Women are increasingly shaping India’s hospitality industry, taking on leadership roles across restaurant kitchens, management, beverage programmes and entrepreneurship. What was once considered as a male-dominated space, the sector is now witnessing a gradual shift as more women chefs, restaurateurs, mixologists and hospitality professionals build successful careers and redefine the industry’s landscape. Here are the top women who is leading the industry right now
1. Aditi Dugar, Director & Co-Founder, Urban Gourmet India
Under the banner of Urban Gourmet India, Aditi Dugar is the Co-Founder of Masque, Paradox, TwentySeven Bakehouse, Sage & Saffron and Circle Sixty Nine in Mumbai.
Dugar said, “When I entered hospitality, the industry was far more male-dominated, but the bigger challenge was the risk we took. Launching a tasting-menu restaurant focused entirely on Indian produce was quite unconventional then. Today, the industry feels far more open and exciting, with diners increasingly curious about regional ingredients and thoughtful dining experiences, creating new opportunities for chefs and restaurateurs to tell deeper stories through food.”
Her Advice: Stay curious and patient. Hospitality is an industry where learning never really stops, and the most valuable experience often comes from spending time understanding the craft - whether that’s in the kitchen, on the floor, or behind the scenes. And don’t be afraid to take thoughtful risks.
2. Minakshi Singh, Co-Founder of Sidecar
Minakshi Singh is the Co-Founder of Cocktails & Dreams Speakeasy, Sidecar, The Brook India, India Bartender Show and The Old House Nepal.
Singh pointed, “Today, there is far greater openness in the industry and among consumers. Guests are seeking unique concepts and memorable food and beverage experiences, giving hospitality professionals the opportunity to tell authentic stories and connect directly with diners. The key is to approach storytelling with intent and clarity, focusing on genuine ideas rather than simply following trends.”
Her Advice: Take those risks, your ideas are being heard.
3. Niketa Sharma, Founder of Keish Hospitality
Niketa Sharma is the Founder of Blah, ViVi, Magna, South Stories, Suma and The Thane Club (across Mumbai).
Sharma added, “The journey of being a female restaurateur is both exciting and deeply challenging. The industry moves fast, and you are constantly juggling creativity with business decisions. One challenge women often face is being underestimated in operational or financial conversations, but I’ve learned that confidence and clarity in your vision quickly change that perception. At the same time, there are tremendous opportunities for women to shape dining spaces in ways that feel more thoughtful, welcoming, and design-forward. I believe women naturally bring a sense of storytelling into hospitality.”
Her Advice: Trust your instincts but also understand the numbers behind the business. Passion is important, but discipline and structure are what sustain a restaurant in the long run. When you combine both, you can create places that people truly connect with.
4. Nikita Harisinghani, Founder of Chrome Hospitality
Nikita Harisinghani is Founder of Chrome Hospitality which operates Late Checkout, Gigi, Lyla, Eve and Donna Deli in Mumbai.
She said, “Hospitality has traditionally been a male-dominated industry and one of the biggest challenges as a woman entrepreneur is often perception. Women are welcomed creatively, but when it comes to controlling capital, expansion strategy or negotiations, you sometimes have to prove your credibility twice over. I’ve learnt that the most powerful way to overcome this is through clarity and competence. When you understand your business inside out, from unit economics to guest experience, confidence follows.”
Her Advice: Trust your instincts, build strong teams, and stay committed to quality. When your vision is clear and your standards are high, opportunities naturally follow.
5. Chef Manisha Bhasin, Corporate Executive Chef, ITC Hotels
Chef Manisha Bhasin is the Corporate Executive Chef at ITC Hotels; she has spent over three decades redefining the professional kitchen. From being the first woman to lead the flagship kitchen at ITC Maurya to spearheading the "Dehlnavi" culinary experience to G20 Summit.
Started as a management trainee in 1987, she recalls that commercial kitchens were largely male-dominated, with women often needing to challenge the belief that they couldn’t handle the physical demands or long hours.
