Mr Brownie owner Jessi Singh says British Indian curry pub name cheeky not racist
The chef-restaurateur owner of Melbourne hospitality hits like Daughter in Law, Mrs Singh and Horn Please says he won’t let the woke PC police stop him opening his new British Indian curry pub Mr Brownie.
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Restaurateur Jessi Singh isn’t going to let something like the coronavirus — or the PC police — get in the way of opening a new restaurant.
Singh will open “Indian-British curry pub” Mr Brownie in South Melbourne on Thursday.
The acclaimed chef/restaurateur said he was proud to open a venue during such challenging times for the hospitality industry.
“I am glad I’ll open a business in this style. This will help other people, bringing jobs, business (to suppliers). It’s creating 15 direct jobs, another 10 indirect,” he said.
“I’m so used to hospitality, there’s no money in this business to begin with. There’s more chance of failure than success, but that doesn’t stop me.”
Singh — who is behind popular modern Indian restaurants Daughter-in-Law, Mrs Singh and Horn Please in Melbourne, as well as Don’t Tell Aunty in Sydney and Babu Ji and Bibi Ji in the US — said the new pub brought Australian culture and Indian food together.
The four-level venue features a ground level bottle shop with more than 1000 beers on offer, a footpath “beer garden”, a Punjabi-style deli, a cocktail and disco basement, and rooftop bar.
He said the Aussie counter meal tradition would live on in the pub, with a choice of curries served with rice, pappadums and pickles for $15, with takeaway meals offered for just $10. There will also be $10 pints of local craft beers with more than 40 on tap.
Singh said the name Mr Brownie was a playful nod to his heritage.
“For me, it’s cheeky and fun like all my (restaurant) names,” he said.
“I don’t want to be politically incorrect. I am Mr Brownie, I felt it was an appropriate name. Yes I am a person of colour but I do belong to Australia, this is a pub I’m opening and Australians, we didn’t take these things serious … that’s part of living here.
“A lot of people say, it’s racial — I say no it has nothing to do with race or colour. All my businesses are family business. Babu ji was grandfather, Bibi ji is grandmother, Aunty, then daughter in law, Mrs Singh … it’s all part of my family, and my dad is Mr Brown … that’s the character.
“It always has been planned. And I want to stick with it.”
Mr Brownie will open on Thursday at 343 Clarendon St, South Melbourne.
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