BENGALURU : A corporate job with a high-paying package is every person’s dream. But despite having it all, Suviggya Bansall had different plans. After working in the marketing team of a corporate firm since 2004, Bansall decided to take a break and quit her job in 2019. “My husband and I wanted to set up a small cafe to serve authentic chhole bhature, chaats and desserts,” she says. In addition to the cafe at Bellandur, two more outlets were opened in Koramangala and Whitefield in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
During her time in the corporate space, Bansall would have to travel every other week because of which she could hardly spend quality time with her children. “It was draining and the mom in me felt guilty for missing out on the important moments with my kids,” she says.
Hailing from Gurgaon, Bansall says she never found that perfect chhole bhature here in the city. And her husband, a foodie, never approved of the chhole bhature anywhere but from Delhi’s ‘Gopal’s 56’. “That was our inspiration and that’s how our cafe got its name- ‘Gopaljee Cafe’,” she says.
According to Bansall, the decision to start a cafe was risky since the couple had zero experience in the food industry. “We thought the cafe would shut in less than five months. And a few months into it, the country went into a lockdown and we had no idea how we would survive,” Bansall says. But after several months of patience and hard work, Bansall came up with an idea.
“While I was trying to connect with vendors and overcome the shipment issues following the lockdowns, I wrote to food vlogger Kripal Amanna in January 2021 requesting him to visit the cafe. He came over in no time and featured the cafe on his channel. That changed everything. Soon, the number of customers tripled,” she says.
The entrepreneur started receiving more than 600 calls each day to check the availability of the dish. “Initially, we used to serve chhole bhature only from 9 am to 3 pm. But customers would come over for snacks and dinner and expect the dish to be served. We then started serving it throughout the day,” Bansall says.
With the raw ingredients from local markets, the chefs found it impossible to get the authentic flavour. Hence, Bansall decided to bring the chhole and spices from Delhi. “After months of trial and error, we now have the flavour of Delhi in Bengaluru,” she says.