From Roti, Kapda & Makan to redefining Fine-dining & Nightlife- Profile on Karyna Bajaj of KA hospitality

“I love trying new food pairings and cuisines, but when it comes to my comfort food, I like to keep it
simple - Sindhi curry, rice and crispy aloo tuk" - Karyna Bajaj

If you haven’t heard about KA hospitality’s Karyna Bajaj, you have been living under a giant rock. One of the youngest Indian woman entrepreneurs, Karyna has built her empire using her father’s business as a foundation stone. She is the executive director at KA hospitality since 2016 with a bachelor’s in Communication and business strategy from the prestigious Emerson College, Boston.

While she may be handling the ropes now, Karyna has self-trained at her father’s restaurants from the ground up. She has spent a considerable amount of time in every department to get an in-depth understanding of the industry and its functionality. She has now taken the roped of the existing premium international brands and is dedicated to adding more to the table.

Karyna is creating a new legacy of casual dining that is comfortable, easy and fun. She is also introducing a destination focus on nightlife and setting bars for the f&b industry. While she may be introducing new brands to KA hospitality, she is maintaining the consistency and the heritage of the company built by her father. Her dedication towards the parent company paired along with her MO, execution & navigation has made KA hospitality to be one of India’s finest F&B houses.

Karyna Bajaj started her hospitality journey at the young age of 22 years by joining her father’s company that introduced global fine-dine Asian-food chains- Hakkasan and Yauatcha. According to her, she was inspired by her role model- lan Yau the person behind the creation of Hakkasan and Yauatcha. She also added that the passion her grandparents held for Japanese food and culture drove her to build this empire.

Soon after joining, Karyna embarked on her own journey to bridge the gap between home-style Thai and affordable Thai food. She imported Nara from Bangkok to Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla. Nara became an instant it with its Blue butterfly pea rice and the exquisite 12-layered Crepe cake. Bajaj then opened the brand- CinCin from scratch. Her goal was to make the legendary pairing of great pasta and its complementary wine accessible to Indians. CinCin has approachable wine programs where wine is sold by stemless glasses. Now CinCin is the only restaurant with its wine label- CinCin Rosso in partnership with Vallone Vineyards, Nashik.

Karyna says that all decisions pertaining to food and plating are made in conjunction with her. Her mother also conducts tastings frequently to ensure consistency and quality.
According to the young entrepreneur Ms Bajaj- “The casual dining format is here to stay. People want great meals, but not always in an environment that dictates how they should act,”

Meet the future of KA hospitality and F&B trendsetter- Karyna Bajaj