She believes the biggest opportunity lies in gastronomic sustainability and health, with the “future of the plate” centred on local, nutritious and ethical ingredients. “The growing global interest in millets and indigenous foods gives Indian chefs a chance to highlight traditional grains and local produce. There is also rising demand for sustainability-focused “green chefs” who understand waste reduction, energy efficiency and seasonal sourcing. Unlike 30 years ago, female chefs today also have greater entrepreneurial freedom to share their stories through restaurants, food tech, corporate leadership and social media,” highlighted Bhasin.
Her Advice: There are no shortcuts. Build your basics and one step at a time. Think of One "Wow" Idea a Day: Challenge yourself to think of one fresh, innovative idea every single day. Innovation is a habit, not a one-time event.
6. Nikita Poojari, Director, Shiv Sagar Group
Nikita Poojari is the Director, Shiv Sagar Group & Co-Founder of ButterFly High, Kyma, The Big Small Café & Bar under Shiv Sagar Group across India.
Poojari said, “Being a woman in the restaurant business often means balancing instinct with resilience. Hospitality is a demanding industry where long hours, operational challenges, and constant customer expectations can test anyone. One of the biggest challenges is earning credibility in a space that has traditionally been dominated by legacy family businesses and seasoned operators. But at the same time, it also presents an incredible opportunity to bring a different perspective to the table. Women tend to approach hospitality with a strong sense of detail, empathy, and an understanding of how people experience a space, not just the food but the warmth and service that come with it.”
Her Advice: Focus on building a strong team, listen to your guests, and never compromise on quality. In the end, authenticity and persistence are what truly help a restaurant find its place in a city.
7. Chef Amninder Sandhu, Founder of Kikli, Bawri, Barbet & Pals and Tipai
Chef Amninder Sandhu is the Founder of Bawri in Goa & Mumbai, Dining Experiences at Tipai - a boutique wildlife escape, Bliss Food Experiences, a luxury wedding catering company, Kikli, Barbet & Pals in New Delhi.
“The restaurant industry can be demanding, and for women the challenges often begin with simply being taken seriously in spaces that have traditionally been male-dominated. But that is also where the opportunity lies today. More women are stepping into leadership roles and shaping kitchens that value respect, collaboration, and craft over hierarchy,” she added.
Her Advice: Stay resilient and never dilute your voice to fit someone else’s expectations. The kitchen rewards sincerity and hard work, and when you bring your whole self to the craft, you also help shift the culture and open doors for the next generation of women.
8. Vijeta Singh, Co-founder; Together Hospitality & Founder of Rare Ideas
Vijeta Singh is the Co-Founder of Cobbler & Crew, Elephant & Co, Gather and Juju under Together Hospitality.
Singh pointed, “I never grew up dreaming of running bars and restaurants, what shaped me weren’t the industry, but the responsibility of creating joy for guests and opportunities for my team. Traditional hospitality often relied on dominance, but women founders succeed through trust, culture, and retention these aren’t just HR points, they’re business imperatives. The challenge is real: women always have to prove they belong. But that pressure fosters resilience and innovation.”
Her Advice: Simply lead with empathy, intuition, and clarity, and stop treating women’s success as an exception. We are the future.
9. Chef Beena Noronha, Co-Founder of Saltae Hospitality
Chef Beena Noronha is a Mumbai-based chef-turned-restaurateur and Co-founder of Saltae Hospitality, translating her culinary journey into building thoughtful, food-forward restaurant concepts rooted in storytelling and global influences.
“My journey from chef to restaurateur has been about believing in my voice and building something that reflects it. In the kitchen, I learned discipline, creativity, and resilience - but stepping into entrepreneurship meant learning how to shape an entire vision, not just a dish. With Saltae Hospitality, we’re creating restaurants that are driven by emotion, memory, and strong storytelling, and as we prepare to launch our first concept, it feels incredibly personal and meaningful. As a woman in hospitality, there will always be challenges, but those moments push you to lead with more conviction, added Noronha.
Her advice: Trust your instincts, stay curious, and never be afraid to take up space.
