Café Quaint, as the name suggests, is a food start-up. It is the dream venture of Ayesha Sajjan and Twinkle Singh.
The two friends are as different from one another as chalk from cheese. Ayesha, a lawyer by training, has now donned the chef’s hat and is the brain behind the delicious food served at the Café. Twinkle, an MBA Finance, and an ex-banker, has taken up the responsibility of managing the day-to-day affairs of their venture. Sometimes, the two are also assisted by Ayesha’s father, Preeth Singh who specializes at brewing coffee at the Café.
Both girls have been raised in a very liberal environment, and no one in either family tried to dissuade them, when they announced their plans to start the food venture, even though it meant, bidding adieu to their well-paying, conventional jobs.
How the journey started…
It was during college days when Ayesha first figured out her calling. One fine evening, during a casual conversation, she started discussing ‘capital issues’ – how to start a new venture, how to raise capital etc., listening to her friend talk, Twinkle realized this is what she wanted to do as well!, enthusiastically, Twinkle told her friend that she wanted to come on board.
“I fell for the trap because I am a total wreck at anything apart from my cooking,” says Ayesha while sharing how the idea to start a food venture first took root.
In the past eight months, the two have been on a roller coaster ride with Cafe Quaint. Each day, brings a new lesson, from the kitchen to the counter, obviously learned the hard way. But somewhere along the journey, both girls have matured and learned to take criticism in their stride.
“Well it’s not just the two of us,” corrects Twinkle. “We are a pack of three – uncle, Ayesha, and myself. Uncle is our mentor. But he doesn’t ever stop us from committing mistakes because he believes that unless we skin our knees we won’t learn anything,” Ayesha adds.
Lessons learned on the way…
What’s the one lesson they’ve learned in the past few months, I ask them, “well, one thing we’ve learned is that you may be the juiciest of all mangoes but there will always be someone who doesn’t like mangoes, so it’s good to seek advice but its best to also follow their own hard-nosed, business instincts”, both of them reply in unison.
Building the team at Quaint…
Their enthusiasm for their venture is infectious and visible. And, along the way, both have managed to rub off some of their high spiritedness on to their hand-picked staff, as well. This “collective happiness”, where everyone at the Café is happy, is also one of the reasons for their success. It automatically creates a positive vibe in the environment that get transferred to everyone else including customers.
“We see to it that each member of our team is smiling otherwise growth cannot be symbiotic,” says Twinkle. However since no one can expect work life to be always hunky-dory, initially both girls also had a lot of disagreements, but as things started getting on track, they learned the art of overcoming their differences with healthy discussions and debates, ensuring that they put “Quaint before all” no matter what. Today, Quaint their No#1 priority, I am told both realize that what really matters at the end of each business day is not the amount of money they have in their bank, but the satisfaction they get from cooking (for Ayesha) and seeing happy customers (for Twinkle). The duo follows their passion, and money just follows.
Finding life’s calling…
“I don’t ever miss work. It’s a kind of madness which drives me to climb out of bed, and cook for my customers, every day,” quips Ayesha. She discovered her passion for cooking, during her second year of college.
“Earlier, I would cook only to sustain myself. But one fine evening, when I was seriously missing home-cooked food, I called up my grandma, who dictated the recipe of rajma chawal on over the phone. That was the first day when I cooked proper food for the first time in my life and decided to devote the rest of my life, doing just that.”, shares Ayesha explaining how she found her calling.
“The journey has been purely magical,” she further adds. Both the friends are inspired by Jaipur and the devotion to their city of origin reflects in their work. “Jaipur has a kind of grandiosity attached to it. Jaipur is my canvas,” adds Twinkle on a dreamy note.
What’s special at Cafe Quaint?
The menu at Café Quaint is decided based on what’s the season’s best produce. So every time you visit the outlet, you are likely to be treated to fresh and delectable fare. That’s what sets it apart from regular food joints. The recipes are also as authentic as you can hope to get, another aspect you are likely to miss at other joints in the vicinity.
“We work with the best of the best produce. Our salad greens are flown in straight from Chhatarpur (Delhi), twice a week. I personally visit the fruit market every day to pick out the ingredients for what I want to dish out to our guests,” says Ayesha. “Every thirtieth day we change our menu, for variety,” she further adds.
What makes their food so yummy?
“….Well, I guess, because I am not a “by the book” chef. I like to experiment with ingredients a lot.” Her dream is to later travel to France to take up a professional course in culinary art. “As of now, I have a few chef friends whom I approach whenever I need advice. I don’t hesitate in asking for advice or guidance,” she quips.
“Since starting Café Quaint, most of my learning has been through criticism. I am a big girl, and I can take that,” Ayesha says…
Which other cafés in Jaipur does justice to food?
“Café Kothi and Anokhi,” pat comes the reply, with no visible qualms.
What are the three things that you would like to do before opening your next outlet?
“I guess I would do complete research before investing in the kitchen apparatus. Secondly, we would take all Zomato reviews seriously, but not too seriously. Third, we would finally go by our instincts and, adamantly say no to things we don’t like”, the two budding entrepreneurs say on a closing note.
To find out more about Café Quaint, log on to:
https://www.facebook.com/CafeQuaint/
https://www.instagram.com/quaintjaipur
https://www.zomato.com/jaipur/cafe-quaint-bapu-nagar/menu
https://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g304555-d13156584-Reviews-Cafe_Quaint-Jaipur_Jaipur_District_Rajasthan.html
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