PRIYANKA CHOPRA JONAS & MANEESH GOYAL TRANSCRIPT
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe, and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond. Each week, we feature interviews with the coolest culinary personalities around. Today, we're on location at Sona Restaurant in Manhattan to chat with two very special guests, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Maneesh Goyal. These two friends and business partners are on a mission to celebrate and share the rich culture, cuisine, and hospitality of India. And they're starting right here with the restaurant they co-owned and with Sona Home, their brand new line of tabletop items and housewares.
Priyanka, as you might know, is a global superstar, trailblazing actor, philanthropist, and UNICEF Goodwill ambassador. Maneesh, well, he's a restaurateur, entrepreneur, marketing pro, and a board member of Planned Parenthood. They both have big hearts and are delightful humans. So, stay tuned. This episode of Radio Cherry Bombe is supported by Whole Foods Market, where you can find lots of Cherry Bombe's favorite female-forward food and drink brands like Anjali's Cup. Anjali's Cup was founded by Anjali Bhargava, who wanted to put something into the world that would "nourish the body, nurture the soul, and taste divine." How lovely is that?
Anjali uses organic Hawaiian turmeric and ginger for her Resilience Turmeric Elixir and for her Anjali's Chai Masala. You can mix the Resilience Turmeric blend in hot or cold water or milk for a comforting, nutritious drink and Anjali's Chai Masala can be brewed with black tea. Both blends can be used in lattes, smoothies, coffee, baked goods, or more. You can find Anjali's Cup at select Whole Foods Market locations in the New York area or by visiting wholefoodsmarket.com. Part of Whole Foods’ mission is to feature local brands. So, be sure to seek out what's local and special at the Whole Foods Market nearest you.
A little housekeeping, don't forget that Jubilee 2023 early bird tickets are on sale. Our Jubilee Conference is taking place Saturday, April 15th at Center415 in Manhattan. The 2023 celebration will be our 10th in-person Jubilee. I can't believe it. For those of you wondering what's Jubilee, it is Cherry Bombe's annual conference and it's the largest gathering of women in and around the world of food and drink in the whole United States. It's a great day of networking, amazing food and drink, and talks and panels with some very wise women.
Past speakers have included Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson, and Samin Nosrat. Visit cherrybombe.com to snag your early bird ticket. Don't delay. They do sell out every year. I hope to see you at Jubilee. Now let's check in with today's guests.
Kerry Diamond:
Maneesh, Priyanka, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Thank you so much for having us.
Maneesh Goyal:
Thank you so much for having us.
Kerry Diamond:
I am so excited to talk to the two of you. I have a million questions, but I've narrowed it down to less than a million. Priyanka, are you here for the UN General Assembly?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Yes, I am.
Kerry Diamond:
All of that. What are you doing in town this week?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Well, I'm here for the UN General Assembly and the Global Fund Event and Forbes Summit on behalf of UNICEF predominantly and my philanthropic work with them, representing UNICEF and having very tough conversations around safety of children, especially children that are being affected by conflict. As we know that there's a lot of conflict, not just Ukraine around the world right now, whether that's Eritrea, whether that's Myanmar, whether that's Sudan.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
So I guess the point at the UNGA this year on UNICEF's behalf was just security for the children of war and conflict.
Kerry Diamond:
On behalf of everybody, thank you for the work you do for them, because…
Maneesh Goyal:
Truly, yes.
Kerry Diamond:
...I know how deeply you care about this and how seriously you take that work.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
It's the greatest job I have. Out of all of the hats I wear, it's my biggest privilege.
Kerry Diamond:
As a native New Yorker, I apologize for the traffic.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Yes.
Maneesh Goyal:
There's lots of traffic.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Yes. My goodness. The traffic during General Assembly week is...
Kerry Diamond:
It's the worst of the year, I think.
Maneesh Goyal:
It is. That's right.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
It really is.
Kerry Diamond:
And Maneesh, you are always in New York.
Maneesh Goyal:
I'm always in New York. New York has become home, but I was born and raised in Dallas, but I've made New York home now for about 25 years.