10. Chef Rhea Aaron, Co-Founder of Klaa, Bangalore
Rhea Aaron is a chef and co-founder of Klaa, a Goan restaurant in Bangalore where she reimagines family recipes passed down from her great-grandmother to her grandmother and now to her, while creating modern Goan cuisine through pop-ups and food concepts that celebrate bold coastal Indian flavours with contemporary techniques.
“Being a female restaurateur in this industry means constantly pushing through spaces that were traditionally male dominated. It can be challenging, but it also gives us the opportunity to lead differently — with resilience, empathy and creativity. For me, Klaa is deeply personal; the food is inspired by recipes passed down through generations of women in my family, and my role is to honour that while giving it my own voice,” pointed Aaron.
Her Advice: Believe in your vision, learn every aspect of the business, and never feel the need to shrink yourself to fit in. The industry needs more women leading kitchens and shaping the future of food.”
A seasoned food writer, researcher, Historian turned Chef , Osama Jalali was born and brought up in the by-lanes of Purani Dilli but his parental roots belong to a princely estate in Uttar Pradesh called Rampur, famous for its unique Rampuri cuisine. Jalali, together with his mother Ammi Jalali and wife Nazia Khan has been showcasing the lost recipes of Indian, mughal cuisine by partnering with 5-star hotels across the country and doing small pop-ups, food festivals for more than a decade now and never thought of doing something of his own. It was only during the pandemic, lockdown that he came up with the idea of starting Mughal Plate, a cloud-kitchen brand that showcases the mughal cuisine and cooked by the trio from his own home kitchen. “People used to hire us for festivals etc but now they don’t have budget so they are unable to hire us and also we aren’t able to get the business. So, we thought of doing it on our own,” added Jalali. The brand has already made a wave among the foodie circuit in Delhi-NCR in its first week of operations by doing around 20-25 orders the very first week. Excerpts from the interview:
How it all began
We have been doing food festivals with 5-star restaurants from last one decade specializing in cuisines from Rampur, Old Delhi and lost recipes of mughal era. We never started something of our own but during the covid times we thought to start a delivery kitchen taking forward the legacy of mughlai cuisine by focusing on the journey of mughali food in Delhi and UP. That’s how Mughal Plate came into the existence. The brand is solely owned and invested by us.
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Handmade and hand-cooked
The food will be prepared by my mom and wife with help from me. We three have been already cooking together during the food festivals that we did with hotels etc. With this brand, we intend not to hire any professional chefs but in future we have plans to hire khansamas who knows about old school cooking. We also want to engage women who cook good food at home but are unable to showcase their talent at any platform.
Delivery as a trend
Delivery has really picked up because of the pandemic as people are still concerned about safety, hygiene etc. Delivery has a safer side as the food is cooked at home and there is a trust factor attached to it. To start with, we are delivering our food to complete Delhi-NCR; including Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad.
Rise of home chefs
I have been judging home chefs competition from last five-six years and every year have seen a rise in the number of participants. Given the hygiene and variety that these small home-based chefs adhere to there is surge in home chef’s category. We have also applied for home chef license from FSSAI.
All things food
We are working on two menus. Our system is 24-hr in advance wherein we have a signature menu and made-to-order menu in which we have items that are generally not on a regular menu. We are trying to showcase menu and foods that are not showcased or available at a restaurant/hotel menu.
Expansion Plans
Mughal Plate will stick to the delivery model for a year. We have been getting lots of queries from Mumbai, Bengaluru for a franchise or extension of the brand as a cloud-kitchen. Also, Mughal Plate by Jalali’s also plan to do a fine-dine restaurant after two years when things are little normal. We also aim at doing a sit-down dinner at home introducing concept of Dastarkhwan.
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A tribute to women
Started with the sole idea of engaging my mother and wife who have been cooking mughal foods for over a decade now, this brand is a tribute to all women who cook good food at home but unable to showcase them. We are also focusing on hiring women cooks, unemployed ladies who cook at home but unable to showcase their cooking.
Breaking the stereotypes, women are now taking major roles in the food and beverage as well as the hospitality industry. Let's raise a toast for all these women who have set an example in the industry. Here are 15 powerful women who are making a bigger impact on the food and beverage industry.
