Need Some Motivation? Follow The Budding Food Entrepreneurs In Chandigarh Who Are Changing The Eating Out Scenes!

In the current scenario, being an entrepreneur is much more than just gathering up the finances and starting an outlet. What’s even harder is being a food entrepreneur. In case of a food venture, one has to put in hard work, sweat, effort and, most importantly, one has to be passionate to drive the business forward. Food scenes in Chandigarh have undergone a massive change over the years and with the coming up of a lot of outlets, the competition seems to be increased manifold. Amidst, such a fiercely competitive food industry in Chandigarh, some food entrepreneurs are upping their game and are spicing things up for Chandigarh’s foodies. We, at Shoutlo, bring forth the Budding Food Entrepreneurs In Chandigarh Who Are Changing The Eating Out Scenes for us!

Go ahead and Get Inspired!

Disclaimer: Because the information contained in this article is general and has been prepared on basis of research, interviews with the respective entrepreneurs, and conversations from different sources, this list is indicative and non-exhaustive, and not based on any particular order.

Rajkanwar Singh - Aja Fresh, Grilled & Healthy

A former International Tennis player and a culinary graduate from IHM Aurangabad, Mr. Rajkanwar Singh is the man behind the successful healthy food outlet in Chandigarh that we all love- Aja Fresh, Grilled and Healthy. Started in the year 2014, his vision was to introduce to the market of Chandigarh an outlet that offers global street food in a healthier way. Being a chef and food consultant himself, he knew the dynamics of the kitchen and decided that he would make everything from scratch. Thus, he took no shortcuts and brought forth an entire menu that had everything made in-house. From bread to pasta to marinades to sauces, everything at Aja Fresh, Grilled & Healthy is made in-house with no artificial ingredients and preservatives used. He wanted the people of Chandigarh to taste the regular street food dishes like burgers, pasta, noodles or sandwiches but with a healthy twist. Speaking to Team Shoutlo, he explains, "Chandigarh is the best and the toughest market to cater to due to the diverse population. We, at Aja, are not another health or a diet cafe. My vision was only to serve the same food we eat regularly in a healthy way so as to avoid the post side effects like bloating, acidity and so on that comes from eating reheated food. With Aja, we have been making the difference in the food scenes." With a mission to serve people good food, Mr.Rajkanwar Singh is one of the Budding Food Entrepreneurs in Chandigarh who have revolutionized eating out!

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Ketan Kalra- Super Donuts

Who would have thought that a simple-guy-next-door would turn out to one of the most promising food entrepreneurs in Chandigarh? With his baby Super Donuts, Ketan Kalra has been filling our lives with luscious and mouth-watering donuts. Started in the year 2012, when Ketan was still in his graduation in Punjab University, Super Donuts introduced to Chandigarh with its very own Donut place that would take them on sugary high with a huge range of assorted donuts. His idea was to start his own donut outlet rather than going in for a franchise brand. He wanted to start with a unique food venture that appeals to the youth and keeping that as his foundation, he got finance from his dad. Thus, he opened the very first outlet of Super Donuts in Chandigarh. Within days of its opening, Sweet lovers of Chandigarh started frequenting this place for the scrumptious range of donuts. As per him, "Our USP has always been the unique combination of flavors. We combine popular flavors like peppermint, butter, cookies, marshmallows and more to offer something absolutely unique. We always wanted to cater to everyone's taste buds and that is what sets us apart from other donut makers in the market." Despite the challenges he faced in terms of lack of interest in trying something new and other issues, he kept on going. He explains," I believe that One needs to keep calm, work hard and engage the customers. That is one of the most important mantras for success." With expansion on the cards, he plans on opening more outlets throughout the Tricity. With a strong belief and a clear vision, Ketan Kalra is one of those aspiring food entrepreneurs from Chandigarh that are exemplary for the youth today!

