. operated it from 1997 till 2021.

Rohit was Founder Chairman of Cinestaan Film Company, a boutique film studio co-promoted with Anand Mahindra. Rohit has produced 7 films and was Executive Producer on two (‘Cold War’, nominated for 3 Academy Awards and ‘The Tempest’, nominated for 1 Academy Award). He also produced ‘Bombay Rose’ which was the opening film at Critics Week at the Venice International Film Festival.

He was also Chairman of Cinestaan AA Distributors (a joint venture between AA Films and Cinestaan Film Company) - the leading overseas distributor of Indian films. It distributed over 30 films including Baahubali 2, Badhaai Ho, K.G.F2, Bharat and Gully Boy. Cinestaan offloaded its stake to AA Films in 2023.

In 2011, Rohit had forged a partnership with the Sundance Institute founded by Robert Redford which gave birth to the Mumbai Mantra, Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab in India and the Sundance Institute Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award which led to awards for 16 filmmakers and the mentoring of 24 screenwriters. This initiative thereafter pivoted into the Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Script Contest with a jury consisting of Anjum Rajabali, Rajkumar Hirani, Juhi Chaturvedi and Aamir Khan that rewarded 5 screenplay writers during each year of its existence.