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For his sons, Mohan, Aman
and Raj, there could be no memorial more fitting than the
restaurant, giving people in this city one more place to
chill out in.
“Our father was a great man. He had everything in him to be
a successful entrepreneur. He stressed a lot on the quality
of the food we serve. The restaurant AB's is our salute to
his acumen,” Mohan and Raj Bir told IANS.
It was Anant Bir and his wife Harinder Mohini who brought
burgers and other fast food to Chandigarh way back in 1979
with their maiden enterprise Hot Millions and the former was
sometimes fondly referred to as ‘burger man’.
Twenty-seven years later, the Hot Millions group is a
multimillion rupee enterprise with a workforce of nearly
500, nearly a dozen establishments of its own and expanding
through a franchisee network. It runs three happening
fast-food restaurants here, besides a salad bar and a
multi-cuisine restaurant. A couple of fast-food joints are
also functioning in adjoining Panchkula and Mohali.
The group also has a presence in Punjab's industrial hub
Ludhiana and has started a new joint at Dharampur on the
busy Chandigarh-Shimla highway. Besides, the group manages a
three-star resort - North Park - 15 km from here.
Hot Millions continues to hold its own even with stiff
competition from multinationals like McDonald's and Pizza
Hut.
Colonel Singh's stamp is there in all his business
enterprises. He personally monitored each eating joint,
making sure that the best food was being served. His entire
family — wife, three sons and even their wives — is involved
with the Hot Millions mother kitchen, its operations,
accounts, interiors and everything else.
“We cannot just believe that he is no longer with us. His
aura is all over the place,” said Mohan Bir.
The colonel's chair in his office at the Hot Millions group
headquarters in Sector 17 here remains unoccupied even
today. “I don't even have the guts to sit on it,” Mohan Bir
says.
A.B. Singh was not known in the city for his success with
Hot Millions. He was deeply into social work and an active
Rotarian. It is at his fast-food joint here that well-to-do
Rotarians get down to serve people for one day and collect
the sale money for social causes.
IT IS an ode that would satisfy many, many palates here. The
sons of leading entrepreneur Anant Bir Singh, who gave
Chandigarh its first taste of burg- ers in 1979 with the
hugely popu- lar Hot Millions chain, have dedi- cated a
restaurant in his name. The eponymous AB's after the retired
colonel, who passed away in November last year, is a multi-
cuisine restaurant with a hip bar and nightclub. For his
sons, Mohan, Aman and Raj, there could be no memorial more
fitting than the restaurant, giving people in this city one
more place to chill out in. “Our father was a great man. He
had everything in him to be a successful entrepreneur. He
stressed a lot on the quality of the food we serve. The
restaurant AB's is our salute to his acumen,” Mo- han and
Raj Bir told IANS. It was Anant Bir and his wife Harinder
Mohini who brought bur- gers and other fast food to Chandi-
garh way back in 1979 with their maiden enterprise Hot
Millions and the former was sometimes fondly referred to as
‘burger man’. Twenty-seven years later, the Hot Millions
group is a multimil- lion rupee enterprise with a work-
force of nearly 500, nearly a dozen establishments of its
own and ex- panding through a franchisee net- work. It runs
three happening fast-food restaurants here, besides a salad
bar and a multi-cuisine restaurant. A couple of fast-food
joints are also functioning in ad- joining Panchkula and
Mohali. The group also has a presence in Punjab's industrial
hub Ludhi- ana and has started a new joint at Dharampur on
the busy Chandi- garh-Shimla highway. Besides, the group
manages a three-star resort - North Park - 15 km from here.
Hot Millions continues to hold its own even with stiff
competi- tion from multinationals like Mc- Donald's and
Pizza Hut. Colonel Singh's stamp is there in all his
business enterprises. He personally monitored each eating
joint, making sure that the best food was being served. His
entire family — wife, three sons and even their wives — is
involved with the Hot Millions mother kitchen, its
operations, accounts, interiors and everything else. “We
cannot just believe that he is no longer with us. His aura
is all over the place,” said Mohan Bir. The colonel's chair
in his office at the Hot Millions group head- quarters in
Sector 17 here re- mains unoccupied even today. “I don't
even have the guts to sit on it,” Mohan Bir says. A.B. Singh
was not known in the city for his success with Hot Millions.
He was deeply into so- cial work and an active Rotarian. It
is at his fast-food joint here that well-to-do Rotarians get
down to serve people for one day and collect the sale money
for social causes.
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