Chocolates, Pastries and All Things Good!

Chef Tejasvi Chandela based in Jaipur, Rajasthan derives her inspiration from comfort food and backs it up with French techniques to give the dessert a chicer look. If it doesn't come from her heart it won't go on our menu.

Well how does one introduce a multi-faceted personality like Tejasvi Chandela? Let’s try … - a pastry chef and a chocolate maker; the founder of Dzurt and Cutchocolatecake;co-founder of Allthingschocolate; someone who is passionate about working in the world of chocolate and pastry; and a mommy to a three year old. Whew quite a handful, isn’t it!

Tejasvi was just 22 when she started Dzurt. She had returned post completion of her course from Le Cordon Bleu Paris. It was primarily her frustration at not being allowed to experiment and give wings to her creativity thanks to most hotels having their standard offerings in the pastry and desert segment that drove her to explore the option of starting out on her own. That’s how she opened her patisserie in Jaipur.  This was seven years back when there were only bakeries and people were totally unaware of the patisserie concept! But Chef Tejasvi was an exception as she loved to “play with colour, to glam things up and wanted a piece of my personality to reflect in my patisserie” So that’s how Dzurt came up!

 

Hey let’s rewind a bit and go back into Tejasvi’s school days – even as a higher secondary art student she always knew that she wanted to get into cooking and baking as she found this world more intriguing, creative and attractive than academics!But that doesn’t mean that she quit academics; of course not this spunky entrepreneur completed her business management degree from Royal Holloway University, London; after which she indulged her creative leaning by pursuing a certificate course at the Leith School of Food and Wine, London. She then returned to India for a short internship and then shifted to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where she worked as a project manager for a patron who was setting up his own studio kitchen/culinary institute.

Sharing about her Paris experience while pursuing the course at LCB Tejasvi dreamily says “The best thing about Paris is that you not only get to learn new desserts and pastries but you get to live those moments. I met people from every culture and today have friends all over the world. We exchanged recipes and learnt about each other’s culture through food.The amount of food my mind got to eat is amazing...and then again the beauty of Paris is something which just can’t be captured in words!” 

Fast forwarding to six months after opening Dzurt, Tejasvi got married and moved to Gurgaon. But once she settled down she realized that sitting tight at home was not her cup of tea! And around that time only a friend re-connected and suggested that they open a venture in partnership … perhaps something to do with chocolates. That’s how Allthingschocolate took shape. Her family then shifted to Jaipur and Tejasvi was able to concentrate on Dzurt– the immediate next steps were rehashing the menu and fixing the factory system for Allthingschocolate. Her experience in chocolates pushed her to gain some formal learning in this segment so she went off to Barcelona a year later and studied masters in chocolate making from a certified chocolatier. Post her return she opened her studio kitchen Cutchocolatecake. It is here that Tejasvi conducts her workshops and also hosts other chocolatiers. Today, she has a bean to bar chocolate production factory in Jaipur.

Upon being asked whether she faces any product overlapping issues among all the three brands, Tejasvi promptly denies the same “The audience for all the three ventures is slightly different. As Allthingschocolate is a luxury brandit pulls in a  metropolitan crowd; while Dzurt is only for Jaipurians and is standing tall since the last seven years; and Cutchocolatecake is my studio kitchen primarily targeted at localities but with online classes I am getting people from all over the world attending it.I take a batch of 200 people at a go.”

To Foodism’s query regarding what’s her favourite product, Tejasvi laughingly confides “I am yet to discover my favourite dish! For now it’s‘just all things dessert’. But as I continue to launch new dishes I’m hoping to find my favourite one soon. My menu keeps on evolving with me. But yes I adore the allthingstropical chocolate bar with its 72 per cent dark chocolate and passion fruit ganache.” Her patrons have a soft spot for her shoe buns, nutella cheesecake and hazelnut tarts among others; and they also swear by her Malabar chocolates, macrons, carrot cake, allthings hazelnut brownie entremets and devil fruit cakes.

On-going is in-depth research on suitable options for diabetics and vegans.

Besides the all-time-favourite macron hamper, her Diwali hamper planscomprise of a gift box at Allthingschocolate – an exquisite box to which clients can select and add the products available on their menu.

With so many things on her plate Tejasvi just wishes to maintain the current pace of life alongside ensuring a good work-life balance. Happy with not getting bored and having enough time for her family; she aims to continue to be dedicated and passionate about the work she does.

Tejasvi signs off with “Read, learn and be creative…find your signature style…and if you can create a place for yourself in this crazy world you have got your turning point!”