Every good meal begins with something that prepares you for what comes next.
For my story, that first course is Shorba — warm, familiar, and deeply rooted in Indian culinary tradition. For me, shorba represents much more than a dish. It reminds me of Bhopal, my family, and the restaurant where my journey with food and hospitality first began.
I grew up around food. My grandfather, Mr. Hakeemuddin Sahab, started our family restaurant in 1971, after moving to Bhopal from Burhanpur. Today, that family legacy remains an important part of who I am. But as a child, I never saw the restaurant as a business or as the beginning of a career. It was simply a place where I grew up, explored, and, most importantly, ate.
Some of my earliest memories are connected to the food prepared by my grandfather. I remember trying different dishes and becoming fascinated by the flavours, aromas, techniques, and people behind them. One of my earliest food memories goes back to when I was around twelve years old, trying to get my hands on a Mutton Shami Kebab.
At that age, I had no idea that these small experiences were quietly becoming the first ingredients of my culinary career.
Discovering Hospitality
Hospitality had always been around me, but my interest in it developed much later. During my Bachelor's degree in Hotel and Hospitality Management, I began looking at food differently. I became less interested in simply eating a dish and more curious about how it was prepared, why it tasted the way it did, and what culinary knowledge, technique, and hospitality experience stood behind it.
That curiosity changed everything.
My family gave me my first taste of hospitality, but I wanted to discover my own flavour within it.
And that is where my story really begins — with Bhopal, my family's culinary heritage, my early experiences around food, and the curiosity that eventually led me to pursue hospitality and build my own journey in the culinary world.
