“An iron pillar toughened through her fair share of struggles and experiences.”

There’s nothing in her lineage to explain why Ritu Dalmia is the brilliant chef and restaurateur that she is. And yet, here she stands, in her 40s, as one of India’s most celebrated chefs, co-owner of three restaurants in India, three in Milan, Italy and a catering vertical that serves worldwide destinations. The story might well have gone some other way. Born in then-Calcutta to a Marwari business family, Dalmia joined the family stone business when she was just 16. Her work kept taking her to Italy where she developed a liking for the local cuisine and learnt how to cook it proficiently. In 1993, at age 21, she set up Mezza Luna, an Italian restaurant, in Delhi’s Hauz Khas Village. The food was excellent, Mezza Luna’s fortunes weren’t. An undeterred Dalmia moved to London where she opened Vama, an Indian fine dining restaurant. The restaurant was a big success and won rave reviews. In 2000, she returned to Delhi to open her first DIVA, which believes in celebrating authentic food by combining clean, simple & fresh ingredients to create rich and unique dishes. After which, Dalmia never looked back, going on to open multiple award winning restaurants with a team of over 300 staff. With Cittamani, her eatery in Milan, Dalmia has come full circle. She started her restaurateur life trying to introduce India to genuine Italian food; now she’s getting Italians to taste and enjoy the flavours of the Indian subcontinent. Bearing the flag of modern Indian cuisine high, Chef Ritu has also opened another restaurant – Spica in Milan with acclaimed Michelin starred Chef Viviana Varese. The food is inspired by their travels around the world with comfort food from across Asia, America and Europe. The third outlet VIVA, which is the brainchild of Chef Viviana Varese is one of the most critically acclaimed establishments in Italy with a Michelin star to its name. Chef Ritu’s entrepreneurial spirit and contribution to the hospitality industry has been recognised by many institutions, including CondeNast Top 50 Restaurants of India, Peaklife Gourmet Awards 2019, DelWine Excellence Award 2019 as Women of Wonder (WOW), Forbes, which put her on its W Power Trailblazers List in March 2017, and the Indian Federation for Culinary Association, which in 2016 recognized her as one of India’s 25 biggest Chefs. In September 2017, she was awarded the Ordine della Stella d'Italia, the highest civilian honour of Italy. Dalmia has also hosted Italian Khana and Travelling DIVA on NDTV Good Times and authored three cookbooks, Italian Khaana, Travelling DIVA and DIVA Green: A Vegetarian Cookbook. With her own share of experiences and challenges, Chef Ritu has now garnered the status of a celebrity chef with her unique chain of restaurants.