The founders dish on running a rudimentary operation from the heart
You take an instant liking to Shreya and Janishq Munge.
The sibling duo, founders and driving force behind El Moreno Taqueria flourish a kind of refreshing genuinity and endearing honesty that tells you everything you need to know about their operation – a humble taqueria tucked away, almost hidden, in a corner of Azizi Riviera 2.
The pair are newbies in the world of not just Dubai F&B, but culinary in general, as is their restaurant – a stripped back space that is, in their own words, a little rough around the edges. This is a true family business, with Janishq taking the kitchen, Shreya handling the business side of things, waiting tables and doing everything, everywhere, at the same time. Now this is a real small business, and one built purely on passion, and learning the ropes as they go.
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We sat down with the duo to chart their journey from ideation to running a restaurant – the community they’ve built, sharing staff meals with their customers, butting heads, or the lack thereof, and how the power of the small business triumphs during tough times.
How did you decide to put El Moreno together?
Janishq: I dropped out of university in 2021, my second year. I really wanted to pursue hospitality because I just love the industry, I love the passion behind the work. I went to London for culinary school and after that I got a part-time job. Eventually they sponsored me, it was a full-time job, and two years later I decided I want to leave the whole French fine dining-tweezers-and squeezy bottles and I wanted to open something for my family. So I came back here.
Shreya: When Janishq was ideating the restaurant, I was working from home mainly. We were going for meetings together because a huge part of my job was also supplier management, costing, pricing. So, being in the industry, obviously I don’t have any chef skills, but it comes together, and he said to me I think you should quit your job and do this.
To be honest, I was a little bored. I worked five to six years in corporate and I’m a dietitian by profession. So, I kind of stepped out and worked in a different space and my first love is nutrition. So, I left my job and then I joined him full time. That’s essentially how we work together. I manage the operations and the business side of things, and he does more of the menu development and obviously leads the team in the kitchen.
How did you decide on Mexican food?
Janishq: Honestly, it was a business approach, and also we just love eating tacos as a family. I love the idea of Mexican cuisine, I love eating Mexican food, Shreya loves it too, our whole family does. As soon as we go traveling and go visit our sister in Canada, the first place we go is the Jean-Talon Market, which has a taqueria over there. I think it resonates with us and our family and our style of cooking, and my style of cooking.
You are such a community-centric space – what has the experience of building it from the ground up been like?
Shreya: I don’t have restaurant experience at all, so the beginning was crazy. It was a steep learning curve for me because I literally waitress here. I don’t just run the business. I also part-time waitress here.
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Janishq: Over here, it’s more fast-paced because you push plates out faster. It’s also an open kitchen over here so I can’t really move the way my chefs would have back in my old restaurant. But it’s beautiful, actually. It brings a human connection into the service industry because people don’t see what happens behind the walls. Our kitchen is more family style. You order your stuff, we give it to you, we’re cracking jokes from across the kitchen. It’s way more relaxed.
I think it’s really cool because normally restaurants, when they say they’re open kitchen, they have a back kitchen, which is the service kitchen, which you can’t see. But us, we don’t have that kitchen. Like everything, you see us – people at the back cooking, the raw fish is getting cut on the board, you can even see the dishwasher washing the dishes.
Everything’s exposed, so when we’re behind and we’re full house, customers can really truly see us
falling apart. It’s hilarious. It’s actually hilarious.
Does the customer connection happen naturally?
Shreya: Yeah, for sure. Even when we hire new staff, I tell the waiters and the waitresses, it’s not very formal. You have to talk to them like how you’re talking to me. Don’t make them feel like you’re in a very formal restaurant. You can crack jokes, obviously appropriate, decent jokes, but, like, it’s totally fine. We have customers who come in regularly, and now we know their life story. They’ll tell us last week they submitted their proposal for work. I think what we always wanted in a restaurant is what we are trying to do as because before we opened the restaurant, Janishq and I would dine out at least twice a week and all the things that we wish that we got in service is what we try to mimic here.
Your initial training was in French cooking – talk us through your approach to Mexican cuisine.
Janishq: In terms of the food, this is the freshest food you’ll ever get in the city. We don’t have a freezer in this restaurant. Even when I was making the menu initially, it was a very chef-led menu, and even while hiring chefs I made sure I picked culinary graduates. One of our Colombian chefs, he went
to school in Colombia.
Especially because switching from French dining, I didn’t want the culture and the people, especially Latin Americans would come into this place, to disrespect them. We wanted the authenticity at its core. Nothing in this restaurant is store-bought. Not the salsa, not the chips, not the tortillas.
How are you tackling the current climate?
Shreya: Of course, it’s been tough. Our deliveries have picked up for sure. We’re trying to have a more significant social media presence, we feel like that plays a very important factor in Dubai and we’re trying to change the narrative on social media to more storytelling, more about where we come from, the idea, and our team as well.
We want to start like a small retail space, since we make everything from scratch, we want to start like selling a few of the items, and we were thinking of doing community meals, where it’s just like how you would cook in a home. Just two, three big pots of meals. People pay a fixed price to enter the door and they can eat.
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Janishq: I feel like what’s already on the table our regulars are still coming in, so in tough times it feels like in their heads El Moreno is the spot to just unwind and not think about the situation whereas you
go to your fine dining restaurants and I think that’s the biggest thing, where people don’t want to spend like two thousand on one dinner.
For someone coming to El Moreno for the first time – what would be the perfect order?
Janishq: Go for a guacamole for sure, and a queso fundido. For the tacos, go for a carne asada, the duck and the al pastor.
Shreya: Also do a Caesar Salad. We do a Tijuana Caesar Salad, and a lot of people don’t know but it originated in Tijuana, Mexico. A nice tamarind soda, or the horchata, for drinks.
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Deeply passionate about food, culture and community, Manaal loves telling extraordinary stories of ordinary people. Besides sniffing out a tale to tell, her favourite things to do include binging true crime documentaries, chasing cats on the streets and curating a good outfit.
