We were lucky to catch up with Naina Bhedwar recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Naina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
The main crux of my professional mission is to empower people to feel comfortable cooking in their own kitchens, using varied spices and creating dishes with a layered and complex flavor profile even if it wasn;t complicated to cook. When I am able to do this with a client over a period of time, rather than just for a one-off class, it is immensely rewarding, for both them and me.
Over the past year I have done two cooking class series with the same client, in her home kitchen. Taking on not just one series of consecutive classes, but two, has allowed us to embark on a journey together and for her to really see her progress from where she began to where she is now. A young working mother of two, with a busy, hectic life that mirrors my own in many ways, it was a privilege for me to work with this client on HER terms. Our time together was tailored to her cooking style and I made every attempt to meet her exactly where she was, while also gently guiding her in the direction she wanted to go, which was to become more proficient, confident and fluid in the kitchen while creating delicious meals accessible to her whole family.
She plans to take further series classes in the future to continue to grow and develop her cooking skills. It’s incredible for me to see and hear that she is inspired to enter the kitchen and not only falls back on what she learned in our classes but now has the confidence to experiment, mix flavors and be more creative, in her own right.
Teaching and guiding others to feed themselves and their loved ones with joy, is an inspiration to me and keeps me doing what I do!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Though cooking has been an integral part of my life for as long as I can remember, it is only in the last decade that all the elements have aligned in such a way that I have been able to make my dream a professional pursuit. As much as I often wish that it had come to fruition sooner I also see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit perfectly together to create the reality I live today.
Before being a Chef and Culinary Instructor, I was a Special Education teacher in London, UK. This was where I fell in love with teaching. After more than a decade I knew, beyond all doubt, that I was born to teach, but that I was ready to leave the ABCs behind and teach people about cardamom & cloves, ginger & saffron and all the flavors that make life delicious!
My move to the US was timely and fortuitous as it allowed me to launch my business, Kesar Kitchen LLC, offering local residents in Decatur and other parts of Atlanta, the opportunity to attend cooking classes at a local cooking school or to arrange cooking classes in their home kitchens, either individually or with friends and family. I also offer catering services for every occasion from baby showers, birthdays and engagements to cooking weekly family meals for busy professionals who could stay busy and still eat well.
Being of Indian background with Persian heritage, spices are an integral part of my cooking. Living in the UK for a long time allowed me to grow my culinary knowledge because of the British people’s all emcompassing love of Indian food and the authetic, high quality Persian restaurants I was able to frequent on a weekly basis! I moved to the US armed with a plethora of knowledge and experience, and found clients here to be hungry to know more, literally and figuratively!
Though I don’t view the pursuit of becoming a better cook as a “problem to be solved” per se, I have certainly had many clients tell me that my services result in their lives becoming easier, whether it’s in the form of meals cooked when a new baby joins a family or empowering someone to become a more confident cook at home so they can nourish themselves with greater ease.
I have, until now, offered a wide variety of food based services including all types of catering for small groups, private restaurant style dinners that allow me to get extremely creative, weekly meals for pick up, In~Home Personal Chef Services and catering for Indian and Indo-Persian festivities. I also offer meal planning, recipe development for individuals and organizations and, of course, hosting classes. The journey meanders but teaching is the destination I am always happiest to arrive at. My ability to pass on what I know in a clear and accessible way, is one of my greatest talents and I think it would be a shame if I didn’t share it more widely.
While I love cooking for others and always will in some capacity, I aim to gradually and steadily, shift my focus to teaching full-time on various platforms. I love nothing more than hearing from a client some 3 or 4 years after we cooked together, that they have seamlessly integrated their knowledge from a class/es with me into their everyday being in the kitchen. It is the most rewarding aspect of what I do. I teach both in person and virtually, with the virtual platform being one that I grew considerably during the pandemic. A sliver lining, so to speak. I was fortunate enough to be able to have my kitchen renovated in the past year and now host classes from this space as well.
I want the foodies among me to know that a cooking class is more than just a luxury. It is an investment in self and family that offers tremendous returns. It is the gift, whether to yourself or a loved one, that quite literally, keeps on giving. Due to the fact that my private classes are so thoroughly customized I can ensure that cooks are learning in keeping with their priorities and in a way that will best serve them, moving forward. All while having an absolute blast! I can’t think of a better deal!