Karyna Bajaj
Karyna Bajaj, Executive Director at KA Hospitality, focuses on the financial and business strategy, as well as, restructuring and business planning for the Group. Karyna joined the business in July 2016 and has been instrumental in expanding the national footprint of the Hakkasan and Yauatcha brands in India.
In September 2016, Karyna and her team began exploring the market to identify yet another winning restaurant brand that would offer new and eclectic flavours to the discerning Indian diner. This led to Nara that opened in the third quarter of 2017 under the aegis of KA Hospitality. Nara restaurant represents the vibrant exquisiteness of age-old Thai cuisine and signature warmth of Thai hospitality to Indian diners.
Karyna is one of the few women in the hospitality industry in India today. Armed with a Bachelors degree in Communication and Business Strategy, her hunger for knowledge and curiosity is bringing a new dynamic within the Hospitality Group. Her latest venture is a first for her and KA Hospitality’s a focus on homegrown brands – CinCin. It’s an Italian inspired restaurant and bar situated in the bustling area of BKC and neighbour to Nara. A unique concept offering an extensive list of wines by the glass and cicchettis (small plates) along with a pasta bar and everything Italian! Spearheading this homegrown brand, Karyna is set to make sure that KA Hospitality builds its own brands and stays at the forefront in the Indian F&B industry. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Dipna Anand
Dipna Anand is an award-winning Celebrity Chef, owner of Dip in Brilliant. She also co-owns Brilliant Restaurant in Southall, London. Her grandfather started the first Brilliant restaurant in Nairobi, Kenya in the 1950s. After pursuing her degree in Hospitality and Catering from The University of West London, Dipna started to teach as a guest chef. She also runs her own Cookery School at The Brilliant Restaurant in Indian cuisines. “My career took off when I won a national award on one of my food technology projects – Low Fat Indian Food - presented by the British Nutrition Foundation,” Dipna tells Restaurant India.
Beyond Brilliant, her very first cookbook was released in July 2014. The cookbook tells a story of the Brilliant family legacy and fifty recipes that were shared by Dipna’s grandfather. Recently, she released her second cookbook Dip in Brilliant; she had named her restaurant after her cookbook was released. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Lisa Suwal
Lisa Suwal, VP- Marketing & Sales of Prasuma Meats & Delicatessen brand since August 2016. Lisa’s father, Mahendra Suwal, entered the food and beverage industry with the launch of Prasuma brand over 30 years back i.e., in 1985. It was the first brand to start the ‘fresh and chilled’ segment in India. Ten years ago, Prasuma entered into retail segment. Currently, the brand’s presence is at 300+ retail outlets across 21 Indian cities.
“Growing up in a family involved in this business for over 30 years, I’ve been exposed to this business and the art of making good food as far as I can remember,” says Lisa.
Lisa has previously worked with Technopak Advisors, L’Oreal and Garnier. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Pallavi Jayswal
Pallavi Jayswal is a culinary wizard - chef, foodie and a businesswoman. She is the chef and co-founder at Uno Más -Tapas Bar Kitchen. She had also co-founded a company Nessun Dorma Food Ventures. Her first official culinary job was at the mecca of Indian fine dine, Indigo Restaurant at Colaba. She was entrusted to handle an entire section of the kitchen. She reminisces her time there by the fast-paced dinner services and long working hours. She has a Diplôme de Cuisine from Le Cordon Bleu, London and a Level 2 in Wines and Spirits, awarded by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. In the following years, she worked with Thalassa, Indigo Restaurant to name a few.
