Cafes are the new hangout spots, be it a solo date, a day out with friends, or a first date with your special one. And if you are from Delhi NCR, you have at least once in your life been to this iconic eatery for its creamy pasta, pizza or their melt-in-mouth cheesecake, yummy shakes, and much more. The Big Chill Café is a name that is at the top of the favorites list for every Delhite. This café has its roots back in 2000 when a young couple, Aseem Grover and Fawzia Ahmed in Delhi’s East of Kailash started their retaurant on August 25, 2000. Both of them lacked formal training in either restaurant management or culinary arts but groomed themselves over the years and have now expanded the business overseas in Dubai.
Know the couple
Aseem is a former army officer who served in the Indian Army’s Third Gorkha Rifles. He graduated from both the Indian Military Academy and the National Defence Academy and has a wide range of field experience, including high altitude, counterinsurgency, and a position as an instructor at the Indian Military Academy. Additionally, he participated in the UNAMIR, the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, as a member of the Indian contingent.
How did the two meet?
During this time, he met Fawzia. She travelled to Rwanda to see her uncle, the political head of the mission, when Aseem was stationed there on a UN mission. She thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because, in those days, it was quite rare to travel to Rwanda for vacation. And that one trip changed their lives forever.
Fawzia, a women’s rights activist and former development worker with an enduring love for history, and a passion for films and outrageously delicious desserts, Fawzia grew up in the UK and studied Political Science and English Literature in the United States and obtained an MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK. After ten years of working with a leading Women’s Organisation in the UK, Fawzia was keen to secure work with a greater international focus and travelled to Rwanda. There she met Aseem, the two fell in love and tied the knot. Fawzia started working for an NGO in Delhi, while Aseem was assigned to the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun as an instructor.
The couple had their fair share of challenges as a long-distance marriage required a lot of effort. Aseem had fractured his ankle three times in the previous ten years, and Fawzia had no desire to move around as an Army spouse. They made the decision to leave their current positions and launch a joint venture in Delhi, the founders told The Print. And thus to begin on the adventure of opening The Big Chill Café, Aseem obtained an early retirement from the Army.
The Big Chill is known for its Italian cuisine and cakes. For twenty three years, Aseem Grover and Fawzia Ahmed own four The Cakery and The Creamery, their specialty dessert and ice cream parlours, as well as eight The Big Chill locations in the National Capital Region.
Their 23-year journey from a modest shop offering simply ice cream and milkshakes to eight The Big Chill locations throughout the National Capital Region and four The Cakery and The Creamery locations, where they specialise in desserts and ice cream, is inspiring. It all started with a chance encounter in Rwanda, which developed into a long-lasting collaboration in both work and personal life.
