Asian speciality through a cloud kitchen

Actor Naga Chaitanya and Varun Tripuraneni’s Shoyu, a cloud kitchen focuses on flavours and ingredients that are not so ordinary

Shoyu is a type of Japanese sauce. Here in Hyderabad, Shoyu is the place to look — on food delivery apps — for Asian cuisine with dishes like Chahan chicken, truffle asparagus and avocado sushi, charcoal black and white dim sum, jaggery cheesecake and the classic wok-fried rice chicken.  Just a couple of months old, Shoyu is a cloud kitchen that offers speciality Asian cuisine prepared in the classic Asian style, albeit with a contemporary touch.

Started by Hyderabad football team owner Varun Tripuraneni i and actor Naga Chaitanya, Shoyu caters to those looking for premium flavours . One who has tasted Shoyu’s food will agree that the food is mild but not bland, with a quantity that is filling and a presentation that makes one feel special even on an ordinary day.

Varun and Chay (as the actor is popularly called) who were schoolmates have no first-hand experience of running a food business. That is the reason the duo decided to explore the dynamics of the food business through delivery and with a shared love for Asian food, the choice of cuisine was a no brainer.

Varun shares, “We initially considered venturing into a dine-in place. That was when the second wave of the pandemic hit and we witnessed many restaurants shut due to various reasons. With no experience in the F&B sector, we didn’t want to open till the situation returned to normal. The change in the dynamics of food delivery made us consider the premium delivery segment. That was one way of identifying with the food choice and preference of our customers,” 

The duo partnered with Tataki, a speciality Asian restaurant in Goa for the menu and recipes and got rolling. The chefs working in Shoyu trained at Tataki, ensuring a standardised use of ingredients and sauces.

A delighted Varun says, “When we were doing our trial runs we got two banquet orders. That was a real test for us.” 

Having worked on the cloud kitchen concept for the first time, the duo feels they made the right decision and enjoyed the entire process. The brand wants to limit the use of plastic in the packaging and uses about 95 % biodegradable material for the boxes. To further limit the number of boxes in which different dishes are sent in a single order, the duo are planning to look at custom made boxes for more than one order.