Pallavi loves to travel and immerse herself in new cultures and cuisines. She has visited numerous places like Spain, Italy, and Vietnam to name a few. She believes in ‘Adopt don’t Shop’ and cares deeply for strays. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Rashmi Daga
Rashmi Daga is the founder and owner of one of the most exciting food-tech companies – FreshMenu; the company was founded in September 2014. Aimed at rescuing food- seekers from mundane meals, FreshMenu is on a constant quest to whip-up interesting food options in the kitchen’s spread out across the city that deliver freshly-cooked food to the doorsteps of its customers. Rashmi started her entrepreneurial journey with Afday.com, an online business which focused on selling curated art and craft products. She has also worked with Bluestone.com, Olacabs, LifeScan and TutorVista. She started her career as a Business Manager at IBM in 2003. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Pankaj Bhadouria
The big move in Pankaj Bhadouria’s life came with a small step when she decided to leave her successful teaching career spanning over 16 years and enter the first televised cookery reality show – MasterChef India. A major recognition and appreciation came Pankaj’s way when she was invited by Cambridge University to address the South Asian Community in Britain. She demonstrated some Indian foods for health-conscious people and managed to break the general British myth that Indian food is all about spicy curries and Chicken Tikka Masala. She is the face of many popular brands. Pankaj Bhadouria, currently, hosts the second season of ‘3 Course with Pankaj’ on LF Channel. Besides, she has authored and co-authored many cookbooks. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Sheetal Shah
Sheetal Shah is the Managing Director at Drifters Breweries. Partnering with her husband in business and of course in life, Sheetal Shah defines strength with a positive vision of success and innovation. Managing the BKC outlet of Drifters Breweries, she is a woman who is fascinated by the world of craft beers and the bubbles in each brew. The daily operations side of the brew bar is constant learning for Sheetal, who hopes to open other craft beer serving outlets in major cities in Maharashtra. Excitement and vigour are her cornerstones as she appreciates how locals today love to experiment with different types of craft beers.
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Hopeful to expand in both directions, hope fills her as she would love to supply beer kegs to other outlets across Mumbai and Pune and of course expand the brand to new outlets. She also plans to open a bottling plant soon enough, one brew at a time. Her future plans include focusing on the expansion of distribution channels to other outlets in Maharashtra and is anticipative of the second level of funding or other associates for the bottling plant.
The customer is king is the motto that this businesswomen lives by and shares that “It is truly the customers who inspire me and I believe that it is our consumers who guide us and are the first foundation blocks to building a sustainable brand. I specifically set aside time to read customer feedbacks and derive value from their experiences. They inspire me to do things better and alter the course of action based on feedback attained”.
Sheetal Shah is an IT professional from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. She started out as a software developer for a year and then realized that her heart was in the hospitality industry. Venturing out into the food industry in Australia for 12 Months in 2009, she owned a pizza restaurant and comprehended her passion for serving delectable food to the community. In 2014, she started a fine-dine restaurant in her home town Vadodara, La Quello – a Mediterranean Kitchen. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Aishwarya Bhende
Aishwarya Bhende is the Director at AB Celestial, Mumbai’s first Luxury Floating Restaurant. The floating restaurant was launched in 2017. Exposed to European waterfronts from an early age, Aishwarya realized how they boosted tourism in those countries. Back home at the commercial capital, she saw a huge opportunity on its seaside which could add jewels to the crown of the city – Mumbai Skyline. This vision gave birth to an extensive 3-year process of building India’s first floating restaurant in a revenue-sharing partnership with the government.
By setting up the first luxury floating restaurant in Mumbai, Aishwarya has set the backbone for each process. The restaurant offers excellent delicacies from Indian, Continental and Asian cuisines with a fine, opulent ambience. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Garima Arora
Garima Arora, the journalist-turned-chef, recently bagged Asia’s Best Female Chef 2019 Award. Her restaurant Gaa cooked up a storm when it was awarded the Michelin star within two years of its opening. She was also named in the Entrepreneur India's 35 Under 35 list.
Garima Arora started her career as a pharma journalist. She left for Le Cordon Bleu Paris, in 2008, to pursue her passion, cooking. Garima has worked with several renowned chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Gaggan Anand. She had also done an internship at Noma in Copenhagen, where she worked with Chef René Redzepi for three months. "I've always known I would want to have my restaurant one day. After some research into the profession, I decided to do it right then, as cooking is very demanding, physically and mentally," says Garima.
Speaking about her entrepreneurial journey, Garima Arora says, "The low is the long hours and missing all-time with family and friends, but running your own business is one of the most rewarding feelings. You work alongside your team day in and day out and you grow together."
