AD Singh is an Indian entrepreneur, the founder and Managing Director of the Olive Group of Restaurants.
Born in Delhi in 1960, Singh moved to Mumbai at a young age and attended Cathedral and John Connon School. Soon after college, a scholarship at Lafayette took him to Pennsylvania to earn a degree that got him into the blue-chip companies TCS and CadburyâÂÂs on his return to India.
Singh also worked with various NGOs, and wrote a weekly food column for The Metropolis - a part of The Times Group â in the 1990s. In 1988, he set up his first F&B venture, a boat party planning service called Party Lines.
Singh made his restaurant business debut in 1990 with Just Desserts, a jazz café that served only coffee and desserts. He launched Olive at Union Park, Bandra in the year 2000.
In 2003, Singh opened Olive Bar and Kitchen in New Delhi, which was announced as one of the âÂÂBest new restaurants in the worldâ by Condé Nast Traveler. Olive won numerous awards and accolades across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Goa, Kolkata, and Hyderabad. â where, in 2005, Singh opened Olive Beach.
Singh has launched 15 restaurant brands throughout the country. He introduced some new dining concepts in the Indian market. He established a restaurant Olive Bar and Kitchen in Mumbai, and Ek Bar which is a cocktail bar utilising mainly Indian ingredients, and Guppy which is a Japanese themed restaurant, Monkey bar described as a gastropub, then SodaBottleOpenerWala to revive a Bombay Irani café.
Singh runs a group wide initiative called âÂÂKitchens Against HungerâÂÂ. Wherein Rs. 10 is added to every bill as a voluntary contribution towards alleviating hunger in children in India. Olive matches the amount to double the contribution which goes towards the cause.
Singh is married to Sabina Singh who is the Design Director of Olive Group of Restaurants, with two children Zoe Tara Singh and Zen Singh residing in Mumbai.