Sid & Chand Sahrawat – Chef and Owners
Cassia began as a challenge, born out of Sid and Chand’s home cooking on Sundays – cherished family time at the Sahrawats. They were forever fusing Sid’s haute cuisine with Chand’s delicious curries and wondered aloud to each other – “Why can’t we find restaurants that serve food like this in Auckland?”
The answer was staring right at them and in 2014 Cassia opened in Fort Lane.
Cassia was the city’s first restaurant to offer modern Indian dining in a contemporary setting and has gone on to win many awards and loyal customers.
At Cassia Sid marries his innovative approach to cooking with the traditional dishes he grew up with in India – classic spice and flavour combinations reworked with fresh New Zealand ingredients.
Now, they’ve brought Cassia to its new home at SkyCity in Federal Street.
The couple also own Sid at The French Cafe, Kol in Ponsonby and their Cassia at Home brand of spices and curry sauces.
Prateek Arora Restaurant Manager, Cassia and KOL
Prateek is an award-winning front of house and self-confessed sneaker head who found his passion and purpose at Cassia.
Originally from New Delhi in India, Prateek came to New Zealand a decade ago for study and has a Diploma in Hotel Management from Aspire International Institute. He got his major break at Cassia in 2014, starting out as a food runner before working his way up to restaurant manager in 2020.
An extrovert (his pristine sneaker collection numbers more than 215 pairs!) he loves talking to people and trying new places to eat. In 2018 Metro recognised him as Restaurant Personality of the year.