Maneet Chauhan Was 'Scarred' By This Restaurant Decision

Celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan has hustled hard to get to the point where she is today. The chef, who's originally from India, studied at the Culinary Institute of America when she was 20 years old. Post her stint at the institute, Chauhan worked at the renowned restaurant Vermillion as an executive chef and even established a sister restaurant for the brand in New York City.

Over the years, Chauhan has also grown her family. According to CIA, for Chauhan, giving birth to her daughter realigned her priorities. "My daughter was born in 2011 and that was a real turning point for me," she revealed. "I realized I wanted to see what was out in the world, to increase my repertoire, and make it more interesting." She added that this is what motivated her to begin working on her company.

That said, Chauhan hasn't always had it easy as an entrepreneur and some moments have been particularly painful to live through.

In 2020, Chauhan and her husband, Vivek Deora, who own several eateries together had to make the difficult decision to let go of many of their staff members, something that was really painful for them. According to the Tennessean, Chauhan and her partner were "scarred" from the ordeal. "There were times we were talking to our team members and I had a tissue box in front of me," she lamented. "I was just crying. I mean, this is your family."

Specifically, Chauhan and Deora had to ask over 400 staff members to leave from four of their establishments in Nashville last year while dealing with the losses from the pandemic. Chauhan added that they did what they could for their staff members and provided them with all the food supplies from the restaurants. "We were giving away food because one of the things for us that is unthinkable is in the food industry ... [is] the possibility of having food insecurity," she explained.