Kerry Diamond:
How did you two meet?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
We were just talking about that. I was like, "When did we meet?" So we met through a mutual friend who happens to be my manager. Her name is Anjula Acharia. I was filming the TV show Quantico in New York in Silver Cup Studios and Maneesh came with Anj to visit set. That's when we first met. And after that, we just became friends and decided to get into business together.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah. We were off to the races once we first met. I'm very grateful to her manager, our mutual friend Anjula, for connecting us, but I really think and I say this in jest, but also with some truth to it, that probably the most powerful combination of two humans ever is the combination of a girl and a gay. And so, with that in mind, Priyanka and I, we were destined for greatness.
Kerry Diamond:
I didn't know where you were going with that.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah. I didn't want you to know where I was going to go with that, but really where I went, but it's true that we just formed a very deep, very quick friendship. It was at a perfect time because she was living in New York, but New York was somewhat new to her.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
I just moved from India and I didn't know too many people besides my castmates and the people that I worked with. I was scared. New York is a big city, especially when you've moved countries. To be able to find friends that you have some form of similarity with and get on with was really important and Maneesh, Anj, a few of our other friends became that community for me when I was there.
Maneesh Goyal:
The best way that I could remember this is her first apartment was on the Upper East Side. And when I first met her, I was like, "Oh, where do you live?" She's like, "Oh, I live in Tribeca." Everyone's like, "No, you don't." I have no idea. She's like, "I just get in the car and I'm not really sure where I live," but it was really cute because she was so new to New York. It's hard to get to know New York and it takes a second to understand the neighborhoods, et cetera. And ultimately, she did move to Tribeca, so it all made sense, but we had really the best of times. That's when a lot of our collaboration started.
Kerry Diamond:
Priyanka, I had no idea you spent so much time in America as a teenager.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
My mom and dad, both my parents, were in the military. So, they moved around a lot and my brother was just born. He was about four years old. So, my mom quit the military and started private practice. She's a physician and both my parents were. My hypothesis now is that she basically wanted me out of her hair so that she could figure out her practice, but she made me believe it was my idea. So, she said, "Let's go visit her sisters and my cousins in The States." I was really excited at the age of 12, just about starting to touch that preteen vanity and very excited about going to America. The America I knew obviously was from Saved By The Bell or The Bold And The Beautiful that my mom used to watch.
I land into Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and it's different, just slightly different than the America I knew, but I fell in love with the space in schools. I fell in love with the individuality that kids here enjoyed. We used to wear uniforms back home because there are kids of different socioeconomic backgrounds going to the same schools. So, you want to create a uniformity. So, all the children have a voice versus here, individuality was put in the fore and it was just for a 12-year-old mind, highly bright and shiny.
So, I told my mom that it would be better for my education if I could study in America. My aunt was down to keeping me here with her and staying with my cousins. I just stayed after summer vacation, went to school in Cedar Rapids, and my aunt moved for another job. So, I went and started living with my mom's brother, which took me to Newton, Massachusetts, Indianapolis, and Queens, New York actually.
Kerry Diamond:
I forgot about that.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Flushing, Queens, Robert F. Kennedy High School.
Kerry Diamond:
What did you think of the food here in America?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Oh, that's a funny story. I loved American food like any kid does, burgers and pizzas and everything, but I'll never forget cafeteria. So, cafeteria was a really strange concept for me, because in Indian schools, we carry our own lunch. We bring lunch, and during recess, everybody shares their own lunch, whatever you've brought from home. Here, you had to stand in a line, pick up a plate. Now think about all the simple, tangible things that I didn't know I had to do. So, the cafeteria was something out of a romantic comedy villain.
I used to stand on the stairs, entering the cafeteria and just decide to eat Doritos out of the vending machine because it was scary. But the one day I decided, I was like, "All right, I'm going to do it." I had made one friend in Spanish class and she said, "Come with me." It was a table of the misfits. And I was like, "Fine. At least I have friends." I got a tray and I started getting food. Everything looked great. That was pizza, some fries, something, something, and a white blob.
Kerry Diamond:
That could be so many things.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Exactly.
Maneesh Goyal:
So many things.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
So for my 12-year-old non-exposed to American food, I thought it was ice cream, vanilla ice cream, because it's dessert. Wow, this is a rich American school. They give you like ice cream. It turned out to be mashed potatoes, but that first flavor, so I'm expecting cold vanilla ice cream and I was like, "This food is spoiled. There's something wrong with it." I was traumatized with mashed potatoes until I figured out was potatoes and now it's my favorite thing. Buffalo wings, buffalos don't have wings. It was so confusing until I figured out Buffalo was a city. So, food and American food and me had a tumultuous relationship until I became a fan.
