Valentine’s Day Special: 5 Power Couples Building Delicious Food Empires Together

Valentine’s Day is usually about flowers, chocolates and candle-lit dinners. But for some couples, romance looks different. It is less about glamour and more about running a successful business together. This Valentine’s Day, we are featuring five power couples who prove just that. From our Editor-in-Chief, Kamiya Jani and her husband, Fork Media Group founder and CEO, Sammar Verma, to the founders of Benne, Akhil Iyer and Shriya Narayan, let’s talk about five couples and the restaurants they own together. 

5 Couples & Restaurants They Own

1. Kamiya Jani And Sammar Verma

 

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Our Editor-in-Chief, Kamiya Jani, and Sammar Verma are a strong entrepreneurial couple who deserve attention this Valentine’s Day. Kamiya Jani is the founder of Curly Tales, and Sammar Verma is the CEO and founder of Fork Media Group, which manages Curly Tales and Mashable India. The couple has also worked together to make Imlee-The Chaat Gali a success. Imlee-The Chaat Gali is a popular street food restaurant in Bandra, founded by Neeti Goel in collaboration with Curly Tales.

Apart from this, Shifuku, a modern pan-Asian restaurant in Andheri West, was also launched by Curly Tales in collaboration with restaurateurs Amandeep Singh and Monika Rathore. Kamiya Jani and Sammar Verma are the reasons Curly Tales and Fork Media Group continue to grow every day. 

2. Chef Manuel Olveira And Mickee Tuljapurkar

Chef Manuel Olveira and his wife Mickee Tuljapurkar have created something special together. Their restaurant, La Panthera, is considered among the top restaurants in Bandra. But this is not their first restaurant together. Their award-winning Spanish restaurant La Loca Maria was already making waves in the city before La Panthera. Both these restaurants are often visited by celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan, among others. 

According to The Hindu, Chef Manuel first came to Mumbai to open the Spanish restaurant Arola. He did not know a word of English or Hindi. After spending four years in the city, he was about to leave when he met his wife, Mickee Tuljapurkar. They got married and moved to the Middle East, but it never felt like home. They returned to Mumbai and opened La Loca Maria and later La Panthera. Both these restaurants are among the best restaurants owned by couples in India. 

While Chef Manuel has an expertise in crafting amazing dishes, Mickee handles creatives and logistics. Their story is a perfect example of how two like-minded people built some of Mumbai’s most loved restaurants together. 

3. Vinesh Johny And Joonie Tan

Vinesh Johny and Joonie Tan’s partnership describes love in all languages, especially baking. This is a modern romance between the famous pastry chef Vinesh and pastry artist Joonie. According to YourStory, Joonie is originally from Malaysia. She was working as a marketing manager for a property consultant and was sent to Hyderabad in 2009 for a work trip. Here, she first met Chef Vinesh Johny. The rest is history. In 2012, she resigned from her full-time job and came to India to help Vinesh set up Lavonne.

Their love story began at Lavonne, and today the couple successfully runs the Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts. They eventually got married and also opened a Malaysian coffee house called Kopitiam Lah in Bengaluru. The couple also runs a gelato parlour called LICK-The Lavonne Ice Cream Kitchen in Bengaluru.

Also Read: Valentine’s Day 2026: 14 Brilliant Cocktail Recipes To Add Fun & Flavour To Your Special Day

4. Aseem Grover And Fawzia Ahmed

 

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When talking about power couples and restaurants owned by couples this Valentine’s Day, we cannot forget the force behind The Big Chill Cafe, one of the most iconic eateries in Delhi. Aseem Grover is an ex-Army officer who served in the Third Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army. According to The Big Chill’s website, he once served as part of the Indian contingent in the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, where he met Fawzia Ahmed.

She was travelling to Rwanda to secure work with an international focus and had ten years of experience working with a leading women’s organisation in the UK. In Rwanda, they met and fell in love. After working for a British NGO, Fawzia fulfilled her long-cherished dream of opening her own cafe. Along with her husband, she opened The Big Chill in East of Kailash, South Delhi, in 2000. Since then, the place has become a go-to spot for creamy pastas, risottos and pizzas.

5. Akhil Iyer And Shriya Narayan

This is the love story of a modern couple bonded by their love for dosas. Akhil Iyer and Shriya Narayan had no business degrees and no investors. Originally from Bengaluru, the couple moved to Mumbai after their wedding. They struggled to find good buttery Davangere-style benne dosas from their hometown.

The craving pushed them to quit their careers and open Benne in 2024. Within a year, the cafe became a viral sensation. Stars like Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli also loved Benne’s dosas. The couple recently opened Benne in Delhi, which attracts long queues starting as early as 6:30 am. Their shared love for dosas has made them a modern power couple, and Benne is now among the best restaurants owned by a couple in India. 

Also Read: This V-Day, Make It Official With Swiggy’s Hard Launch Tables At THESE Cities For Just ₹69

These couples definitely prove that business and love can go hand in hand. Do you know of any other restaurants owned by couples that deserve more attention this Valentine’s Day?

Cover Image Courtesy: Kamiya Jani/ Instagram and La Loca Maria/ Facebook