Author – Aditya Lokesharaj
A welcome drink (read sharbat) followed by a few hours of podcast shoot ending with a sumptuous sattvic meal. That’s how my day was at Chef Aditya Fatepuria’s house.
A conversation between two entrepreneurs is as valuable as a masterclass for everyone listening. But when the same conversation also serves as catching up as friends for the two entrepreneurs involved, it’s all the more fun and insightful!
Such was the conversation I had with Chef Aditya, the co-founder of Sattvam.
Sattvam has grown into a chain of restaurants across Bengaluru and Hyderabad over a decade and along the way, has won the Best Vegetarian Restaurant award a whopping nine times since inception!
Although I have known Chef Aditya for 10+ years during our days at ISKCON, where he used to head The Higher Taste and I headed the video production team, once we hopped on our respective entrepreneurial journeys, catching up was difficult. Very difficult.
Running a restaurant is a risky affair. A Sattvic restaurant – that’s never heard of. In fact, it is the only Sattvic restaurant chain in India, and I have had the privilege to be part of every new Sattvam restaurant that has been launched. In fact, the design work I did for Sattvam was a joyous and unique one – one where religious and spiritual elements held prominence over everything else. Two things I am deeply into.
And the story behind such effort and hardwork done to pull off something as unique as this deserves to be told. Hence, Chef Aditya graced the Trailblazer podcast.
To get hold a busy man such as Chef Aditya was a mini accomplishment in itself. So, the next task was to pose him the right set of questions across a range of topics. The idea of the podcast wasn’t just to know about Sattvam. It was venturing beyond the restaurant into the space of an individual. A human, a friend, a fellow entrepreneur and someone who knows damn well what he wants to do.
His journey as an entrepreneur had so many ups and downs that it would have been nothing short of a crime to not bring them up during our hour-long conversation. So many unique scenarios and challenges that he faced as he built Sattvam with his co-founder Arvind Chaudhary, can be considered as proven templates for upcoming restauranters and entrepreneurs, at large.
Upholding one’s traditions and turning them into a successful venture requires more than just skills, culinary skills in this case.
He made the bold call to trade the predictability of 5-star kitchens for the relatively uncertain territory that most were not even aware of. But he had two critical things to help him - a clear vision and a willingness to experiment. Now, he stands as proof of what bold ideas and persistence can build.
A trailblazer in its true sense!
PS: You can watch Trailblazer Podcast with Chef Aditya here.
