Kochi housewife Rehna is on a comeback trail with a bold food statement. Her latest venture, Cloud Kitchen, should vouch for this fact.
It was just a while ago that Rehna had withdrawn into a shell of diffidence following her not-too-successful outing in food world. That had almost settled matters for her with Rehna calling it quits with the domain of business.
But the COVID-19 came as a saviour in disguise and bailed out Rehna from her gloom to get her going once again with the business of food. Here she is today, proving naysayers wrong. This year’s Diwali saw the lady opening her unique pizza venture, Woodys Brook, a handmade wood-fired pizza outlet or a cloud shop in Palarivattom, Kochi. The venture, set up in alliance with online food sites, has been receiving a great deal of positive vibes.
Rehna excelled in the world of cooking with her dishes being quite a hit with friends and family. In fact it was her friends who egged her on to try her luck and expertise in the field of culinary art. Not only is she a gifted cook, but a steady learner who loves to experiment and imbibe all that’s new in her domain.
How to work wonders with pizza and revolutionize the art of pizza baking? This has been her one great passion. She has quite a stunning menu going by her flavours list… biriyani pizza, aviyal pizza, palada pizza, beef-koorka pizza and of course the Italian favourites. Everything’s on a totally different level here.
Woodys Brook was set up after Rehna studied her close encounter with losses and the loopholes in marketing techniques.
Her second coming was made possible when a friend came home with a special type of jackfruit from Kannur. Rehna soon had her apron on and turned up with a delectable dish of chakka pizza. With practically nothing to do during COVID, Rehna expressed her longing to do something creative to kill the lockdown blues. This thought was what added fuel to her friends' prodding to once again feel fulfilled with the joy of cooking.
Everything lies in marketing, not just cooking, is a truth that hit her this time round. A wide customer base can be had only if the product is well marketed. People need to taste food and enjoy it and the wider the reach, the happier the feel. There was once a time when cakes were sold only in bakeries. That concept has gone and today, cakes are baked and sold from almost all homes, says Rehna. Social media has been a game changer in that it has helped a lot of people set up startups of their choice, she adds.
Rehna hopes to widen the scope of her business some day. She would love to open a place where folks can come in, relax and chill out while biting into her exotic pizzas. In all her endeavours, she’s more than delighted to have the support of family, her husband, kids and her mother-in-law.
With her mother-in-law looking after the family’s basic needs, Rehna gets more time to experiment and the outlet is sure to come up with unheard-of varieties of pizza. Peer-support too has surely helped, says the home-made pizza chef.