Click To Read Her Full Interview
Avni Biyani
India’s largest gourmet store Foodhall has a fiery passion that has stemmed from Avni Biyani’s ambition to expand the realm of food shopping to a larger than life concept. The youngest daughter of esteemed Kishore Biyani, Group CEO of Future Group, she is an individual who commands her own respect with her ability to look beyond a simple food retail concept. She formally joined Future Group in 2011 as the Concept Head of Foodhall and there has been no looking back ever since.
Also a part of Future Group’s Integrated Food Strategy Council, Avni Biyani is also responsible for ramping up the Group's foray into the premium food segment. With a keen interest in the fashion and lifestyle segment of the business, she is closely involved with the launch of India’s first fast fashion brand – Cover Story.
Watching her vision unfold, she says “Food is a universal language that unites people all over the world, one taste at a time. Attempting to bring all food lovers under one roof and introduce various spices, ingredients and dishes from the globe to my store, it is exhilarating to watch as consumers get excited seeing their favourite brands from all over the world in India”.
Launched in May 2011, Foodhall is a one-stop premium destination for well-travelled urban consumers who have a deep appreciation for the nuances of gourmet cooking. With superstores in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi NCR, Foodhall offers a homegrown range of products handcrafted by the in-house chefs of Foodhall, including flavoured butter, moist cakes, cookies, biscottis, Middle Eastern sweets, exotic jams, flavoured nuts, granola bars and more. Furthermore, Foodhall has a range of speciality brands for niche products— from an ARQA spice station to The House of Tea (THT) that retails premium varieties of tea and Foodhall Specials.
Dildeep Kalra
Dildeep Kalra is the founder and promoter at StyleHorn and Director at Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. The perfect whiff of everything fashion, Dildeep Kalra’s style quotient is as massive as the portfolio that she directs. Her selection of designer heels, statement bags and impeccable fragrances lend an aura of dynamical strength and introduce her bent for all things nice. The pleasingly satiated face behind the successful Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. and the man behind it – Zorawar Kalra, is that of an articulate, intelligent and self-motivated lady. Her foresight, strong business acumen and a meticulous eye for detail make Dildeep Kalra a visionary, who impresses and earns her commendable position as the Director of Massive Restaurants. With a penchant for fashion, design and visual merchandising, she brings her sense of art to the Indian and International F&B retail market.
Her foray into the hospitality industry dates back to 2006 when she ventured into the operational side of Indian hospitality. Hailing from a family where food equals love, she absolutely recommends Spain, Singapore, New York and Japan for an epic food adventure. Redefining the Indian hospitality industry with multiple offerings that are uniquely carving their own niche today, Massive Restaurants has literally made a massive impact on the way we wine and dine.
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Dipti Motiani
Dipti Motiani is the founder of Second Nature, a brand that is emerging as a forerunner in the cold-extracted fruits and vegetable juice blends category. She is also the Vice President of Processed Fruits division at Freshtrop Fruits Ltd., which is the parent company of Second Nature. Freshtrop has been a leading supplier of fresh Indian grapes to some of the most demanding Supermarkets in Europe consistently for over 2 decades and has now ventured into the creation of cold extracted fruit juices and nut milk through Second Nature.
Dipti has had a bright academic career. She excelled in school and topped her university in Computer Engineering. She moved to the US to Carnegie Mellon University in 2005 to further her academic ambitions and graduated with a perfect GPA of 4.0. Post her Masters, she co-founded Fabbrix Inc, a successful startup in the electronic design automation industry in Pittsburgh, USA. Fabbrix was acquired for over USD 6 million by PDF Solutions, Inc. in 2007. She continued with the parent company for two more years, post which she moved from the comfortable environment of Silicon Valley to ‘Savlaj’, a Maharashtra village 70 km from Sangli, to assist with the Freshtrop business, as well as getting a first-hand experience of rural India.