Kerry Diamond:
Maneesh, you had a very different experience. Can you tell us about your dad's restaurant in Dallas?
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah, so I was, as I said, born and raised in Dallas, the son of immigrants from Punjab, the same place from where Priyanka's family hails. And it was very interesting to really grow up in a world in which it depended on the day of the week and who you were in front of as to what your identity was. Because in school, I was one of maybe five non-white kids and I went to a very white, suburban Texas school where I really stood out. But then on the nights and weekends, my parents would gather with other Indians in the community and it was a story of sameness.
So, my father took a big risk and decided as a young immigrant to open what ultimately was Texas's first Indian restaurant in 1975. He still had a full-time job at Xerox, but he moonlit and he found a space and he opened India House. After six months, it was successful enough that he could quit his job. I'm the youngest of three. So, he had a family of five. My mom didn't work. She raised us. So, he had this restaurant, the seed was planted then for what would germinate to become Sona.
And of course, based on my relationship with Priyanka, I really found that that restaurant became a hub, not just for the Indian community, but you have to remember, this is the 1970s in Texas where it's a steak and potatoes place. So, to introduce Indian food, which no one had asked for, but he had put out there, it was tough. He started to put pizzas on the menu. He had to do things to try to get people in the door and he would talk about how scary it was to just make the ends meet.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Probably terrifying.
Maneesh Goyal:
But it took time. I said, "One day, I'm going to do what my dad did." It took us four decades, but I did it and I opened a restaurant just like my dad did, but his was a trailblazing restaurant. And in some ways, that's what we hope ours is too.
Kerry Diamond:
Sometimes though, having a family restaurant will scar you and your parents don't want you to do a restaurant.
Maneesh Goyal:
It's so funny because my father did say to me, he said, "Beta," which means son, "you have become way too smart to open a restaurant." And I said, "But dad, you did it." He goes, "I know." So it scared him, but he also saw the fire in my belly to do it and he really appreciated. And the first day he walked in, we opened in March of 2021, day after being fully vaccinated because 2021, that first part of it was definitely a time of vaccinations.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
We of course were crazy enough to open a restaurant during a pandemic.
Maneesh Goyal:
During a pandemic. Yes, that was wild. The first time they arrived, he just took a pause and he said, "Never in my wildest imagination could I have imagined that when we opened that restaurant one day decades later, I'd be walking into my son's restaurant." And I said to them and we all know that I didn't want to open a restaurant and Priyanka and I didn't want to open a restaurant. We wanted to open this restaurant. We wanted to open an Indian restaurant, the likes of which had never been seen before. That was the dream and that's this dream.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us how the conversation started.
Maneesh Goyal:
So the conversation started, I actually brought it to Priyanka and I said, "I've got this dream." The good thing is Priyanka knew it as soon as I started to talk about it.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
We should back it up. That's because we both had talked about the collective need of…
Maneesh Goyal:
Correct.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
...elevating Indian food in America. If you go to Britain or Europe…
Maneesh Goyal:
Singapore.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
...Singapore, Indian food has an elevation, which is timeless luxurious. If you think about Indian royalty, which has existed for thousands and thousands of years, that's the part of India that is not exposed to the West, especially to the States. Me being someone who now lives here and is raising a child here, my legacy and identity was very important to me.
And to be seen with the lens of not just a flavor of a day or having to go eat butter chicken on a night when you're just like, "Oh, I'm going to sleep in tomorrow," that's not the experience I grew up with. Luxurious India is something I really want to bring to the West because I think that there's a gap in that market. So, we talked about that stuff. We talked about wanting to have gourmet food, have fine dining, have a bar, have cocktails.
Maneesh Goyal:
Music, art.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Be a place, music, art, be a place where we had culture. Be a place that doesn't just give you food, but gives you an experience of what it might be to experience Mumbai City. Art deco, which is the basic foundation of the decor here, is Mumbai, which is where I grew up for about 20 years and it was very, very crucial. We talked so much about what that could look like after we decided to do the restaurant, but the conversations of the food in the States not being fine gourmet Indian food was just where the idea and the inception came from. Then he said he wanted to do it.
