Talk about the café scene in Delhi and there’s one that’s crowd favourite: The Big Chill Café. A go to hangout spot for the locals as well as tourists, The Big Chill Café, which started in the year 2000 totally deserves the hype. But do you know how Aseem Grover and Fawzia Ahmed, two people who had no connection to restaurant management whatsoever established one of Delhi’s most favourite café?
It all started in Rwanda! Aseem is a former army officer who served in the Indian Army’s Third Gorkha Rifles. From amongst his many projects in the army, one of them was participating in the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda as a member of the contingent. As destiny would have it, Fawzia, who is a social rights activist and former development worker was vacationing in Rwanda and the two crossed paths. And then unfold a beautiful love story.
The two got married but had to face the challenges of a long distance marriage. After ten years of marriage and wanting to do something together, they resigned from their current positions and began the adventure: The Big Chill Café. Although both Aseem and Fawzia weren’t adept to run a restaurant, they loved food and worked hard to learn the tricks of the trade.
After 24 years today, The Big Chill Café is not known as just another café in Delhi but one of the most famous ones where you have to make a stop if you’re around. The café has a slightly retro aesthetic to it with framed posters of classic films like ‘Casablanca’ and ‘Psycho’ on the walls. It is extremely popular for its grilled dishes, pastas, pizzas, ice creams, cake and cheesecakes. The crowd here is very eclectic and presently, it has a turnover of approximately 14 million!