A Support System for Small Restaurants
Armed with an excel sheet and young-spirited optimism, Nicky Alfred and Claudin knock on the doors of CEOs from the food industry. “You can scale your brand five x faster with more profits,” Claudin would say, “While investing zero money,” Nicky would add. At that instant, Nicky would input details about the restaurant’s cash flow […]
Twenty Years Later at (the) Finale
Anuhya Reddy worked as a barista at the local Starbucks in London. The smell of fresh ground coffee and croissants filled the air amidst the silent chatter and muted keyboard clatters from the tables. Although this was just a part-time job halfway across the world, she felt a familiar warmth she hadn’t felt in a […]
Delectable Desserts for Every Dietary Restriction
It is 2013. Senthil Kumar Balu was in Perth on a short stint as a visiting academic at Curtin University’s stem cell research centre. The door opens as Senthil Kumar Balu walks into his friend’s house with a chocolate cake. This was the first time he had ever used an oven or even attempted baking. […]
Chennai’s Chocolatier Recreates Local Flavours with an International Twist
“Chakra Pongal, Mishti Doi, Paan and Panchamridham,” lists Janani Kannan announcing another order. These are not just popular flavours from around India. They are the best-sellers from Zitter’s bonbon collection. The studio opens up into an air-conditioned hall with glass refrigerators at sixteen degrees stacked with decadent chocolates and pastries. A gust of cool air […]
Decadent Layers of Impactful Storytelling
One Christmas Eve, Valampuri John, a celebrated Tamil orator and writer, was invited to a baking show for a Christmas Special where he comedically stated, “Cake is called cake because if you want it, ‘thirupi thirupi cake-anum’ (translation: you have to keep asking for it),” leaving the crowd in hysterics. A young girl in Avadi, […]
Solitude Farms: Bringing Culture, Communities, and Cultivation Together
Krishna McKenzie is a “Zen” farmer who is creating a unique concept in Auroville that is relevant everywhere in the world At the impressionable age of sixteen, young Krishna Mckenzie was enrolled in the J Krishnamoorthy academy in the U.K. A year later, a wealthy philanthropist sponsored some of the students to visit all the […]
Coonoor’s Quirky Cafe with a Cause
On the moderately chilly but serene slopes of Coonoor, in Radhika Shastry’s backyard, lies the quirky Cafe Diem with its welcoming warm yellow lights and exquisite interior artifacts against the quaint but cozy brick walls, luring tourists and residents alike. “I always knew I would live in the hills,” declares the founder who quit her […]
Success through Passion – A Käse Study
Back in 2015, if you had asked international trade and investment consultant, Namrata Sundaresan, if she was going to transform her Coonoor vacation cheesemaking experience into a multi-crore business she would have burst out laughing before responding, “I have better things to do than to make cheese.” Nevertheless, being a foodie at heart and the […]
How Green Crush Canned the Soft Drink Market in Chennai
8th January 2017. Tamil Nadu. Chennai. This was a historic day when around 2,00,000 young people gathered at Marina Beach for 15 days in solidarity to legalize Jallikattu, a traditional Tamil game played during the harvest festival of Pongal, that involves releasing a rogue bull while crowds of people run behind it and try to stop […]
Canine India: A Local Business Abroad
Julia Pape, Lawyer and Political Journalist, born in Germany, transformed into ‘Sulthan’, Savior of the Indies (and other canines and felines) when she moved to Chennai with her husband, Harish, in the year 2017. Her earlier travels around Asia made her realise her love for these furry outlaws. “I have always loved nothing more than the […]
But We are All Coffee Drinkers, Right?
Tamil Nadu. Chennai. Images of strong Kumbakkonam degree coffee smells wafting in the air, spiraling out of shining “kaapi tumblers” are strongly associated with the Southernmost state of India, and its capital, Chennai. “We were quite confident about launching Chai retail outlets in a coffee capital like Chennai,” says Jahabar Sadique, co-founder and CEO of […]
Taste of Small Scale Entrepreneurship in Chennai – In the Choux of Daya’s Patisserie
Daya Shivani, a young baker and entrepreneur is on a mission to show people in Tamil Nadu that pastries dont always mean cake. Daya’s Patisserie was a dream that took shape through an Instagram Page in mid December 2020. Her pastries range from the traditional French Mille Feuille (a layered puff pastry) to a more […]