Maneesh Goyal:
And the thing is it's exactly as Priyanka said and then you layered in the fact that her and I share many things in common, including of course a love for Mother India as we call her, but we also share a love for having a good time.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
And making sure others have a good time, entertaining, hosting.
Maneesh Goyal:
Why couldn't we go to an Indian restaurant and have a good time? So that was the thing. I was like, it's cool, we love the yellowtail sashimi at Nobu, but where's our version? Where's the version for us?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
When you think about Asian food too, there's just one Asian in America, one version of it, but Indian food is Asian food and we don't have that.
Kerry Diamond:
On top of that, we lost Floyd Cardoz, who really had been the champion of that in New York City.
Maneesh Goyal:
That's right. So, with Floyd's passing and he was a great friend and a mentor and a collaborator of sorts…
Kerry Diamond:
Just for folks who don't know Floyd, he was a great chef in New York City, passed away very early in the pandemic and had legendary restaurants like Tabla.
Maneesh Goyal:
Like Tabla and then the Bread Bar. Tabla was the first of its kind. He opened Tabla in 1998 and I moved to New York in 1999. I remember just feeling so cool going to Tabla, and I was like, "Wow, this is amazing." If you remember, Tabla had an upstairs and the downstairs and the downstairs was the Bread Bar. That was my spot because it was a little more relaxed and upstairs was more fine dining. And going to the Bread Bar was just really, I was like, "Oh, wow, this is cool and this is different." So, it was very sad to lose Floyd, especially to COVID, but in late March of 2020, so early.
Kerry Diamond:
He was so young.
Maneesh Goyal:
He was so young and his wife has now become a close friend of mine, Barkha. And one thing we're very proud of is that we honor Floyd on our menu with Floyd's Goan Fish Curry, which was all done in collaboration, in partnership with Barkha, his wife and his widow who allowed us to name a dish in his honor. Chef Hari Nayak, our culinary director, we approached her and said, "This restaurant came into being-"
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Because of pioneers like him.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah, because of pioneers like him. He changed the game and he opened up doors for all of us. And also, COVID is a story of all of New York City restaurants, especially those that tried to open. So, we would be remiss if you would allow us to name a dish in his honor, and she was gracious enough to allow us. So, we're very proud. Floyd's Goan Fish Curry will always be on the menu here at Sona.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
It's so good.
Maneesh Goyal:
It's so good.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's talk about this menu. What is your go-to order when you're here?
Maneesh Goyal:
It's so funny. I mean, for me, there's certain dishes that have, in my opinion, become iconic. One of them is our popcorn shrimp. It is so good because it's got a little bit of sweet and sour, but there's really nothing else like it. And the second dish that I'm super proud of and this is a very competitive game is the chicken wing game. So, we have ghee roasted, masala stuffed chicken wings, and even the press has commented on just how spectacular our chicken wings are. So, the chicken wings, I think, are really amazing. And then I've always been a big fan, as I said, of Floyd's Goan Fish Curry, but then I also love our lamb. Lamb dishes, I think, are some of the most... There's heat, but it's not overwhelming heat, but there's some heat to it.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your go-to order?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Chili cheese toast.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yes. Nice. It is so savory and good.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
It's so good. I'm a street food fan wherever in the world I go. This was also when you said a very deliberate conversation about what the food will be like. When people think about Indian food, there is a mainstream diaspora that's going to want the classics, the butter chickens, the naans, the biryanis. And I remember us having the conversation about wanting to create hybrid, innovative, fine dining, which is like chicken wings but Indian or doses with eggs. So, the hybrid of who we are as people who are exposed to India and the states, but at the same time to have the staples that are expected, but I'm a street food junkie. Wherever in the world I go, I find the street food.
I think you can experience the spirit of a place when you eat street food in any city that you go to. So, the Golgappas were a really big part of that for me. I always have the Golgappas. They're spiked Golgappas too, which are really fun. That was my mom's idea though. She used to do that at parties when we were kids, not for us. The galouti kebab, which I had yesterday, was insane. That's a really hard lamb kebab to make, because it takes a long time for the meat to be as tender and it melts in your mouth and that was so amazing. And I had to give Chef Hari kudos because that comes from Lucknow and that specific region. And there's a lot of pride taken in those kebabs.
