Sarita Bazaz, the first woman entrepreneur in the catering industry in India, founded The Food Affairs, an organization that has been spreading love through food for the past 30 years.
The Food Affairs is a high-end catering company that offers a plethora of delicious cuisines to fill the space with enticing aromas. They devote themselves to offering unmatched hospitality and soothing food with everlasting flavor. The title of the first did not come easy to Sarita Bazaz.
However, she acclaimed it despite varied opinions, uncertain expressions, and squandered
opportunities owing to a woman single-handedly managing everything. She holds her expertise in crafting food with magnificence and authenticity and is highly renowned for her attention to the smallest detail, from selecting local ingredients to innovating and recreating recipes.
Today with us, she shares insights on her business, food specialities, appeal, quality control and food presentations of her brand and more…
1. How long have you been in business?
The Food Affairs was founded three decades ago. The path from there has been made possible by my clients, who, through the years, have become more like family.Â
2. What kind of foods are your specialties?
We specialize in soulful vegetarian food. To me vegetarian food and its flavors are very dynamic. Creating new dishes by changing its look and feel, yet maintaining the same authentic ingredients and fusing new taste and flavor. As you travel, every few kilometers the cuisines keep evolving but they still maintain some of the sentiments of the neighboring place. The Gujarati and Rajasthani cuisines, Konkan and Kerala, Thai and Vietnamese or Japanese and Korean have common ingredients and characteristics, we at The Food Affairs being a multi cuisine catering company service the wedding market so we do all cuisines in a creative and dramatic way.
3. How do you present the food?
It is often said that “we eat with our eyes first, and then our mouth.” At The Food Affairs, we think how the food finally looks is as important as the cooking process. As the occasion calls for, we offer fresh culinary expressions, say, for example, a Rampur style cuisine would be served in silverware that marks the Nawabi tradition. We season, garnish and plate the food in innovative ways, to make the food look appetizing.Â
4. What about The Food Affairs most feeds your soul?
The Food Affairs is an organization that has been spreading love with food through the years. Reading people’s facial expressions as they savor their meals confirms our belief that the stomach is the doorway to “everyone’s heart.”
5. How do you take care of quality control and food standards?
We follow mainly four stages to control food quality and standards.
- Choosing high quality ingredients and maintaining their shelf lifeÂ
- Avoiding cross contamination by proper storageÂ
- Taking correct measures while packing and transporting the foodÂ
- Serving fresh food at the right temperatureÂ
6. How do you define success?
I measure success in small pieces- seeing someone satisfied while eating a tasty nourishing meal; interacting and building relationships with people, having a busy day with my staff full of energy, and being proud of the work they’ve done. People typically view success as something you’ve achieved. I try not to get bogged down with that. To me, success is learning something new every day, feeling excited when we do good , and watching the company progress.
