From courtrooms to kitchens: Rise of Roots Café

Women-led organic cafe transforms lives and redefines dining in Delhi

In Delhi’s Greater Kailash market, Roots Café offers more than just fresh, organic food it is a place of empowerment, community, and personal transformation. Founded by Meenakshi Kumar, a former criminal lawyer-turned-chef, the cafe thrives on a women-led team, transparent cooking, and a menu inspired by global flavours and local farming.

Situated on a quiet lane in Delhi’s Greater Kailash market, Roots Cafe offers a refreshing contrast to the city’s parade of fashionable dining spots. Unlike restaurants that thrive on passing trends and social media buzz, Roots Café focusses on something deeper a sense of warmth, honesty and comfort that lingers well beyond the last bite.

The chalkboard menu and freshly prepared daily specials reflect not just culinary care but also the founder’s personal journey. With its use of organic ingredients and unpretentious style, the cafe feels both genuine and timeless, inviting guests to slow down and savour the experience.

At the heart of it is Meenakshi Kumar, a 45-year-old chef, organic farmer and first generation food entrepreneur, who practiced criminal law for nearly seven years alongside her father before following her real passion to set up Roots Café.

After completing her master’s degree in corporate law from London and spending seven years as a criminal lawyer in Supreme Court of India, she decided to take a sabbatical.

Kumar then moved to Thailand’s culinary world for two years from where she returned seven months ago and opened Roots Café.

“I told my father I needed a break at that time. I started working in a dormitory kitchen, cooking food, and eventually met Chef Gaggan Anand, a renowned Indian chef, considered one of the greatest contemporary chefs globally. He offered me my first job in a restaurant without even asking for my CV. That moment changed my life completely,” Kumar tells Media India Group.

She is trained at Le Cordon Bleu, a world-renowned network of educational institutions dedicated to providing the highest level of culinary and hospitality instruction. In addition, worked with well-known chefs before becoming General Manager at Gaggan Anand’s restaurant. However, she eventually left the role to start her own venture.

During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Kumar returned to India and what was meant to be a short stay gradually turned into a permanent move. She bought a piece of land in Noida, but soon realised she could not find the kind of fresh vegetables she longed for.

This led her to learn organic farming and start growing vegetables in her own farm and eventually she began working closely with local farmers, encouraging them to abandon chemical fertilisers in favour of organic methods. What was meant to be simply a vegetable shop gradually transformed, as she discovered her passion for cooking once more, while designing the space.

For Kumar, cooking became a form of therapy and emotional grounding. She finds calm in the kitchen, often creating dishes without recipes, relying on fresh ingredients and instinct. Bringing produce from her organic farm into the city, she designed a menu that combines freshness with global influences. The menu reflects her extensive travels and commitment to conscious living, offering more than just salads. Her establishment, Roots Café, blends the atmosphere of a cafe with the quality and service of a restaurant, creating a welcoming space where people can relax and enjoy wholesome food.

“Roots Café has grown mainly through word of mouth rather than any marketing. All kinds of people visit, and once they try the food, they come back. I prefer organic growth to aggressive promotion. With an open kitchen and personalised service, the cafe focusses on understanding customers’ preferences, from spice levels to allergies, adjusting recipes accordingly, we also remember customers and what they like. I think that is why they remember us,” says Kumar.

For her, the eatery is more than just a workplace, it is a space where women build confidence and skills, leading with strength and joy. They work hard together and laugh even harder, creating a supportive and empowering environment.

Roots Café stands out not just for its food but also for its inspiring all-women team, running everything from the kitchen to the counter. Many of the women working there had never been employed in a restaurant before coming from backgrounds as homemakers or unrelated fields.

Kumar says she chose to hire fresh faces deliberately, training them from scratch because she believes women multitask with love and care in both food preparation and service.

“I hire freshers on purpose as I want to train them right from the beginning. We are living in a male-dominated society where they are not comfortable to work under women boss that is why I choose only women staff members in my restaurant,” says Kumar.

“Women can work easily with women boss, they understand food and service with love and care. I did not hire them only to work here, but I want to help them grow and start their own business. I want to create opportunities, not just jobs. We are building confidence, skills, and a space where women lead. We work hard, and we laugh hard,” she adds.

Women working with Kumar say they appreciate the opportunity to become financially independent and that working at Roots Café has also boosted their self-esteem.

“I have only studied up to the 12th class, and finding a job in this competitive job market was impossible for me. I applied to many places but did not receive any response. Then I found Roots Café and applied for a staff position. Fortunately, I get selected and received proper training. Today, I am able to prepare not only domestic dishes but also international cuisines. Roots has given me the opportunity to support my family and children. I manage my responsibilities at home and work. This gives me pride as a woman who has only studied up to the 12th class,” Madhu, a 35-year-old waitress, who has been working with Kumar from last five months, tells Media India Group.

“Rasam is one of the famous dishes we are serving currently, with the help of my boss, I learnt how to make this dish and now I am able to serve it, our customers liked it,” Madhu adds.

Madhu is not the sole woman who has transformed from being a homemaker to an employed person now 14 other women are currently working with Kumar.

“Before this role, I worked at Flipkart, which was very different from this field. I was happy to start working here because many jobs require technical skills, and people of our age often lack the exposure. Finding a job in today’s market has been very helpful. As women, many of us are homemakers and know how to cook, so here I have been able to improve my cooking skills, and it has truly changed my life,” Sheetal, a 44-year-old woman from western Delhi, who has been working at Roots Café since six months, tells Media India Group.

The menu at the café is a vibrant reflection of Kumar’s travels and the produce of her organic farm, featuring dishes like Rasam pho, coconut curry khao suey, Mango Avocado Apple Granola Smoothie Bowl, Spiced Vietnamese Bhel, Tofu Chilli Khichdi, and Sticky Soya Tofu with Brown Rice. Fresh cold-pressed juices such as Jamun Glow, Flat Tummy Juice and Anti-inflammatory Juice are made daily.

“Whatever you see here we make it in front of you. Our pho is made with rasam, not stock, and every ingredient, from almond milk to sauces, is homemade,” says Kumar.

Alongside Roots Café, Kumar has also set up Gully Gully Cafe, a more casual, affordable space built around India’s nostalgic favourite snack, noodles or Maggi as the Nestlé brand is generically called in India.

The cafe offers a variety of Maggi dishes such as Thai-style Maggi, butter masala Maggi, and shakarkandi chaat, all prepared fresh in-house without using any premixes. It is designed to be a welcoming space for those who might feel out of place in a formal cafe.

Not quite satisfied with two eateries, Kumar says she is now working on ‘The Slow Sip’, a coworking cafe where guests can sip coffee and work at their own pace.

And if it were not enough, Kumar says that in 2026, she plans to launch her dream space in Padampuri, near her farm. It will be a larger community cafe where she is planning to  grow food, host events, and build something long-term and sustainable.