Being pan-Indian was very important, because for anyone who has been to India, you know that the diversity of India is what is unique about us. Every 100 miles you go, you see different features. You'd see different languages, written and unspoken. You see different ways the same food is made. The spices are completely different. The use of ingredients is completely different. Your wardrobe is completely different. So, we wanted Sona to be a home for a pan-India culinary experience.
Kerry Diamond:
And just talking to you for, I don't know how long we've been talking now, it is so obvious now why you wanted to launch Sona Home.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
You two ooze hospitality.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
We do love parties.
Maneesh Goyal:
We love parties and we love to entertain. We like to hang out with our friends and have friends over. But also, as I said, there's a love of India.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
And a pride.
Maneesh Goyal:
A pride.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
A pride of India.
Maneesh Goyal:
Correct. And we were born in opposite ends of this world. I mean, she was born in India, I was born in Texas, but this pride is so deep within us that before I became friends with Priyanka, I said, "No one has ever gone late night TV and played Holi for example." This is somebody who was breaking boundaries and changing perception. And so, when it comes to goods and homeware and tabletop, people might think of it as being a little either schlocky or they might think of things coming from India as not having the prestige.
We wanted to really show you that oh wait, as gorgeous as you might set your table with something like Wedgewood or Villeroy & Boch or any of these other beautiful homeware brands, you can get goods from India just the same and that will stand up to any of these other beautiful heritage brands. And that's what we're here to show you. There's an education piece, but there's a pride piece. And then there's also just a love of entertaining piece because Priyanka entertains a ton as do I. When people come over, phones tend to slip away, our shoulders go down, you forget the worries of the day, and you just exist in this cocoon. And that's what we want to create. And so, how beautiful to have a cocoon that's gorgeously ornated by this product from Sona Home.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell us about the initial launch. What's in the line?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Well, the line is right now just on ware. We plan to expand in skews as we go along, but pretty much all in front of you. This is the Panna collection. We love the linens because Panna basically means emerald and that's the color of emerald. Emerald is a stone. Gemstones are a big part of India's history. Most of the gemstones that you will see across the world come from India. So, while Maneesh was talking, I'd let him explain a little bit more of the collection too, but I had a thought, two things. One, what we want to bring to the table is the hospitality that India is known for. Asian hospitality is unprecedented. Like you go to India and there's a saying called the Atithi Devo Bhava in Sanskrit, which means treat your guest like a God.
So, if someone comes into your home, you provide to them the most amazing hospitality that they've ever experienced. That was the idea and the ethos behind this. And the second thing is slightly more controversial, but the West has sold a lot of what comes out of India. We wanted to take the power back a little bit in the luxury space specifically. I think being able to say that we are giving you an experience, which is luxurious but entrenched in a country that is not specifically in The States considered that when our history has luxury completely entrenched in it. We were pillaged, of course. India was invaded multiple times, but our ethos as a country is hospitality and making sure even if you don't have much, you still share.
And it's about creating a table, where you share conversation, you share community, you share building trust and happiness and joy, which is something that so badly needed right now. The world is a little fractured.
Maneesh Goyal:
I think that's right. So, the collection is rooted in the items that you'll find on your table to create these moments that will be everlasting. And so, there's really three categories that we launched with dinnerware, a full collection of beautiful dinnerware that really features in its core, a palm tree, which again, we're here to twist perception. People sometimes don't think about India being tropical. India has gorgeous beach culture.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Incredible coastline. We're a peninsula. It's predominantly coastlines.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah. So, that's the idea. When you think about palm tree, you might think about the Caribbean or LA.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
LA.
Maneesh Goyal:
Exactly. Yeah. Or perhaps even the Middle East, but you won't consider India for being a beautiful tropical country. And so, the dinnerware, table linens and so, runners, napkins, place mats, tablecloths of course, coasters, and then barware. So, we have a gorgeous two-bottle cooler that is spectacular. I think they've just taken it upstairs away.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
I show it off everywhere.
Maneesh Goyal:
Now, we've just launched our Sona Home candle. We have wine coasters. We have the…
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Straw.
Maneesh Goyal:
...straw, very chic, elegant straw.
Kerry Diamond:
The G&T straw.
Maneesh Goyal:
That's the G&T straws that are…
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
It's beautiful.
Maneesh Goyal:
...that are Sona straws.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
I keep it in my bag.
