Ravi Kanagarajah is a celebrated chef in Toronto. This acclaimed “Soup King” has become a popular presence in downtown fare, without advertising. According to Ravi “I don’t even have take out menus or business cards because word of mouth is so powerful.” When TC met with him, we noticed that customers were lined up even before the restaurant had begun serving lunch. From humble beginnings in Northern Sri Lanka, Ravi Soups was a long time in the making. Find out more about this entrepreneur’s success story below!

TamilCulture: Tell us about yourself.
Ravi Kanagarajah: I was born in Kilinochi, Sri Lanka. At the time it was one of the busiest trading markets in the Northern part of Sri Lanka. My father owned a hotel restaurant called Nathan Cafe. There was a staff of 40, and it was a big production. When I was 9, I would see the chefs stirring the big pots of curries and I loved it. It was always in my head that this was going to be my career. My father passed away and I took over the restaurant when I was 14. I convinced my mom to let me run the restaurant instead of renting it out. People trusted my dad and they helped me once I got there. In the 12 years he lived in Killinochi my father built his name. After his death, a street was even named after him—Kanagarajah Road. I was earning a reputation myself but that didn’t last for long because of the war. The whole town was demolished, bombed, flattened. There was nothing left.

TC: After leaving Sri Lanka, how did you make your way to Canada?
RK: My mom decided that I needed to get out of the country when I was 17, so she gave me a passport, some money and told me to go to Germany. I stayed there for about six months. Then I went to Switzerland for two and half years. I worked at a small family restaurant—a French restaurant. I learned western cooking from them. It was so different from what I did. Not a single ingredient was what I had used. But I love cooking and I’d ask questions about what everything was and why it was done the way it was. I travelled all over Europe and surviving wasn’t so hard because I had worked in this industry. You can go to any restaurant and ask for a job washing dishes. I’d start off that way at all the restaurants. While you’re on the job you learn some of the language. From Paris I decided to go to Canada where my uncle lived in 1991.

TC: How did you continue to pursue your dream in Canada?
RK: From the airport I took a cab to the restaurant where my uncle worked. The time I went, it was busy and there were piles of dishes. I dropped my luggage and started helping him. The chefs and the owner of the restaurant, were  like “who’s this kid?” My uncle explained who I was and they offered me a job. I went from dishwasher to Saucier (the  highest position) and worked there for 15 years. I learned a lot of what brought me to where I am now. It was a mix of French and Italian at first, but we started infusing Western cooking with our spices and it was pretty successful. It became a very open themed restaurant, not just French and Italian.

TC: Why soup?
RK: At the restaurant that I worked at for 15 years, as the Saucier I made all the soups and fine sauces for the meat on the menu. That was the toughest job at the restaurant. People started calling me soup king, soup master and all that. In 2000 we were doing the menu for New Year’s. I was making a shrimp bisque and I gave it to the executive chef and owner to try first. They tasted it and said this is Ravi Soup. That sounded good to me.

TC: How did you end up opening Ravi Soups?
RK: After leaving the first restaurant I worked at in Canada, I wanted to open my own restaurant. But there were a lot of things I had to get straightened out. I ended up working at a small sandwich place first for 9 months. The owner opened up another restaurant at this location (322 Adelaide St. W.) but after a few months decided to close it because it wasn’t busy. I said I’d take it over, and he told me the location wasn’t good. All the neighbours started laughing because before me, for the previous 10 years, 7 businesses had come and gone. But I’m pretty confident in the idea that people will come to you if you do good work. I knew it might take a long time—6 months, a year, two years—but I risked it. I took it over and worked 20 hours a day in the beginning because I was the only one cooking. I was ready for that because I knew exactly what a new business takes.

TC: What will be the future of Ravi Soups?
RK: I will have a third restaurant opened by Christmas, and then two more next year. The five year plan is to go up to ten all within the GTA. I might go to New York and Montreal. I might also open a fine dining Tamil restaurant. That’s a goal for me. I’m never going to franchise, and there will never be an investor other than myself. When you  have an investor you no longer control everything. All the staff will continue to be my family and friends.

TC: What advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?
RK: Be careful who you take advice from because they may not understand your ideas. Don’t get nervous. If you’re young enough, you’re steady minded, and know what you want to  do, then all you have to do is listen to your heart and jump in. Just dedicate yourself and be ready to put in a lot of hard work and hours and that’s all you need. And keep doing that. It’s not just for one day, or a few months. Don’t panic. Sometimes it’ll take a month and others take more time. It takes consistency in working on every detail. Calculate every move. If you have good calculations, you win. That’s pretty much it.

Quick 5:

TC: Best part of your job:
RK: Going to the food terminal myself to do all the shopping, to pick out and buy my own vegetables. It means going at 5am in the morning, but it’s the best part of my day.

TC: Favourite hobby:
RK: I love music, Western and Tamil, and I enjoy learning more about other cultures.

TC: Favourite ingredients to cook with:
RK: I love Thai ingredients, and Mexican chillies.

TC: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be:
RK:Spain

TC: To me Tamil Culture is:
RK: A disciplined and loving culture.