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Udit Khaitan- Get Desserted

Bringing to the foodies in Chandigarh an exclusive dessert parlor, Get Desserted has been doing a fabulous job in adding sweetness among those with a sweet tooth. The brainchild of Udit Khaitan, a business graduate turned self-created entrepreneur who has journeyed his way to the top while traveling from Noida to London to California and finally to Chandigarh. With Get Desserted, he has transformed his vision of serving non-synthetic flavors of sorbets, waffles, ice creams and smoothies into a reality. Sharing his story he explains, " While studying I came across the concept of desserts being customized and how much people loved it. That is where I got my idea of starting a dessert parlor that would serve an array of drool-worthy desserts including waffles, pancakes, shakes and more that are made from scratch and can be customized. After that, I put in all the hard work in research & product development and then aced the art of making instant desserts using liquid nitrogen. Post that, I mustered up the strength and opened the first outlet in Sector 8-B Chandigarh." The dessert parlor became an instant rage among the sweet lovers across the city. His idea received such an overwhelming response that within a short span of time, he opened another outlet in New Delhi, Mohali and recently another one in Lucknow. “I wanted to put an end to the redundant way of making frozen desserts and wanted to make use of liquid nitrogen to instantly freeze desserts in front of the customer and with Get Desserted I have been able to achieve that”, explains Udit. With such energy, we are sure he is going to take his brand to the zenith of success. For all those who wish to do something different, Udit Khaitan is an example of a promising food entrepreneur in Chandigarh who tried something different and made it a success!

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Ankush Arora- Uncle Jack's

One of the most popular food outlets in Chandigarh, Uncle Jack's is Tricity's first all American Creamery. All foodies in Chandigarh must have tried their signature shakes, waffles or cheesy fries. But the man behind it all has no connection with food and is, in fact, an electrical engineer by degree! Yes. Ankush Arora, The Guy Behind Uncle Jack’s Success had no connection with food. However, as a kid he was inspired by his family who used to cook for him. Being a die-hard foodie himself, he decided to travel and bring a new concept to the City Beautiful. A travel cum food buff, he searched across the USA for authentic American recipes. Once he learned all of those, he came back and started his first concept-food quick service restaurants in 2016, Uncle Jack’s, in the happening food street of Chandigarh. Post that he never looked back. The creamery witnessed immediate success and became a common name among the youth. Serving authentic American dishes like Ham & Cheese Omelettes, Cheesy Fries, Pizza Fries, Boston Blueberry Waffles, The Double Weiner Burger, The Breakfast Hot Dog and many more delights, Ankush made us, Chandigarhians, taste delicious American food. The success of the outlet can be gauged from the fact that huge lines of foodies used to form outside his outlet in Sector 8. Seeing this, he came up with another outlet in Sector 35 and in Mohali 3B2. Slowly and Steadily, Uncle Jack’s became a part of the food scenes in Chandigarh and his food entrepreneurial venture became a huge success. Now, Uncle Jack’s participates in food fests in Chandigarh and is quite a popular name among the city’s youth. Due to his unique thinking and zeal to succeed, Ankush Arora is surely a promising food Entrepreneur in Chandigarh from whom we all can draw some inspiration!

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Naveen Gupta- Food @ U

One and half year ago, Mr. Naveen Gupta ventured into the food industry with his entrepreneurial baby, Food @ U and everything changed. Late night cravings no longer went unsatisfied as one man’s well-thought-out vision turned into a reality and good food was delivered within minutes even at wee hours of the night. Naveen Gupta introduced the concept of cloud kitchen to Chandigarh that was a novel idea. His vision was to serve good food to people of Chandigarh at competitive prices even at odd hours of the night. The point was to provide convenience to consumers 24 hours of the day. Food @ U has been changing the food scenes among the people of Chandigarh especially for the working lot who can’t cook after work. With Food @ U, Yummy hot meals are delivered within minutes and one is assured of the quality. “I always wanted to take the concept of a cloud kitchen to the next level. To ensure that our consumers trust us blindly, we are going forward with a third party hygiene audit as we are sure that we maintain hygiene standards and want our users to be assured of the same.” Due to maintaining the quality standards, the venture has received a lot of appreciation from the foodies in Chandigarh. The staggering growth in the number of orders from 30-40 orders a day to 200-250 orders a day is an example of it. Since its inception, Food @ U has come a long way and is a visionary entrepreneurial venture of Mr. Naveen Gupta. His advice to the youth is, “ there is no replacement for hard work and dedication. Always give your best and keep going ahead. If you give out your best, people will love it.” This is the same ideology he followed with his own venture and has been able to climb the success ladder in less than 2 years. “Keeping in mind the love and support we have received from the people of Chandigarh, we are soon coming up with a 20000 sq ft Cloud Kitchen which will serve hot and fresh food to all. Stay tuned for something big coming up from our end.”, exclaims Naveen. Due to his dedication, commitment and passions, he is amongst the budding food entrepreneurs in Chandigarh that have made a mark for themselves in a short span of time.

