Our Story

The Short Version: Two economists left their cushy jobs abroad to bring Mexican cuisine to India.

The Long Version: In the midst of the pandemic, my childhood friend Rajanvir, a Maritime and Supply Chain Economist (MSc, but also a tennis player) at a major offshore wind farm company in the Netherlands, and I, Rashmit, an Environmental and Food Economist (MSc, but also a musician) at a leading animal protection organization in the US, decided to quit our jobs to move back home to be closer to our families. It was all very Swades, minus the water turbine project.

When it came time to decide what we would do once we returned, the food space was one of our first interests. First of all, like all normal human beings, we love food—both cooking and eating. Second, despite our formal training in economics, both of us had some experience in the restaurant arena. Rajanvir had helped run his family’s restaurant for a short stint after college and I had worked all kinds of jobs in restaurants throughout my time in college, from dishwasher to chef. 

So, we decided to explore starting a restaurant… but we didn’t want to start just any restaurant. We wanted to create something that was 1) New and Exciting, and 2) Created a positive impact in our society. We had fallen in LOVE with Mexican food during our stints abroad. Over the years, our Mexican friends there had taught us how to cook Mexican food, while we taught them how to make aloo gobhi and dal (which they absolutely loved, btw). It was a big part of our social lives too. My band used to host Tacos and Jams nights where we’d cook a huge batch of tacos, invite all our musician friends over, and then spend the night eating tacos and jamming. Rajanvir used to religiously eat out at Mexican restaurants with his tennis team after matches. 

Mexican food is colourful, flavourful, and vibrant… much like Indian cuisine. But somehow Mexican cuisine has not yet taken a hold in India, and our understanding is that it hasn’t been introduced in a manner that feels familiar. That’s when the first AHA! moment for GG happened. We decided to create a restaurant that offers some authentic Mexican flavours, but also some flavours that satisfy our desi taste buds. 

Gracias Granny’s menu boasts a mix of delicious authentic and fusion preparations, while keeping environmental, human, and non-human well-being at the heart of everything we do. Being India’s first plant-forward restaurant, using eco-friendly packaging, converting our used cooking oil to biodiesel, taking good care of our team and our customers—these are a few of the ways in which we are redefining what it means to be sustainable and responsible in the food industry. 

What started out as a single-table cloud kitchen in 2022 is now a full-fledged restaurant and catering operation. We’re growing and we hope to see you in your neighbourhood real soon!

Gracias (Thank you),

Rashmit & Rajanvir