Inside the mind of chef-entrepreneur Tarun Sibal

As I enter Titlie, Goa’s artisanal restaurant, I spot Tarun Sibal at the bar with his glass of coke and ice. Sibal, the co-founder and chef of Titlie, enjoys playing the host. He offered me one of the best tables at the restaurant—one towards the edge of the Vagator hill—overlooking the vast expanse of sea, a perfect spot to enjoy a sundowner in Goa.

My first visit to Titlie was in 2021. Between then and now, the menu has changed thrice, and the vibe and entertainment have evolved. And yet, two things continue to remain the same—the bestseller hummus platter with crispy okra and pita, and Sibal’s hospitality—making me want to return to Titlie every time I am in Goa. 

“The trick is not to be in the list of places where you want to go during your visit but to be a place where you come back every time you visit Goa,” Sibal quips.

Over a conversation that began at sundowner and lasted till late evening, Sibal took YS Life through his journey from starting as a usual Delhi boy to becoming a familiar name in the country’s culinary scene.

 Story so far 

“I have no sad story. I did not have the opportunity to read and write under a street light. I was taken care of as a kid; I got what I wanted,” says Sibal, aware of his privileged background. 

Hailing from a family with a catering business in Delhi, Sibal was always sure of starting as a chef and eventually becoming an F&B entrepreneur. After graduating from IHM Pusa, Sibal worked as a management trainee with Old World Hospitality under chef Manish Mehrotra. Over the next couple of years, he worked with Tulleeho, a beverage education and consulting organisation, followed by Solutions Digitas. 

A turning point came when Sibal started working with the French Ministry of Agriculture, dealing closely with wine, and later with the Meat and Livestock Association of Australia and The Irish Food Board. 

Eager to use his knowledge and experience in wine, Sibal joined Fratelli Wines as the Marketing Head and eventually the Institutional Sales Head. 

“Irrespective of what I was doing, it was always related to food and beverages,” he says. “I was working with top chefs across the world, curating dinners, and eating at the best places,” Sibal adds. His last corporate gig was that of a country manager for Berentzen Spirits, a German alcohol company. 

In early-2015, Sibal went rogue and decided to give entrepreneurship a shot, and a year later, he reiterated his family business, One Fine Meal, a boutique catering company. 

“This time when I went back to the kitchen, I was way more assured as a chef. I knew exactly what I wanted to do—how my plate would look and what my food would sound and taste like,” Sibal says. 

He started consulting for Cafe StayWoke in Gurugram, later becoming a stakeholder. During COVID-19, Sibal and his co-partners sold off the café, and in 2018, he opened Street Storyss, a street food-inspired vegetarian restaurant in Bengaluru. Starting as a 60-cover restaurant, Street Storyss has expanded to accommodate 120-covers. 

A year later, Sibal’s big moment came when he co-founded Titlie in Goa—a restaurant bar that boasts collaborative cuisine—a term coined by Sibal to denote dishes produced using more than one food technique and inspiration. 

The philosophy reflects well in Titlie’s menu—mutton tikka with salsa verde, chicken jalapeno keema chur chur kulcha served with a side of dal makhani, and Paloma (a traditional tequila cocktail) served with curry leaves—only a handful of experiments that Sibal churns out in the kitchen. 

Switching hats

As you step into Titlie in the morning, you will spot Sibal sporting his entrepreneurial hat, juggling numbers with the accounts and operations teams. In the evening, he goes back to playing the host. 

If allowed to pick between chef and entrepreneur, Sibal says he would probably pick playing the host. “All of it comes together (when hosting)—the storytelling, the food, and the beverage,” he explains. 

But how do the entrepreneur and chef aspects come together?

“I spend more time on the laptop thinking about a dish and conceiving a storyline in the menu. Once in the kitchen, I dish out the menu on the fly,” Sibal reveals. “I have spent almost a decade on a dish, and other times some dishes have come to me in 10 minutes.” 

Keeping the entrepreneur and chef in sync is not always a cakewalk. When building the menu, he makes several operational and executional decisions. 

“I cannot be doing things (as a chef) that I cannot execute as an entrepreneur. I have to keep in mind the functionality of my kitchen, the size and capacity of the restaurant—all of it has to come together,” Sibal explains. 

When working on a new menu, Sibal begins with the creative side. It is only later the entrepreneur in him kicks in. “The chef dreams, the entrepreneur puts it in place,” Sibal consolidates. 

Beyond the kitchen

“I love my work, and I love to hustle. But it does take me away from my family, and it can get taxing,” Sibal says. “But I have made my peace with it.” 

For Sibal, Delhi is home, while he treats Goa and Bengaluru as his workplace. He travels for 15 to 20 days each month for work, and for the rest of the month, he spends time with his nine-year-old son and his family at home. 

As much as Sibal loves interacting with his guests, he describes himself as “primarily a reserved guy.” He likes his indulgences—travelling, eating out, listening to music, shopping with his wife, and playing PS-5 with his son. 

“I can go absolutely cold or hot within two minutes. But I am very comfortable where I am (in life),” he adds. 

What’s next? 

Sibal does not have an end goal. Last year, he won the Chef+Entrepreneur Of the Year Award by Travel+Leisure—something he wanted to achieve on his list of things. Yet, once he was awarded the title, Sibal’s next thought was ‘what’s next?’

“I am going to turn 42 (years) this year. I am just starting. For the next 15 years, I will have an extremely large canvas and paint it in multiple ways to bring joy to my guests. There are many more milestones to achieve,” he says. 

2023 is an interesting phase for the chef-entrepreneur. As we spoke, Sibal planned the launch of three more ventures—Khi Khi, a Delhi-based bar with Indian tapas food; Bar Fly, a mezcaleria or a mezcal bar in Assagao; and another restaurant in Bengaluru. The USP? They promise to be distinct—the story, the vibe, and the food and beverage offerings. 

Sibal wishes to explore television as an avenue. “Maybe a travel and food show… I have so many stories to tell and dishes to make… That gives me the juice to make every day happen,” he says, as confident as ever.

 YS Life asked Sibal a few rapid-fire questions to understand his thought process: 

YS Life [YSL]: What is the secret sauce to becoming a successful chef-entrepreneur? 

Tarun Sibal [TS]: Service is black and white, and hospitality is colour. I work on the latter. 

YSL: What is the key ingredient in cooking a great meal? 

TS: Authentic intent. 

YSL: What do you enjoy cooking the most? 

TS: I love quick fixes—working with fresh seafood, olive oil, citrus, paprika, and garlic. 

YSL: What do you enjoy eating the most? 

TS: I am the most boring person when it comes to eating. I start my day with an iced latte and humshuka (shakshuka in a bed of hummus) almost every day. I order Murgh Boti Masala and naan from Pinch of Spice in Delhi for lunch. When in Goa, I eat stir-fried chicken and vegetable rice for dinner. I am a non-fussy eater. 

YSL: A little birdie tells me you are a wine geek. What exactly attracts you to wine? 

TS: As soon as wine gets pretentious, I like to break it down! 

YSL: How about a Titlie in Bengaluru? 

TS: I don’t think so. Bengaluru is accommodating and chilled out. A brand like Titlie is more suited for Mumbai or Hyderabad. 

YSL: Do you ever cook for yourself? 

TS: I do not eat what I cook. It gives me joy to cook for others. I do not even taste it while cooking for my guests. If my guest is satisfied with what I cook for them, my hunger is taken care of.

(The story was updated to fix a typo)