The Secret Kitchen - Restaurant with open and overlooking kitchen
We often see celebrities and well known personalities were invited for any inauguration of hotels and business establishments. But a restaurant owner in Vadodara kept herself away from being stereotype and opened her first restaurant through the hands of underprivileged children living in the city. The woman entrepreneur chose the children some of which lost their homes in the demolition drive by the corporation to inaugurate her restaurant and make them feel the luxury.
Aanal Kotak the youngest cooking expert of Gujarat and an acclaimed Chef who found her first recognition with the popular Rasoi show now spreading her secret recipies to the people. She started her first restaurant ‘The Secret Kitchen’ in Vadodara which promises to take the foodies to the journey of secret and some unexplored recipies. The most touching part was that the celebrity chef inaugurates her restaurant through the hands of underprivileged children and they are first customers of her restaurant.
“The idea to inaugurate my restaurant through the hands of underprivileged kids is that my family and in laws is always helping such kids in their education and other things. I also accompany them and always felt that how much they are away from such luxuries which we enjoy in our lives. Such kids don’t have the opportunity to visit big restaurants and malls. I always have the dream to make them feel the luxury at least once in their lives and decide to inaugurate my restaurant from their hands,” said a jubiliant Aanal Kotak.
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The 28 year old Fashion Designer from NIFT chose her passion and became celebrity Chef in spite of objections from the family. “I always follow my passion and became Chef defying the odds and objections from the family. After get the recognition through the popular Gujarati cookery show – Rasoi Show, I continue the line and done Hotel Management course. After the appreciation and the fan following I decide to start my own restaurant with my own secret twist of recipies,” said Aanal.
Aanal Kotak and her husband Bhavik Kotak the owners of The Secret Kitchen started the restaurant with a vision to present the people of Vadodara the Indian culinary with some of them still unexplored. Taking a step further Aanal make her kitchen a transparent one where the customers can take the tour of the kitchen after ordering their food.
“My restaurant name is ‘The Secret Kitchen’ but nothing is secret here as the customers can feel the whole ambience through the glass walls. The only thing secret is the spices which I invent and made myself and uses it in the recopies served in my restaurant,” said Aanal.
Chef Aanal Kotak proudly states that the menu at The Secret Kitchen is like the memory of her childhood food stories and she crafted a menu that takes on a trip of nostalgia. “I worked hard in translating the experiences of travelling across the coutry to learn and explore various recepies from Indian Royal families to small hose holds of remote villages. In my kitchen I give my own twists to the recepies with never thought of fusions like The Southern Undhyu where the famous Gujarati Undhyu is blended in the flavour of Southern spices. Some of the hidden recepies like the Cage Samosa and others are the items which take the people to an unimaginable food trip,” said Aanal.
