Morad El-Hajjaji: Ten Years of Recognition
Edouard Amoiel
10 octobre 2026
Ten years ago, Morad El-Hajjaji opened Inda Bar on a street in Eaux-Vives, sensing the potential it held. Since then, his restaurant has grown, as has his wine cellar, and the people of Geneva have made it a habit to gather there. We took the time to talk with him and look back on a decade marked by joys, fears, and sacrifices.
We left Inda Bar to take a short walk around the neighborhood. Ten years earlier, Morad El-Hajjaji had stopped in front of the arcade on Henri-Blanvalet Street, which several people had advised him not to enter. He returned there one evening with his wife. She looked around and encouraged him to go for it. He was right to listen to her.
“At Morad’s”
At the time, Morad was working at the La Réserve hotel in Bellevue. He had already cut his teeth in the luxury hotel industry, notably at the Mandarin Oriental, where he was in charge of the hotel’s dining operations. His daughter had just been born, and he wondered if he would spend yet more decades running other people’s businesses, when he so desperately wanted to build his own. He invested his savings and opened Inda Bar in 2016, with a very specific vision: modern Indian cuisine designed for sharing, centered around the tandoor oven, cocktails, wine, and a cozy atmosphere.
To explain the Genevans’ attachment to Inda Bar, Morad cites the location, the atmosphere, and the cuisine. He is less willing to talk about his own role. Yet his warm welcome, attention to detail, and consistency have also shaped the restaurant’s identity and ensured its success. We tell him that, for many, coming to Inda Bar is like coming “to Morad’s place.” He accepts these words with modesty and immediately steers the conversation back to his team. “A restaurant is built by many people,” he insists.
2,000 items
Yet the early years were far from smooth sailing. Around the same time, Morad opened Kasbar in the neighboring arcade, and then the pandemic struck. He recalls the fear, the darkened rooms, and that sense of uncertainty that business owners carry with them after closing the door. This period also gave him time to rethink the spaces. In 2022, he merged the two arcades and expanded the Inda Bar to the size we know today.
Wine tells another part of the story. When the restaurant first opened, the wine list featured about fifty selections. It now includes nearly two thousand. At first, Morad had neither the means nor the ambition to go that far. He simply knew he wanted to share bottles he loved. The wine cellar took shape thanks to suppliers, chance encounters, and customer requests. There were times when, as early as the following week, he would go looking for a wine mentioned at the table that he didn’t yet have in stock.
This kind of instinct undoubtedly stems from his years working in luxury hotels: finding a solution, paying attention to a specific request. But for this wine enthusiast, fine wine doesn’t require any formalities. You can open a bottle on a bustling street in Eaux-Vives just as easily as over a meal at a friend’s house. He is committed to offering a varied selection and prices that make it possible to choose a bottle simply for the pleasure of drinking it. Over the years, this approach has attracted wine lovers from Geneva, Switzerland, and far beyond.
To have confidence
As the restaurant grew, Morad became aware of how much time he was devoting to his work—and how much time he was taking away from his family. His children grew up while he worked one shift after another. He now realizes just how much his wife’s support meant to him, and how important it is to make time to spend with his loved ones. Now, with a larger team and employees he trusts, he’s sometimes able to take time off. He’s always known how to delegate, he says; finding people who understand his vision and then letting them work in their own way remains one of the most challenging aspects of the job.
Today, Inda Bar is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and Morad still has plenty of ideas in mind. He’s planning to expand the kitchen and the wine cellar, even if it means reducing the number of seats slightly to create a better working environment. His passion remains as strong as ever. He’d like to see his restaurant thrive for years to come, because this is where he took his first steps as an entrepreneur.
Ten years!
When we ask him what makes him proud, he first mentions the colleagues he’s met along the way and the jobs he’s been able to create. Born in the Jura region to a family of Moroccan origin—the son of a factory worker who spent forty-five years at the same plant—he reflects on his journey with quiet pride and, above all, immense gratitude. He has lived in Geneva for over twenty years and says he feels deeply at home there. The city has offered him many opportunities, and he is happy to be able to give something back in his own way.
These days, Morad enjoys spending time in his restaurant almost incognito. Observing the dining room, greeting a table, being mistaken for just another member of the staff—he sees this as a form of success. Yet he knows every nook and cranny of his restaurant and immediately senses when a detail requires his attention. Tomorrow, just as he has for the past ten years, he’ll be back for the service. Together with his team, he’ll patiently resume the work that has made his restaurant a familiar spot in Eaux-Vives.
