When Deepa had her chance meeting with her future husband Dr. Suhas Awchat at a musical night, little did she know that apart from their love for music, the common factor extended to their passion for good food too.

And that passion would one day become their present day fortune Goa Portuguesa, Culture Curry and Diva, the chain of regional cuisine centres in Mumbai.

Here she tells us about what it means to share her life, dream and work with her hubby.

Goa Portuguesa was Suhas' idea of making me happy.

How?

We were newly married and living in Bombay then. Being a true blue Goan I was missing the local sea fare.

Soon after marriage we took a trip to Goa. The foodie that I am, getting to have my local home food was like a high. But returning to Bombay made my life miserable as I started to miss the Goan sea fare.

Everyday, Suhas would take me and try to find at least one restaurant that served authentic Goan food. Alas, out of luck! In the mid 1980's Bombay had hardly heard, leave alone tasted, authentic Goan food.

And that's how the idea for Goa Portuguesa took shape.

He is a man of strong commonsense.

And of good foresight too. Suhas knew exactly how the business would shape up in the following five years.

His insight, combined with my knowledge of the cuisine, became the foundation for our now successful business.

But the start-up wasn't so smooth.

When it comes to starting a business, it is not enough to have an idea. Place, funding and staff is equally important.

Luckily we had the place. Suhas shut down his practice and transformed his clinic into a restaurant.

Now came the most difficult part - Funding. Who would be willing to give loan for a concept that was totally new and to two people who had no experience of running a restaurant. My parents and in-laws thought we had lost our senses.

Their first question was how come the other hoteliers in the city had never thought of this concept? If the majority didn't then what were our chances of success?

It was tough convincing them. But then they were very well aware of our adamant and never-say-die-attitude. Which meant if not them then we would get help from somewhere else. So eventually they gave in.