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Ayush Singla- Playground

A Cafe-Cum-Bar that has been changing the partying scenes in Chandigarh, Playground is the brainchild of Ayush Singla who had the passion to start a quirky place where people can come and relax after a hard day at work. After being in the industry for 10-12 years and having worked in Bombay, he took up a coffee outlet franchise in the year 2012 and turned it into a success as well. But soon he realized that he wanted to venture into quirky food and drinks space. That's when he let go of his franchise and decided to start his own venture. Transforming his dream into a reality, he set up Playground Cafe Cum Bar in Elante Mall Chandigarh on 1st June 2017. What Chandigarh got in its form was another place to enjoy and hang out with friends over a couple of zesty concoctions and mouth-watering food. As you enter the well-designed cafe, the first request that they make to you is to maintain noise at all times. With a well-stocked bar, a stage for live gigs every day of the week, the idea of live music was loved by Chandigarh’s Outgoing Peeps. They welcomed this new place with open arms. In no time, Playground received a warm response from people of Chandigarh and slowly made its way into people’s heart. Ayush explains, “ We try to bring in the element of quirk into our comfort space with Playground. We wanted to bring forth something similar yet different. Our food and drinks are swanked up in terms of their presentation so that our patrons get more than what meets the eye. We ensure that one has a gala time and enjoys to the fullest as long as one is at our Playground.” Seeing the success of this venture, he is also planning another outlet in sector 26 which will soon be opening its doors for the people in Chandigarh. "We plan on making it bigger an better. It will have a new menu with the same quirkiness. So, Chandigarh, be ready to play more with Playground!", shares Ayush with a lot of enthusiasm. With such a passionate outlook, Ayush Singla is among those promising food entrepreneurs in Chandigarh that understand the market and want to give back the love they have received!

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Gurasees Singh- Xtreme Sports Bar & Grill

Gurasees Singh, post his education from IHM Aurangabad and London School of Economics, decided to do something different and came up with the idea of establishing a sports bar in Chandigarh. Thus, in the year 2017, Chandigarh got acquainted with a dedicated theme-based sports bar by the name of Xtreme Sports Bar & Grill. Located in the heart of Chandigarh, Xtreme Sports Bar & Grill is a franchise of the Sports Bar Chain from Bangalore. Due to his interest in hospitality and sports, he decided to combine both his loves in one Entrepreneurial venture. He sweat his heart out for his baby and made sure it works. With aggressive hard work, dedication, and commitment, he built the brand in such a way that people of Chandigarh were floored by the amazing ambience of the sports bar. A gorgeously decked up sports bar with games like Pool, Air Hockey, Foosball, X-Box, Ludo, Snakes & Ladders and more, Xtreme Sports Bar & Grill has been adding fun and spunk to Chandigarh’s eating out experiences. Everyone loves watching a sports game live but here you can not only enjoy the live screening of all matches with the commentary on but also chill with your buddies over some super amazing concoctions and scrumptious food. His Idea of elevating the entire sports experience clicked with Chandigarh di swanky Janta and Xtreme became a hit. Celebrating their anniversary this year, Gurasees plans on taking the success to another level and will be expanding this outlet itself. With his, never give up attitude, he is among the growing food entrepreneurs in Chandigarh who has slowly and steadily climbed the ladder of success!

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Fateh Bajwa- Hedgehog Cafe

Chandigarh had never experienced a book cafe cum co-working space until Hedgehog Cafe came into existence. Something brewed in the mind of a well-read personality, Fateh Bajwa and the result was a quaint book cafe on the Geri route- Hedgehog Cafe. With a vision to bring a unique food venture for Chandigarh’s bibliophiles, Fateh Bajwa ideated this unique place. This is definitely for the ones who wish to be a little low key and spend some time sifting through a book while sipping on a hot cuppa. Within few moments of entering, a familiar aroma of caffeine grips you and almost in an instant you feel at home. With interiors to emulate a Victorian style book cafe with woodwork and comfortable sitting, Hedgehog Cafe is stocked with a huge array of books, making it a haven for all the book lovers. To cultivate the habit and art of coffee and conversations, he really worked hard on this one. As soon as it opened, it became the talk of the town. Especially for those who enjoyed a unique blend of books, music, and good food, Hedgehog Cafe gave them a place to while away their time and do something meaningful as well. We, at Shoutlo, applaud such a unique perception of a cafe and feel that food entrepreneurs in Chandigarh like Fateh Bajwa are surely a source of inspiration for those who want to do something different!

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