'I think I fit in here quite well'

Expat zone

It is said that food brings the world together but to have someone from another part of the world come to a place because of food might just be the first.

Bert Mueller flew from Maryland, Washington DC to India four-and-a-half years ago with two other business partners to start the fast food chain ‘California Burrito’.

He says, “I like to call Bengaluru the ‘America of India’. We had to do a lot of
research before we made this decision as we wanted to understand our customers better. Obviously, Indian cooking is different from American and we had to incorporate those flavours into the food that we wanted to produce. India is a growing place and we saw a great potential for the fast food industry here.”

Though he’s used to the city’s lifestyle now, Bengaluru wasn’t his first stop in India. He studied in Jaipur a few years ago as a part of his course in college.

     He says, “Jaipur was my first experience with Indian culture. I had very little knowledge about the place; it was different to find so many people in one spot and yet working well. I lived with an Indian family back then and I found more people under the same roof than I have ever seen before — that was a bit of a shock for me.”

But he says that if he didn’t like the country, he probably wouldn’t have considered coming back. “I didn’t find it hard to adjust to the lifestyle here. I was open to trying new things. If I did find it difficult, I would have gone back by now,” he says with a laugh.

Talking about his life back home, he says that it was just like anyone else’s. He explains, “I lived in the suburban section of the place and everything was organised and peaceful there. Some people might actually find it dull but that was where I grew up and I have no complaints.”

When his family and friends visit Bengaluru, he likes taking them on a drive around the city, visiting Lalbagh and going to Kerala or Puducherry. His work keeps him busy and he doesn’t get more than a week off.

“Even though I’m the boss of my company, there are certain things that I need to attend to. But it’s great to know that I can start work whenever I want,” he says with a smile.
Whenever he decides to not work, he loves going to Nandi Hills or exploring places outside the city.

Ask him why he doesn’t spend time in the city and he says, “I’m in the city
most of the time anyway. I think I need to balance that by going out sometimes.”
If there’s one thing that he’d like to take from Bengaluru to Maryland, he says it would be ‘biryani’. He shares, “I love ‘Hyderabadi biryani’. It’s spicy and amazing. I think we need to have a branch of this back home. Even though many might think that Americans can’t take spice, I’d like to believe at least 30 percent of us can.”

One of his other favourite restaurants is ‘Chung Wah’. Bert is also trying his hand at Indian dishes like ‘dal tadka’ and ‘bread omelette’.

And what about American food here? “I think the demand for American food isn’t all that much here so there aren’t a lot of great places that serve the kind of food that I want. If I am craving for it, I prefer to go for a brunch at a hotel — they serve authentic food that I like,” he says.

He wishes that the potholes in the city would be fixed properly.

He says, “If there’s one thing that I would like to change about this place, it would be the infrastructure. The potholes would also need to be fixed properly so that we wouldn’t have to struggle while travelling.”

However, he is happy to call Bengaluru home now. “Everytime I fly back to Bengaluru, I have a feeling that I’ve reached home. The people here are very nice and welcoming. I haven’t faced any problems and I hope it continues that way.

With my ‘swalpa Kannada’ and knowledge of body languages, I think I fit in here quite well,” he says with a smile.