Hema was born in Sitanagar, Andhra Pradesh, India. Both her parents were school principals. Hema shared some memories of her childhood with us: how her sister would help her mother in the kitchen while she assisted her father with his chores; and how she was a "bit of a tomboy, riding her bike and climbing trees." After she completed her matriculation, she discontinued her studies, got married and had a daughter. Some years later Hema decided to return to her education. Most of her classmates had already received their bachelors and masters degrees. This did not stop her. Hema is diligent, tenacious and hardworking. Those qualities helped her pursue her entrepreneurial dreams. Hema now owns two restaurants and takes pride in her Indian-inspired recipes.
But food and the restaurant business was not always her passion. She loved to work with textiles, beauty care and embroidery and she decided to move to the United States in order to start a clothing and beauty care business. Hema arrived in the USA in 1988. The initial years were tough because she was unable to get her foot in the door of any of these lines of work. She was unable to set up a clothing and beauty care business. Instead, she found a job in a Pakistani restaurant on Devon Ave. as an assistant to a chef. She chuckled as she reflected on how she did not know the difference between beef and lamb. Tenacious as ever, she proved herself and secured her place at the restaurant. Soon she was offered a higher position in other restaurants in downtown Chicago. She lived with her daughter on Devon Ave. and traveled daily to downtown to work for four years. After a few years, her husband encouraged her to start her own restaurant. She started small with a restaurant that had only nine tables. She wanted to create and serve new recipes on the menu. She believed in serving freshly prepared food. As a result she designed the layout of her restaurant so that the customers could see how she cooked. Hema's kitchen became famous for fresh home cooked food in a setting that resembled the interiors of a home.
Presently, she has two branches of her restaurant at two locations in Chicago. Her daughter and her son-in-law help her manage both of them. She has Hispanic helpers working for her with whom can talk in fluent Spanish with them.
Hema speaks about how Devon Avenue used to be when she arrived in 1988. There weren’t many South Asian stores at that time. This changed as more and more South Asians migrated to the United States, transforming Devon into Little India—a place that South Asians feel at home in. Devon has become a point of entry where new immigrants find a place to start their life in the United States. Perhaps learning from her own hardships, she feels that there is ample room for improvement in the way workers are treated by their employers on Devon Avenue.
Text by Holland Dvorak
But food and the restaurant business was not always her passion. She loved to work with textiles, beauty care and embroidery and she decided to move to the United States in order to start a clothing and beauty care business. Hema arrived in the USA in 1988. The initial years were tough because she was unable to get her foot in the door of any of these lines of work. She was unable to set up a clothing and beauty care business. Instead, she found a job in a Pakistani restaurant on Devon Ave. as an assistant to a chef. She chuckled as she reflected on how she did not know the difference between beef and lamb. Tenacious as ever, she proved herself and secured her place at the restaurant. Soon she was offered a higher position in other restaurants in downtown Chicago. She lived with her daughter on Devon Ave. and traveled daily to downtown to work for four years. After a few years, her husband encouraged her to start her own restaurant. She started small with a restaurant that had only nine tables. She wanted to create and serve new recipes on the menu. She believed in serving freshly prepared food. As a result she designed the layout of her restaurant so that the customers could see how she cooked. Hema's kitchen became famous for fresh home cooked food in a setting that resembled the interiors of a home.
Presently, she has two branches of her restaurant at two locations in Chicago. Her daughter and her son-in-law help her manage both of them. She has Hispanic helpers working for her with whom can talk in fluent Spanish with them.
Hema speaks about how Devon Avenue used to be when she arrived in 1988. There weren’t many South Asian stores at that time. This changed as more and more South Asians migrated to the United States, transforming Devon into Little India—a place that South Asians feel at home in. Devon has become a point of entry where new immigrants find a place to start their life in the United States. Perhaps learning from her own hardships, she feels that there is ample room for improvement in the way workers are treated by their employers on Devon Avenue.
Text by Holland Dvorak