Pooja Dhingra is an Indian pastry chef and businesswoman. He opened India’s first macaron store named ‘Le15 Patisserie’ in Mumbai in 2010.
Pooja Dhingra’s Cafe
She is also known as the ‘Queen of Macarons’.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Pooja Dhingra was born on Tuesday, 5 August 1986 (age 35 years; as in 2021) in Mumbai. His zodiac sign is Leo.
Pooja Dhingra in childhood
He did his schooling from Bombay Scottish School, Mumbai.
Pooja Dhingra’s school ID card
Pooja Dhingra with her friends during school days
She went to Jai Hind College to study commerce and in 2004, she did a hospitality and management course at the Cesar Ritz School in Le Bouveret, Switzerland. Pooja comes from a family background that has always been interested in cooking. His father and brother own a restaurant. Pooja had learned cooking from her aunt. After completing his graduation, he started studying law. She lost interest in law and began studying hospitality. In 2008, she learned French pastry making from the Le Cordon Bleu school in Paris.
Pooja Dhingra with the chef of Le Cordon Bleu School
Pooja Dhingra during her college days
She tasted macarons for the first time when she was in Paris. She wanted to take the taste of macarons to India. Once Pooja came back to India, she started trying her hand at the macaron recipe. She failed several times because she had to use local Indian products in recipes and the weather in India was different than in Paris.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 7″
Weight (Approx): 80 kg
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye colour: black
Family
parents and siblings
Pooja’s father is a chef and his name is Jaikishan Dhingra.
Pooja Dhingra with her mother and father
His mother’s name is Seema Dhingra and she is a therapist and healer.
Pooja Dhingra with her mother
He has a brother who is a restaurant owner and his name is Varun Dhingra.
Pooja Dhingra with her brother
livelihood
cooking
In 2010, when Pooja created the final macaron recipe, she started her own business by opening the first macaron restaurant in Mumbai. The name of his restaurant is Le 15 Patissery. When he started the restaurant, he had only two chefs in his restaurant, but now he has more than 100 employees. His café now has three other branches in Good Earth, Lower Parel; Palladium Mall in Mumbai. She wrote two cookbooks – ‘The Big Book of Treats’ and ‘The Wholesome Kitchen.’
Pooja Dhingra with her book ‘The Big Book of Treats’
Pooja Dhingra with her book ‘The Wholesome Kitchen’
During the lockdown in 2020, she started her own podcast named ‘Nosugarcoat with Pooja’.
Pooja Dhingra recording her podcast
They started delivering DIY cake mixes, cookies, hot chocolate mixes and Le 15 merchandise to people during the lockdown. In 2021, he wrote the book ‘Coming Home’. He has also done advertising campaigns for Kwality Walls, Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, Surf Excel, Oreo etc.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- In 2019, he won the Mold-Breaker of the Year Award by Grazia Magazine.
Pooja Dhingra during Grazia Magazine Awards
- In 2014, he was listed in the list of ’30 under 30′ achievers by Forbes India.
Pooja Dhingra wins ’30 under 30′ by Forbes
- Forbes India listed him in its ’30 Under 30′ Asia list.
Facts/General Knowledge
- When she was a child, the first thing she did was bake brownies. According to him, this was the time when he realized how simple ingredients can make a difference to a dish.
- He loves eating chocolate since childhood.
- Pooja’s brother also studied in the same college in which her brother studied.
- In an interview, Pooja shared what she learned in Switzerland and Paris. He said,
During my first year, I interned at a small family-run hotel (Villa Toscane). I was 18 years old, had never been away from home alone and was working as much as six or seven people usually do in India. Every morning, I would serve breakfast to dozens of people, take a shower and start again. I didn’t know a word of French and my boss didn’t speak English. it was a nightmare. But by the time I was interning in a five star hotel (Trois Couronne) in the final year, my confidence had increased a lot. I chose housekeeping and my work involved changing about 60 beds and cleaning toilets. At some point, they recognized what I was doing and by the end of my internship, I was going to meetings with my general manager and giving instructions to people much more senior than me.
- Pooja used to question herself why there were no macarons in India, and the only reason she found was that no one knew about this sweet. He decided to make a career out of making macarons.
- In one of her interviews, she had said that the café was named after the building in which she was living in Paris. She lived in the 15th Arrondissement in Paris.
- During the initial phase of her career, Pooja faced gender-discrimination while renting property or purchasing a machine. In an interview, he said that sellers often asked him to seek advice from elders like his father and brother. he adds,
It wasn’t easy being a young girl in a male-dominated industry. It was hard to even find suppliers or real estate agents who wanted to work with me. As the years passed, the challenges kept changing – from day-to-day operations to growing the business. My education in Switzerland and working in hotels there gave me a good idea of what it would be like to work in the hospitality sector, but it is extremely difficult to deal with the bureaucracy when starting a business in India.
- According to Pooja, traveling improves a person’s way of thinking. In an interview, she had said that she takes out time to travel so that she can taste new recipes and upgrade her recipes.
- Pooja believes that social media has helped in growing her business.
- In her podcast, Pooja invites her celebrity friends and talks about their struggles and their lives.
- Pooja is friends with actress Rhea Kapoor (Sonam Kapoor’s sister), Masaba Gupta, Sonam Kapoor, Pablo Naranjo Aguilar (chef) etc.
Pooja Dhingra with Masaba Gupta
Pooja Dhingra with Rhea Kapoor
- Pooja is often called the ‘Macron Queen’. While talking about the title in an interview he said,
I do not know! I think it was a journalist who talked to me five or six years ago, and who used the term, and then the BBC and CNN and other media outlets started using it, and it just stuck. . And yes, I didn’t fight it. When someone calls you a queen, you accept it.
- She often posts about her love for Korean dramas. She posts photos of herself making hearts (a sign of love in Korea) with her fingers.
Pooja Dhingra’s heart symbol
- According to Pooja, all young entrepreneurs should know how to manage money and should always have finances ready.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn