Rachel Goenka

Woman Empowered

Highly motivated, totally enthused, this gutsy restrepreneur is right on track. With an impressive clutch of chic restaurants, cafés, patisseries and cloud kitchens, all put together in barely eight years, she has her plans all chalked out for a growth curve which is happily heading north

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor
It may sound clichéd, but the word that best describes Rachel Goenka is sassy. And spunky. An intelligent young woman, she goes about her life with ease and confidence, with a heart brimming with passion and ambition, which she wears on her sleeve. With Rachel, what you see is what you get. No two ways about that. If she may come across as bossy or even arrogant, she may be just that, in parts, and she is not in the least apologetic about the fact. Comes with the premise, I guess. Being the daughter of media baron, Vivek Goenka of the Indian Express fame, must give her that confident edge, which living a privileged life does.
But Rachel, while appreciating her lot, is not one to live off those laurels. She must carve her own path, find her own destination, make her own name and her own money! About that she is rather determined.
A double graduate in Journalism and English, it may have been the obvious thing to do, work alongside dad in his newspaper business, but somehow your calling always comes a-calling. And Rachel kind of knew when she was studying at The Pennsylvania State University, that food was taking precedence over all other interests and that she must move in that direction to convert a growing dream into reality. She would, she decided in Pennsylvania, put foundations under her castles in the air.
Dreaming about glorious castles, she soon found herself in Ireland, at The Ballymaloe Cookery School, under the tutelage of celebrity chef Rachel Allen, wafting away  in the glorious smell of baking bread. Basking in the warmth and happiness that only something baking in the oven can produce.
Now all she wanted was to get back to India and open a patisserie. But before that she had one more thing to do; get even better at making desserts. To learn as much as she could, hone her skills, she enrolled at London’s Le Cordon Bleu. “Which ended up becoming nine months of the most enriching and defining time of my life,” says Rachel. “Living in London was a game changer for me. I was on a path of self-discovery. I realised anything is possible, you just have to set your mind on it. Among so many interesting things that I was doing in London, I even went and got myself enrolled at the famous Arthur Murray Dance School. I learnt Argentine tango, rumba, salsa and mambo! Such fun. In London, I also indulged my taste buds, eating out at a furious pace!”
“Honestly, all I could think of,” says Rachel to me, as we sit chatting on a high table at Sassy Spoon in Express Towers at Nariman Point in Bombay, the first restaurant she opened in 2012, “was to get back home and start my own café. Creating bakery products was and is a huge weakness with me.”
“However, when I did get back and went on my reconnaissance spree in Bombay, looking for good locations, researching, studying tastes and trends, I felt the need of the hour was a full-fledged restaurant, not just a café. Something with modern European influences, with a clean and fresh and youthful menu. And Sassy Spoon, with these ingredients, clicked just right!”
When I point out she got lucky with getting space in her dad’s own building, she was quick to retort, “Please, make no mistake, I pay rent for this property. And I am glad I do, otherwise how would I ever measure my success. Free space would have made me complacent.” Attagirl. That’s the spirit!
Rachel grew up in Dubai, went to school at Emirates International. But kept in touch with India and her roots all the time. Frequent visits to Bombay and Goa – from where her mother hails – were de rigeur. “Oh, I just love Goa. My grandmother used to spoil us silly. We were 13 grandchildren and she loved to cook and feed us. My fascination with food must have actually begun there! I have many happy memories of Goa and it has influenced me greatly. I guess I am easy-going, happy and breezy, thanks to my Goan genes. The only quality I have not imbibed is that of susegad, I really don’t know how to rest!” chirps Rachel.
Well, it’s because of that very reason, Rachel has managed to do as well as she has. Just 30, and she already has, in her booty, two central kitchens and 17 food establishments; a chain of chic restaurants, bars, bakeries and patisseries spread across two cities, Bombay and Poona. There are three Sassy Spoons and two Chinese diners; the upsacle House of Mandarin in Bandra and Wicked China in Poona, a whacky sort of a place. There is also Baraza Bars and Bites, the Portuguese-themed, shack-inspired restobar and then a string of bakeries and patisseries called Sassy Teaspoon. Recently Rachel also started Sassy Littles, a line of healthy and wholesome snacks, no doubt influenced by Kabir, the little man in her life, who for now has grounded the inveterate international traveller. “Yes, my sweet, little son is two years old now. And yes, for his sake I have put my holidays on hold for now, quite gladly, for Kabir is my number one priority. He is the sweetest, most polite child anyone could have. It’s always, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’… with him. He is such a carbon copy of Karan. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him. When it was called upon me to send along some sensible snacks with him to his play school, I started creating healthy foods that toddlers would enjoy eating. And in the bargain, Sassy Littles came into existence. You could check for the menu which is all made to order, at all of Sassy’s patisserie outlets.”
