The sun was shining bright when The Telegraph sat down for an exclusive chat with 11 women foodpreneurs of the city on the theme ‘Women Leading the Cafe Business in the City — Trials, Challenges and Success Story of Starting the Business, the Journey and Destination’. And pouring through the clear glass walls of Boho The Sky Café in Salt Lake, it added to their aura with its golden glow. Focussed, confident and armed with skills and expertise that make them rule the food business in the city, Roshni Aditya of Boho The Sky Café, Sonika Dey of Bunaphile, Debanjana Batra of Cafe Yonder, Shilpa Chakraborty of Tribe, Rupali Barua, Meghali Barua Lahiry and Namita Dashora of Cafe Narumeg, Riddhima Chawla of Marbella’s and Poach, Sonali Chakraborty of Deshaj, Akanksha Pandey of Club De Golf and Amrita of Pancham er Adday joined in. The lively, uninterrupted and fun chat with a high dose of laughter, moderated by Somini Sen Dua and conceptualised by Supreeta Singh, made these feisty women bond over food, share anecdotes and get inspired by each other.
Each of the brands has a unique story and the chat started with that, bringing everyone a step closer to each other. Starting off, Meghali of Café Narumeg said, “People love our team, our staff who are warm and who develop a personal rapport with the customers. We have a board at the café and that reflects the love of the customers towards our staff.”
The foodpreneurs pose before the chat began
Sonali Chakraborty of Deshaj, the cafe and store in Ballygunge that turned three recently, talked about Moram the eco-resort and the kind of result-oriented work they do at the community level. “Deshaj is a brand for rural artisans and we opened it as a place for creative people to come to meet and exchange ideas.”
Moving forward, Roshni of Boho The Sky Café spoke on how the cafe has a remarkable success graph and how they capitalised on the coffee/tea culture of Kolkata and the demand for open or alfresco setups in the city. Roshni said, “We opened a cafe in Garia to see the response for open-air cafe and since then we have opened four cafes in the city. I realised that people were preferring to go to open spaces post-pandemic.”
Taking over from Roshni, Riddhima Chawla shared her story of finding her true calling in the culinary world and setting up two branches of Marbella’s. “I came from a food background and dated a guy who was a restaurateur. And though I continued my fashion designing course over the period I realised my calling lay in the restaurant industry. So I joined my husband and we travelled to different countries and started Marbella’s and later Poach.”
Debanjana who started Yonder Café in 2021 also shed light on the adda culture that prevailed in Kolkata with great enthusiasm. Talking about Tribe, Shilpa Chakraborty who is also a management consultant, shared, “During college, I had a dream of starting a cafe that will also have a section for books. And it is with this idea I started Tribe and the concept has been doing really well.” This also led to a short discussion on the new Park Streets or new pockets in the city and beyond that are kicking off a fresh cafe culture.
Introducing Club De Golf as a wonder that happened to her, Akanksha Pandey who has worked extensively in the IT industry, said, “I discussed doing something beyond the IT industry with my husband and got this property in New Town. The view is its biggest USP, I would say. And it just clicked with one event and now we keep having different kinds of events like birthday parties, baby showers and engagement parties.” Amrita of Pancham er Adday talked about her love for RD Burman’s songs and yesteryear hits that gave the character to her cafe in Southern Avenue. Taking the pace forward, Sonika Dey talked about her love for waffles that led to starting Crazy for Waffles first, which has 24 outlets across West Bengal, followed by Bunaphile.
The later part of the discussion focussed on the new trends in the food industry including vegan food, the challenges that each one of them had to face, business on Valentine’s Day, the sustainable practices that each of the individuals does on the personal and professional level and more.
Questions that the Cafe Queens delved upon
When and how did you start the cafe business?
What is the biggest challenge that you faced?
What kind of preparation did you take before opening the cafe?
What’s your biggest motivation in running the cafe?
Many people think that cafe owning is a glamorous business. Do you think that’s true?
What steps do you take in terms of the smooth running of your cafe?
What advice will you give anyone when starting their own cafe business?
What has been your biggest learning so far?
As a woman entrepreneur, how do you feel about how far you have come?
Debanjana Batra, Cafe Yonder: “Bengali being an adda-probon jaati… there used to be adda of rock, the famous coffee house adda which too has diminished. Again, with the nuclear family, the adda culture at home has also gone. So why do people come to a café and not go to a restaurant? For the simple reason of soaking in the adda culture.”
Amrita Annie, Pancham er Adda: “The Valentine’s Day sales this year was much less compared to last year for a lot of reasons. Recession can be one of the reason but also, things have gone back to normal with students back to the normal mode.”
Sonika Dey of Bunpahile: “I do a lot of research on a dish that makes it to the menu and then to the plate. Also, I don’t like depending on the chef or my staff. I think one should not depend on others, especially on the chef. We had a bad experience and I decided to take matters in my own hands. I even do the roasting of coffee beans.”
Riddhima Chawla, Marbella’s and Poach: “We have every kind of cuisine in the menu and we wanted a pretty cafe that will make people feel good. And hence interior plays a big part for us.”
Sonali Chakraborty, Deshaj: “My success depends upon the rural artisan’s success and how much they can earn depends on how much we can sell.Deshaj is basically a brand for rural artists, a centre for creative people to come and exchange their ideas”
Shilpa Chakraborty of Tribe: “If the pandemic wouldn’t have happened then we would have been so much focussed on the process and the cost and other things that we wouldn’t have seen the opportunities that were there in front of us.”
Akanksha Pandey, Club De Golf: “Being from the IT industry we started from scratch and learnt things on the way. Our location and setting with a lush golf course in the vicinity is our USP and our patrons love that setting.”
Roshni Aditya of Boho The Sky Café: “For us, the experience that the customer takes back with him/her is very important. Whether it’s about the flavour of the food, the presentation, the service or the ambience. So, we focus on every aspect of a cafe that a customer comes in contact with.”
Somini Sen Dua: “I am all for women entrepreneurs. When I started my journey 30 years ago as an entrepreneur with my publicity firm, either my credibility was questioned or I would be asked who my father or husband was. I have been a gender bender. Women are born multitaskers. So my best wishes to these cafe queens!”
“The café was a first-time attempt from us and as we started the café it started coming together and the concept of a café and a store became bigger and bigger. We ensured that the quality of our food is something that would draw people and make them stick to the brand. I curate everything while Namita takes care of the website and Rupali takes care of the café. She also does a lot of YouTube videos which are very popular,” said Meghali Barua Lahiry of Cafe Narumeg.