When Kainaz Messman decided to become a chef, nothing could come in her way. Not even a severe back injury that threatened to jeopardise her career. As Theobroma celebrates a decade next month, the foodie-at-heart tells Deepali Dhingra that her greatest joy lies in feeding people and making them smile. What makes her day, however, is an early morning cup of tea lovingly prepared by her husband.

Kainaz Messman, Owner and Chef, Theobroma As a kid, I would often read Enid Blyton books and fantasise about having midnight feasts of ginger bread, scones and tinned pineapples, just the way the girls in her St Claire’s series did. But for Kainaz Messman, the owner of Theobroma, these midnight feasts were a reality and a big part of her childhood. “My mum, who ran a fast food business when I was a child, would often wake up my sister and I in the middle of the night for ice-cream sundaes with crème de menthe poured over them and other goodies. At other times, she would wake up all of us early morning and we would go for a drive to Lonavla, have breakfast at Fariyas hotel and drive back,” says Messman, reminiscing about her idyllic childhood.

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