She joined Freshtrop in 2009, just as it was planning to expand into the fruit processing segment. With her exceptional hands-on approach, she has gained an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the technical and commercial aspects of fruit processing. She now spearheads the food processing business of Freshtrop and has developed a strong client base for its bulk processing business in both domestic and international markets. Click To Read Her Full Interview
Saba Gaziyani
One of the leading food stylists in Asia, Saba Gaziyani is perhaps the only food photographer-cum-stylist in Mumbai. While she was still a junior chef at The Leela, Mumbai, Saba took up her professional career in food styling, in 1994. She started with an ad campaign. It was completely by chance! Since then Saba hasn’t looked back; it’s been more than a decade. Saba has been instrumental in raising the bar for food stylists in India.
Saba’s studio is located in Mumbai and is the only exclusive digital studio for food photography in India.
Rupali Bhatnagar
Rupali Bhatnagar is the General Manager and Senior Winemaker, Sparkling Wines, at Sula Vineyards. She joined Sula Vineyards as a lab-technician trainee back in February 2006. A microbiology graduate, Rupali was fascinated with the wine industry and the innovative approaches to winemaking. As a microbiologist, Rupali found herself to easily relate to yeast and fermentation process and, therefore, learning more about winemaking came naturally to her.
Rupali became a winemaker at a time when not many women were in the industry. She has been extremely hard-working and has proved her capability as a winemaker to the industry by giving in more than 100% and graciously being involved in samplings, loading and unloading presses, tasting, creating blends and many other activities. Rupali has outperformed herself in experimenting and creating different blends with complex flavours from grapes.
Rupali has successfully created India's first Sparkling Shiraz and is experienced in both the reductive and oxidative style of winemaking.
Click To Read Her Full Interview
Anamika Singh
Anamika Singh, a tea sommelier, started Anandini Himalaya Tea in 1990; back then there were only two women in the industry segment. Anamika has spent over twenty years in the industry. She started as an apprentice under A. K. Singh, her father, who was a world-renowned tea specialist. Anamika’s family owns Manjhee Valley Tea Estate in Dharamshala. The Estate exports tea to the likes of high-end Parisian tea houses Le Palais de Thes and Mariage Freres.
Anamika’s Anandini - The Tea Room was launched in Delhi on November 15, 2014, wherein she conducts workshops for the tea enthusiasts and expats.
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To give them a feeling of how important they are, country’s food and bar joints are paying special attention to the ladies in the country. Though it may not turn into a major celebration but restaurant brands have introduced special discounts and arranged the cooking classes for the pretty ladies to mark their day.
What is in store?
Hotel and restaurant brands are no more lagging behind in luring the young woman to their outlets. Momo cafe at Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan invites its patrons to take some time out and make the women in their life feel special by treating them with the best of ambience and hospitality in the city. The hotel has in store various offers and discounts to celebrate the day.
Saffron Bay, the famous bar serving North Indian cuisine with a western culture located at Charni Road, Mumbai is offering a complimentary glass of house wine for all the ladies on the day from 12pm till 1:30 am.
Speaking on the same, Yogendra Chaudhary, Restaurant Manager, Momo Cafe, says, “We are giving flat 50 percent discount on lunch and dinner featuring some delicious cake for the woman.”
Peninsula Grand Hotel, Mumbai, will celebrate Women’s Day on 8th March with week-long celebrations between noon and midnight. The hotel will give a 25 percent discount to every woman on lunch and dinner with complementary mocktails and a 20 percent discount to the accompanying man.
Satish Shetty, MD, Peninsula Grand, said, “Keeping with our promise of authentic hospitality and celebrating our valuable guests, we have brought special Women’s Day Celebrations on March 8th.”
Activity charm
Restaurants are busy hosting the women special evening by organising events and programmes for the ladies on this international W-Day. The ladies will be bombarded by surprises and lucky draws organised by the restaurants.
Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan is not only giving offers and organising lucky draws but has also organised a small event to appreciate the work the women social worker from organisations such as Cancer Patient Aid Association, Maher and Ishwari by organising a small entertainment programme for ladies who have dedicated for the welfare of the society.
On the other hand, Evviva Sky Lounge, Pune will organise master classes for the women by lady chefs Rama and Keshia where the chefs will make the men learn the culinary skills on how to impress their love of life.
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