In an econ­o­my where ris­ing costs are squeez­ing mar­gins and con­sumers are spend­ing more care­ful­ly, build­ing a high-end restau­rant is a cal­cu­lat­ed risk.

For De­owatie Dharam Singh, it is one ground­ed in dis­ci­pline, de­tail, and a clear gap in the mar­ket. In a one-on-one in­ter­view with the Sun­day Busi­ness Guardian, the co-own­er of The Ivy Steak­house and Seafood Restau­rant in Mar­aval laid out a strat­e­gy that blends pre­mi­um din­ing with tight fi­nan­cial con­trol and mea­sured growth.

Dharam Singh, co-own­er of The Ivy, did not en­ter the in­dus­try through the tra­di­tion­al route. Af­ter near­ly 30 years in ac­count­ing and fi­nance, she stepped in­to hos­pi­tal­i­ty look­ing for a shift, bring­ing with her a strong com­mand of cost struc­tures, pric­ing and op­er­a­tional over­sight. That back­ground now un­der­pins every de­ci­sion at The Ivy, par­tic­u­lar­ly as the busi­ness nav­i­gates an in­creas­ing­ly com­plex eco­nom­ic en­vi­ron­ment.