Maneesh Goyal:
We have even our beautiful bread baskets with the bread basket inserts to keep your breads warm, whether they be croissants or not. So, it works for everything.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
We use it for toast every morning and breakfast.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah, exactly. So, this is what we're bringing to the table, but literally bringing to the table. But I really like what Priyanka said is that we're reclaiming something and this is coming from…
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
In the luxury space.
Maneesh Goyal:
In the luxury space. And this is coming from two people that are insatiable entertainers and hosts. When we were talking the other day, Priyanka said, "Oh, no, trust me, you want to be friends with us."
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, no, I do. After doing a deep dive into both of you.
Maneesh Goyal:
Kind of true.
Kerry Diamond:
Can you tell us what is the annual toss salad party?
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah, of course. Okay. The best part about the annual salad toss off was…
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, right. The annual salad toss-off.
Maneesh Goyal:
Because somebody said to me, "What the hell are you talking about? You have an annual salad toss-off?" I said, "Yeah, because I want to throw a party." This was before I've now been with my husband for 15 years. Before I met him, I was like, "Okay, I'm in New York. I want to throw a party and I don't want to do any work, but I want to have a really fun party." I was like, "Okay, well, growing up in Texas, the way you did that is you had a chili cookoff." So, that was a big thing in Texas. I said, "Okay, so now I'm in New York city and now I'm finally out the closet and I've owned my identity." I said, "What's the gay urban version of a chili cookoff?" I was like, "Ding, ding, I'm going to have a salad toss-off."
I mean, it just came to me and I threw this salad competition party. It started very small and now it has gone to meteoric heights where people will go crazy with the concepts of their salads. And it always happens religiously the Sunday afternoon before Thanksgiving, before what could be a gluttonous week. We always do it at home and it's become our annual party. Now, me and Andrew, my husband's annual party. There's judges and prizes and categories and people just come and it's families. It's an afternoon party and it's the salad toss-off.
Kerry Diamond:
I would like to be on the waiting list of your party.
Maneesh Goyal:
Yes, please. Yes.
Kerry Diamond:
You were talking about reclaiming India's culture, the hospitality, all of those things. It got me thinking that we have seen this incredible wave of young South Asian female entrepreneurs reclaiming what's theirs in the food space. I started to list the brands and there are so many, Diaspora, Brooklyn Delhi, Brightland, Kola Goodies, Malai Ice Cream, even Mumbai to Maine who I just learned about last week. Do you think the same thing is behind this explosion and the food category?
Maneesh Goyal:
First of all, I love that you're asking this question because I love giving space and making space for all these brands, especially female founded brands and especially South Asian inspired and founded brands. So, I really think it's all one and the same, which is that we are stepping out of the shadows. We have felt for a long time, there wasn't a seat at the table for us. Quite literally, when Priyanka and I were trying to figure out, I would get asked the question all the time as I built my life in New York. "Oh, wow. She seemed like a fun New Yorker who happens to be Indian. You're the right guy to ask. Where should I have Indian food?"
I was like, "Why the hell I don't have an answer to that question? I can tell you some delicious halal places. Sure, but I know what you're asking me." You're like, "Where's the vibe? Where's a fun place? Where's the place that is ours?" And then ultimately, like so many things in life, I think as Priyanka and I started talking about this, we realized that it doesn't exist, so we have to do it.
So, this is up to us. I think all those companies that you mentioned said the same, they said, "Now's our time," because I think about Brightland and Aishwarya who has started Brightland. That's a beautiful olive oil company. I'm so impressed and proud of what they're doing, but she talks a lot about the use of oil in her life, growing up as an Indian American. And so, these are the kinds of things. So, she's translated into a beautiful olive oil company that is run by a woman named Aishwarya and I think that that's really cool. And so, now, I think it's all one and the same conversation that we're making space for ourselves.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
I think it's a two-point question or an answer actually. As an immigrant who has moved from India, I saw this unfold in front of me. First, I came here as a child, which was in the late '90s. I feel like at that time, what I noticed was our parents and the generation before us who had immigrated as your parents did when they were super young into a different country, not knowing the language, not knowing the culture, having to navigate a life in a different country altogether, it's a terrifying experience. I'm sure your mom and your dad went through that. My aunts and uncles who raised me and my cousins absolutely went through it and we were told as kids to be invisible. Do not create trouble, to be quiet.