The growth in the Atlanta food scene since I moved here in 2013 has been exponential. People’s palates are waking up to new and different flavors as well as wider availability of esoteric spices and ingredients. It is opening up a whole new world of possibilities in the home kitchen and the capacity to create restaurant worthy cuisine at home is now an everyday reality for many. As saturated as the internet is with food related information, there is little out there that can surpass the experience of live, in-person learning. Of connecting with someone and being able to explain your needs, be heard and have those needs catered to in a way that is empowering and accessible. This is what I am proud to offer.
Not a day goes by when I am not grateful for the fact that I do what I love and love what I do. I am excited to continue to share that passion with all the foodies who cross my path!
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Though I have been cooking for as long as I can remember, it took me a long while to accept that I could actually turn it into a profession, especially without the backing of a culinary school degree. I was used to cooking for friends, family, co-workers and many others and even being requested to make certain dishes for people’s birthdays and other needs. However, it took several people commenting on the fact that I should join Masterchef (UK) before I began to consider that cooking be much more to me than just a hobby.
From the early noughties, it remained a side hustle (I was a Full Time teacher in Special Education) for many years and was sometimes very active and other times, dormant. Initially I would only operate on a ‘barter’ system and was the beneficiary of many a massage, a show and even a painting, at one point!
There were 2 key milestones. The first was when I attended a local food festival in London, UK where I lived at the time. A booth was being run by the local chapter of Les Dames D’Escoffier which is a world renowned non-profit culinary group promoting women in the food industry. I approached them with great trepidation, to inquire about joining their ranks despite having only casual experience, but with a burning desire to do more.
The lady running the booth was incredibly welcoming and remains a friend today, They took me in and I learned a great deal from some of the other illustrious Chefs, cookbook writers and women in food, who were part of this group. One was starting her own catering company and I was able to work with her on a few occasions and meet some other amazing Chefs in the process. I credit this experience as the first major turning point in helping me gain the needed confidence to take my side-hustle to the next level. It also taught me that fear and self-doubt can easily talk you out of taking necessary risks. I am mighty glad I didn’t listen to that voice! It taught me the power of networking, timing (taking the plunge even when you don’t think you’re “ready”) and not underestimating what another person sees in you.
The second milestone was when I visited Atlanta in 2010 and was introduced to The Cook’s Warehouse which led to me hosting and teaching my first public cooking class. Being in a long-distance relationship with my now husband, between London and Atlanta, I found myself here 2-3 times a year. On my first trip over I made the connection with Cook’s Warehouse and established myself as a Culinary Instructor before even officially moving here! Until that time I had only taught in-home private classes and helped with catering events in the UK so this took things to the next level in a whole new way. 12 years later I still teach at the Cook’s Warehouse and across several other in-person and online platforms.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
The biggest pivot I have had to make in ALL 3 areas simultaneously, in business, career and life, was when I made the transcontinental move from London in the UK to Atlanta in the US at the end of 2012. I had met and married my husband while still living in the UK and it had taken a few years but we eventually decided that the US was a better place to live and raise a family.
Due to the fact that I had a well established life in the UK, I found moving to the US very challenging. I was supported in myriad ways but still had to pivot to accommodate a great deal of new-ness. In business, I moved from being a full-time salaried employee in the predictable world of 9-5 work to the official, and much less predictable, world of entrepreneurship. Though I had nurtured half a dozen side hustles since being in college, moving into this world as my main source of income took a major shift in my mindset.
In terms of career I shifted from being a Special Needs Educator for young children in a small London private school to being a Culinary Instructor for adults. The fact that both were centered around teaching made this pivot somewhat easier. However, the cultural shift and the learning of new parameters and expectations from a totally new audience was both thrilling and challenging. I recall being amazed by the change in how I was received in classes; from challenged children who had to be deeply encouraged and nurtured, to highly invested adults who were hungry to learn (and to eat!) I had to present what I knew in a completely different way and learn more about the existing habits and patterns of my clients, so that I could simultaneously find their comfort zone while also encouraging them to go beyond it.
The biggest pivot was likely in terms of life, with business and career being an integral part of that. Though both the US and UK are developed, English-speaking countries, I experienced many a moment when I felt as though I had moved to a different planet. A decade on I still have such moments on occasion, though I have made my peace with the fact that this is simply a part of immigrant life and that they are opportunities ripe with discovery. To open to other cultures and have the chance to educate others about one’s own culture is truly a gift that makes the world both easier and more exciting to navigate. That I get to do this through food, one of the most potent gateways to the senses, is phenomenal.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kesarkitchen.com
- Instagram: Kesar Kitchen
- Facebook: Kesar Kitchen
- Linkedin: Chef Naina Bhedwar
- Youtube: @KesarKitchen
Image Credits
Anoop Gopal