Motherhood has surely brought about a change in Rachel. Kabir seems to have taken centre stage in Rachel’s life. The delicate gold chain around her neck carries his inscription. Goaded to respond whether or not Kabir is now the number one man in her life, Rachel throws back her head and laughs out loud, “Well, Kabir is very, very close to taking over from Karan, but hasn’t as yet!!!”
Which brings us to Karan, the husband. If you ask me, I would say, Karan is the biggest pillar in Rachel’s life. An urbane, rock solid, ever smiling, articulate, well-educated, quick-thinking, nice-looking guy, Karan is the young lad every man hopes his daughter will find and marry. So undoubtedly, Vivek Goenka must be a relieved man, knowing one of his two daughters is well-settled. The other one who came along 11 years after Rachel is still very young and studying. All of them live together in Bandra in a plush, seven-storied private apartment, with each of the nuclear families having their own personal space. “Yes, we all live happily together. And while our apartments are independent we have one common dining area where we meet for at least one meal of the day, every day. As for dad, yes he loves Karan and I do too, you know, he is my best friend. I have known him for so long, it feels like forever.”
Rachel and Karan have been married for six years. But they have been dating for years before that. Ever since Rachel was 18, in fact.  Both were studying overseas simultaneously, she in the US and he in Canada. And even then they would meet up almost every month. It’s a strong bond. Karan is a man, comfortable and happy in his skin. A successful investment banker with Deutche Bank and then Goldman Sacs, he always knew he will give up his top-notch job in the financial world when he turned 30 and he did exactly that a couple of years ago. He now wholly supports his wife in her business endeavour, looking into all things financial, associated with The Chocolate Spoon Company Pvt. Ltd. That makes it easy for Rachel to look into the creative aspects of menu-engineering, public relations, marketing, as well as conceptualising new restaurants. Says she, “It’s such a blessing having Karan looking into the financials. Numbers is not my game at all. It’s good to have him handle the business. I have to admit, he is my inspiration. He is such a perfectionist. And he encourages me to be so, too.”
Rachel does not need much of a heave- ho, though. She has enough Marwari blood running in her veins to always be on the look-out for new business opportunities. In addition to her dine-in business, under her leadership, Chocolate Spoon has been aggressively diversifying its revenue stream via outdoor catering, corporate lunch box services, private labelling and banqueting. She has also launched one of the first cloud-based dessert only delivery brand, Cake Me Home, as well as two other cloud kitchens – Soul Tadka and Chinese Kitchen. In the pipeline is the launch of Sassy Spiked, her first food truck with a focus on alcohol-based desserts at The Bar Bank in Powai. Also, soon to open is House of Mandarin in Poona and The Sassy Café in the hip and happening BKC (Bandra Kurla Complex) in Bombay.
However these days there is something else that is bringing big smiles to Rachel’s face. Not only has her first recipe book, Adventures with Mithai been published, but it has also won the ‘Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2020’ for India in the category of ‘Pastry and Desserts’. “I am on top of the world,” she says beaming away, for she has after all, created 50 original mithai recipes in a contemporary format. But receiving awards, both personal and for Sassy Spoon, has been a quite a pass time with her. Last year, she picked up the ‘Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ award at Times Hospitality Icons followed by a ‘Woman Empowerment Award’ by Asia One magazine. She was also awarded ‘Young Restauranteur of the Year’ at ‘The Restaurant India Awards 2018’ among other notable award ceremonies. She has also been invited to speak at the London Business Schools’ ‘LBS Family Business Conference’ in London on the topic of ‘Innovation in the next generation.’
What I like about this sassy, spunky kid is, though she has big, personal ambitions and is totally determined to meet her targets, she also wants to make a difference by helping others. A trailblazer herself, she would like very much to mentor other women entrepreneurs, across all industries. And as the youngest member of the Management Committee of the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) she is already making waves by spear-heading initiatives around sustainability and employment in hospitality. At this point it will be very valid to state, that a non-negotiable fundamental rule with Rachel Goenka is that her employee is the most important ingredient on her business platter. And that good, strong business ethics have to be practiced, come what may.
All very sensible. But then with Rachel Goenka, it is all about sense and sensibility. We are keeping an eye on you, girl.