Maneesh Goyal:
Don't stand out.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Don't stand out, because they came into this country being afraid. They were like, "I don't know what values my children will learn. I don't know what values they might forget." Now, us the generation, which is an amalgamation of the fears and the aspirations of our parents and ambitions of our own that we have built living in a global society, especially connected tremendously by the internet now.
So, I think the reason you are seeing, like Maneesh said, a lot of people especially of the South Asian background coming in and saying, telling their parents, "I know why you were scared, but I think I could find a spot for myself on the tables. I'm going to give it a shot. I don't have to just be the engineer or the lawyer or the stable jobs that you know wanted for me because you wanted stability for me. Now I can go into media. I can go into food. I can go into beverage. I can go into whatever I want because of the explosion of how close the world has become."
I think our parents having worked so hard or the generation before us having worked so hard to solidify and give us a good life has empowered our generation to take our future into our own hands and to be able to create that space that no one else gave us. So, now we're not going to ask for it. We're going to demand it and we're going to create that space.
Maneesh Goyal:
And I think that this notion of being invisible is so…
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
It's such an Indian thing.
Maneesh Goyal:
It's so true. And so, just a quick story, so before I got into hospitality, I had a long career as a marketer and working. I started a marketing agency. My sister was on her honeymoon having just gotten married and my desperate mother called her to say, "You must take my phone call and call your brother to talk him out of this crazy idea that he has to get into marketing," because then she said to her and then to be…
Kerry Diamond:
On her honeymoon.
Maneesh Goyal:
On her honeymoon. And she said to her, "Are there any Indians in that?" Because all she could know is what she could see.
Kerry Diamond:
You know what you know.
Maneesh Goyal:
Exactly. So, she called me and said, "Are there any..." I said, "Mom, the question doesn't even resonate in my head. I'm leading with my desire and my passion." And then of course, once the marketing agency took off and I became successful, then she was very proud. And I was like, "Okay, but mom, you have to remember-"
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
Think about the fear that comes from-
Maneesh Goyal:
I have to put myself in her context and understand that she actually said to me, she said, "Why don't you get a job at the UN?" I said, "Okay, I can understand." She was like, "Yeah, it's stable and also you don't pay taxes." I was like, "Okay, mom." I was like, "You've got it all figured out, but our trains of thought and our points of view were so different." This is just within one generation.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
I think that immigrant experience between the two generations, we have to give so much credit to the foundation that our parents and the generation before us set for us to be able to have the wings that we do and the voice that we do.
Maneesh Goyal:
I went to a huge public high school in Texas, graduating class of 1,200. I was always fighting for a spot at the table. I was always willing to take a risk and not worry if anyone else had done this before me, because-
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
There's no precedent.
Maneesh Goyal:
Nobody had done anything before me. And so, that's the reason that I moved to New York City and just rolled up my sleeves and said, "Let me dig into what the city can offer." Now it's a joy to hear that I have mutual friends with you because you're a native New Yorker.
Kerry Diamond:
You're like the mayor of New York. The unofficial mayor of New York. What is your involvement with Planned Parenthood?
Maneesh Goyal:
Yeah, I'm so proud of the question and thank you for asking. I am a fierce advocate and I think it comes from the way in which I grew up as well as the people I surround myself, maybe literally quite lovingly going back to this idea of girls and gays. I have been lifted up my entire life by women and the idea of sexual and reproductive health and autonomy being such a core to that lived experience even for me. So, I struggled a lot. I really convinced myself, because sometimes our minds, especially as young adults, can be our greatest foes. I convinced myself at a very hard time in my life that I was probably the only Indian gay person in the world because I didn't know of any. I'd never seen one. This was at the early age of the internet.
And so, I really didn't know how it could exist in my body. So, then if you translate that and you think about all the women specifically go through, as it relates to what's either forced upon them or forced upon their being, their bodies, I've always just stood up. Without saying too much, I saw a lot in my own home of angst. So, just wherever I can, I am in the corner of a woman. And so, to that extent, I became friendly with other board members. I've long been a volunteer.
My senior year in high school, I spent nine months acting in a troop called the Teenage Communication Theater Troop for Planned Parenthood, where we would go to every places from churches and synagogues to detention centers. We would perform skits about teenage pregnancy, about the double standard between being a boy and a girl.
Kerry Diamond:
You did this in high school?
Maneesh Goyal:
In high school.
Kerry Diamond:
Wow.
