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

In Hospitality

Rohit is Founder Chairman of Old World Hospitality Private Limited (O.W.H.), the company he founded in 1990 with his first restaurant Chor Bizarre. Since then, Rohit has created over a dozen much loved restaurant brands including All American Diner, Oriental Octopus, Eatopia, Past Times, Hosa, Fireback, Indian Accent and many more.

Chor Bizarre New Delhi is one of the most iconic Indian restaurants and was India’s first theme restaurant when it opened in 1990 and the first to open its outlet in London. Chor Bizarre serves traditional Indian fare, adorned in a ‘thieves market’ atmosphere.

Most of the O.W.H. restaurant brands have been moved into a new restaurant company promoted by Rohit. EHV International (www.ehvinternational.com) now owns and operates Indian Accent, New Delhi, Mumbai & New York, Comorin, Gurugram, Hosa and Fireback in Goa as well as Koloman in New York. All these concepts are market leaders and path breaking restaurants in their respective cuisines. EHV is rolling out all the above brands in multiple cities with over 20 openings signed up in the next 3 years.

Rohit created the Indian Accent concept which opened at The Manor, New Delhi in 2009 and subsequently moved to The Lodhi in 2017. Indian Accent is considered the pioneering modern Indian restaurant in the world. It has been on the ‘Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list for the last 12 years and is currently on the ‘World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list too. It has won several awards, including being voted the No. 1 Restaurant in India by Condé Nast Traveller and by La Liste. A jury comprising of 75 stalwarts of the restaurant industry have voted Indian Accent as the No. 1 Restaurant in India for the last 4 years at the FoodFood Top 50 Restaurant Awards. Indian Accent was part of Time Magazine’s 100 Great Destinations in the World. In 2016 Indian Accent opened a successful outpost in New York and in 2023, it opened its doors at the iconic Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai.

Koloman, NYC is a contemporary French restaurant where Chef Markus Glocker blends Parisian creativity with Viennese tradition. Upon opening, Koloman made it to Esquire’s Best New Restaurants in America list and shortly received the coveted 3 stars in the New York Times review. Koloman also operates the Lobby Bar at The Ace Hotel and a Wine Bar called Libera below the restaurant.

Comorin, Gurugram is an all-day restaurant and bar which is equally known for its food as well as its beverage programme. Comorin has been voted amongst the ‘Top 10 Restaurants in India’ for the last 4 years by a jury consisting of the restaurant industry at the FoodFood Top 50 Restaurant Awards. It has also been voted the ‘Best Restaurant Bar in India’ by 30 Best Bars India for the last 4 years. Comorin shall open in 4 other cities in 2025 and 2026.

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 in 2023 and in 2024 has also won awards from Times for ‘Best Modern South Indian’ and ‘Best Cocktails’. There are 3 more Hosa locations lined up.

Fireback, the newest addition to the EHV portfolio, is an exciting Thai restaurant and bar with legendary Chef David Thompson as Culinary Director. Fireback serves authentic Thai food at a picturesque riverside setting in Siolim, Goa. The name is inspired by the Thai national bird, the Siamese Fireback, and also speaks to the fire-grilled cooking behind many of the restaurant’s dishes. Fireback has signed units in 3 major cities in India.

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’ in appreciation of his outstanding contribution to the development of the culinary profession and society’ by the Indian Federation of Culinary Association.

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 as well as the DLC ‘Global Beacon of Indian Hospitality’ award in 2024. He was also named ‘Restaurant Icon of the Year’ by ET Restaurant & Nightlife Awards 2024 and Industry Icon 2024 by 30 Best Bars.

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 in 1985.

While Rohit now focuses mainly on growing his restaurant company, which he is best known for, as a serial entrepreneur, he has founded several companies and created many brands in the past. Some of those are listed below:

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. Habitat World was home to a club with 58 guest rooms, 20 conference & meeting rooms and 6 restaurants, viz Oriental Octopus, Delhi ‘O’ Delhi, Past Times, Lite House, All American Diner and Eatopia, all of which gained iconic status.

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.

Rohit was 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. India’s official entry to the Academy Awards 2025, ‘Laapataa Ladies’ was one of the screenplays selected through this contest.