Erica Brechtelsbauer
Everybody loves Maneet, the effervescent celebrity chef who lights up every stage, space, and kitchen she occupies.
That’s Maneet Chauhan, of course, whose restaurant empire burgeons like the cast of a Bollywood musical, expanding with colorful verve, spice, and panache. There’s her eponymous Chauhan Ale & Masala House, now bordered by the lush Chinese outpost Tànsuŏ and whimsical diner The Mockingbird. Add the recently opened Chaatable, and a beer empire foaming down in Murfreesboro, and you sense that nothing is off limits when her sights are set.
Behind that empire and right by her side (when they happen to be in the same city at the same time) is Vivek Deora, Chauhan’s husband and partner, who strides comfortably along in her shadow. He’s the one who’s impeccably dressed, sporting a mustache and beard trimmed with surgical precision. Armed with an equally energetic drive and a matchless sense of humor, Deora has a culinary story that matches his wife’s.
VIVEK DEORA BY THE NUMBERS:
- Countries worked in: 8
- Restaurants opened: 23
- Restaurants in Nashville: 4 (and counting)
- Average miles traveled in a year: 70,000 - 90,000
Born the son of a doctor in Jaipur, in northwest India, Deora admits he wasn’t much of a student and that he wouldn’t follow his father’s career path. He was a good athlete and played tennis on a national level, but spent more time in hotel coffee shops than studying.
He made his way to hotel management school at Manipal University where he met his future wife, though years and miles would come between them before they finally united in matrimony.
“I finished school and to everyone’s surprise I did fairly well,” Deora laughs. “I guess I found that passion.”
So, his father agreed to send him to England to get his master’s degree.
He soon joined the Hyatt group in the Netherlands and was spirited to the United States to work in Lake Tahoe. For a brief period, he worked at the same company with Chauhan on the East Coast, but was then off again for distant climes and opportunities in Singapore, where he moved more into the food and beverage side of hospitality. At the age of 24, he was running a 28,000-square-foot facility with more than 100 employees.
“Fear isn’t something close to you when you’re young,” he says.
Hopscotching to Indonesia, Bali, Shanghai, and other spots, he and Chauhan ran up some rather large phone bills before the days of Skype.
“That was our first mortgage,” he jokes, “lost in the air.”
The two reunited in Chicago before eventually following an opportunity to consult on a project in Nashville, where they are now partners and owners of Morph Hospitality Group. Four restaurants and two children later, Nashville is no longer a stop along the way, but home.
When asked about balance, he lets out a loud chuckle. She’s on the hit show Chopped and travels for food appearances all over the world. He’s just opened three new restaurants in Toronto in the last six months.
They tag-team with their two small children, and when together, he says, “I am the photographer when people ask to have their pictures with Maneet.”
But they are fulfilled and happy in this frenetic life they have created.
“My energy is channeled through the projects I do, and Maneet carries it forward,” he says. “There is no balance. It just happens.”