Ankita Sharma interviews Chef Reena Kakkar, an Alumni of Institute of Hotel management -Ahmedabad. She is a Chef, Entrepreneur, Professor,Trainer, Consultant , Recipe curator worked with national Five Star hotels before she started her own Culinary venture in 1993.
Gujarat is known for its entrepreneurial spirit. Ahmedabad is a land of business and innovation. Chef Reena is a self-made, treading the unbeaten path entrepreneur. The First woman in her family to pursue Hotel Management and having worked in Five star Hotel Chains and in Flight catering. Capitalising on Gujarat a land of well travelled foodies with their love for food especially snacks and sweets (farsan and mithai) Story of Chef Reena Kakkars entrepreneurship started in 1993 with gourmet catering of regional specialities and International Cuisines for Corporate houses, Dine-ins, theme restaurant setups and management, weddings, Events receiving incredible response to their nouvelle cuisine offerings.
Chef Reena was instrumental in subtly floating a new segment of International Savouries ,baked delicacies and confectionery through her catering and theme restaurant consultancies This was the time when the idea of ordering food from outside was an “occasion”, people were slowly opening up to global cuisines. Flight kitchen training sharpened her skills on packed meals,their menu planning, costing, rechauffe techniques, which helped promote packed meals and catering for VVIPmeets and corporate catering, again a first-of-its-kind enterprise in Ahmedabad.
She was perhaps the First Chef- Entrepreneur from Indian Institute of Hotel Management-Ahmedabad and first from her batch to take an unconventional path in corporate catering. Her catering menus for sit-down dinners, theme parties and weddings are a good mix of traditional recipes, methods of cooking n culture with the right product mix of authenticity, innovation, courage and pricing.
Conceptualized and founder of “Indulgence” –First women owned and managed commercial artisanal Bakery Café – Gujarat are Chef Reena Kakkar and Esha Kakkar in 2005 to bring a quintessential change in the bakery market of Ahmedabad also known as An edible Gourmet Gift store Esha kakkar became the second strong pillar of our retail venture. Her varied and extensive experience of corporate world and expertise in client servicing ,customers relations further strengthened our base.
We both love to see customers satisfied and content. Esha leaves no stone unturned to connect sustainably to customers. Indulgence major profits are in form of awards received year after year and customer loyalty and support, My experience and knowledge of food, combined with her experience in handling retail customers, helped to create our dream café’’.
Indulgence is a 1200 sq ft café with a welcoming and soothing vibe, cheerful ambience and aesthetically-pleasing interiors. For many it has become the place to indulge their sweet cravings while for others it is equally appealing for a meal or snack in the spacious 16-seater café. They designed the menu with lot of research and by incorporating global baking trends. The sisters played a tremendous role in building a market for luxury sweets and savouries in Ahmedabad, enjoying tremendous customer loyalty.
The Story of Reena Kakkar and Esha kakkar proved to the world of naysayers that cultural heritage of food can be retained without compromising on quality or authenticity. From a tabouleh salad, handvo or a Punjabi style samosa to European desserts, their clientele swears by their food.
Indulgence has a different market focus – their clientele has a refined palate for international food. From prominent families of Gujarat to a cosmopolitan set of customers to NRIs travelling to Ahmedabad, they have a good client list that are regular takers of their gourmet platters and takeaways, or even drops in for dine-in, gatherings, formal meetings , high tea or Sunday brunch.
Indulgence curates menus of regional specialities and International Cuisines for Corporate houses, Dine-ins , theme restaurant setups and management, House parties, events are receiving incredible response to their novel offerings. They specialise in confectionery, cookies, chocolates, wholegrain breads, gourmet desserts, luxury treats and delightful savouries. For years they are popular in making variety of soft-centered chocolates , truffles, fudges , dried fruit Snacks with a beautiful packaging which people order for weddings/events and as give-aways to keep in hotel rooms for their guests and event give-aways.
Most of all, Indulgence is the first Pie shop of India, a pioneering enterprise of launching a range of dessert pies and savoury pies. Besides the globally known range of various sweet or savoury pie fillings, they have a signature line of Indian fillings in the pastry dough. Indulgence has significantly contributed as a trendsetter standalone cafe to giving joy of premium, classic, handcrafted culture rich desserts and edible gifting solutions.
Chef Reena says Entrepreneurship is a lonely process of designing, launching and running a business. She is happy to be teamed up with her sister. “Esha dons many hats – Retail operations, Team management, Sales & Marketing, and Customer relationship management. Together we ensure customers have a smile on their faces by meeting and exceeding their expectations.
The success mantra of team Indulgence is touching souls through pure food, focusing on seasonal and local produce, and using minimal artificial preservatives. For them, cooking and baking is the best therapy, and they take pride in serving the best to customers. We pride ourselves on not just the food and atmosphere also our service over the years. We care about our customers, and most important THEY care about us.