Maneesh Goyal:
So, it was in me that I was going to do this and I'm fiercely connected to this idea of body justice. So, this is the work that I now do. Previously, I've always felt like I want to be a community builder and connected to nonprofits in the same way that Priyanka has been using her voice and her platform so impressively to advocate.
Kerry Diamond:
Thank you for everything you do. Okay. Next question. Holiday miracle breakfast, do you know about this? Okay. You're going to want to get involved. Everyone I've told about this is like, "Count me in this year."
Maneesh Goyal:
It is the simplest idea and it is honestly the best idea. It's not one that I can take credit for by any means, but you get 30 friends and I'm somebody who can get 30 people to show up. But I think even if you get three people and you get five people and then it grows and you show up to a place that employees hardworking in this case, New Yorkers, but hardworking Americans.
Kerry Diamond:
Like a classic diner.
Maneesh Goyal:
A classic diner, a place that is not known for abundant tips, and I just say, "Hey, can I bring 30 friends for a little holiday breakfast?" I say, "Just one thing, if it's not a problem, could we all get separate checks?" It's a diner. So, they're used to separate checks. So, it's great. Yeah, sure. We're happy to have you guys. We show up pretty early around 9:00 AM and it's a hodgepodge of people. No one knows each other, but everyone's there with the same purpose. So, everyone's just meeting people. Also, by the way, most people have been to a holiday party the night before. So, they're into the greasy food or whatever the food might be. It's pretty satisfying. At the end of the meal, this is of course pre-done, but I ask everyone to pay their bill and then on top of their bill put $100. It's simple and it's wonderful and it's beautiful. And none of us probably are going to be in a position to maybe leave through a $3,000 tip. That's the way I think about it. So, that's the collective power of it all.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, I hope this takes off and I hope people-
Maneesh Goyal:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
... copy this across the country. It's such a beautiful thing. Even if you're one person, you can do that during the holidays.
Maneesh Goyal:
That's right.
Kerry Diamond:
You both have very different approaches to talking about goals and dreams. You love to say dreams come true. You say that all the time in your posts. Priyanka, I listened to your interview with Oprah. You quoted that proverb. You make plans. God laughs. So, I don't know if you want to talk about plans for Sona, but just quickly, I'd love to end with this. Where do you see Sona going?
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
I think the future of Sona is really interesting because what we're tapping into is not just a tangible product. We're tapping into the experience and that experience can turn into any form of different skews of homeware, hotels, spas. It could be anything that creates the experience of luxurious timeless India with a sprinkle of fun. That's something that I feel like I am someone who works in the immediate. I have dreams and ambitions, which is why I quoted that, which is you make plans and then you tell God and she laughs. She's like hahaha and that's life. It's okay for life to be that way.
But I think if in the immediate you strive for excellence, so today in the immediate, at this luncheon, while talking to you, while talking about a brand, I'm very, very proud of and proud of partnering with David and Maneesh to be able to bring this to American tables and to create a sense of community at a time when the world is really coming out of something that's fractured us. We're still taking baby steps towards meeting people and creating that. We want to help you be able to create a warm environment of safety. And I'm just very proud to be able to focus on that immediate right now to make sure that the ethos of Sona and the experience of Sona is represented well. Hopefully, that'll give us a trajectory, which will be really great.
Kerry Diamond:
Sky's the limit.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
So far, so good.
Maneesh Goyal:
Stratospheric. Here we go.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, thank you so much for your time. You two are amazing human beings.
Maneesh Goyal:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm so glad you made the time for us.
Maneesh Goyal:
Oh, it's an honor.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas:
So lovely. Great questions.
Maneesh Goyal:
It's a really fun conversation.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Thank you so much to Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Maneesh Goyal and the whole team at Sona Restaurant. Be sure to add Sona to your list of places to visit in New York City. Maybe I'll see you there. And of course, check out Sona Home at sonahomenyc.com. Thank you to Whole Foods for supporting today's show. If you enjoyed this episode of Radio Cherry Bombe, check out our interviews with other great duos like Padma Lakshmi and Madhur Jaffrey and Ina Garten and Stanley Tucci.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Radio Cherry Bombe is a production of Cherry Bombe Magazine. Our theme song is by the band Tralala. Thank you to Eric Sheppard for mixing this episode and thank you to our assistant producer, Jenna Sadhu, and thanks to you for listening. You're the Bombe.