About Us

The Chai Stop evolved when two friends, Tina and Isobel, who shared a love and passion for wholesome food made from fresh authentic ingredients, realised their potential and decided to begin a small business so that they could share their passion with others.

Tina and Isobel met through Sahaja Yoga meditation 21 years ago. The value and ethics they share lie at the very heart of The Chai Stop – balance and harmony in the kitchen are as important as the ingredients themselves to produce food genuinely cooked with love...

The inspiration behind The Chai Stop stems from Tina’s travels in India, where she was inspired by the richness of this amazing continent, its culture, the colours, the spices and the fragrance of the food – and more importantly the warmth and passion of its people. Tina comes from a catering background – her parents ran very successful restaurants and she grew up working alongside her mother in the kitchen, learning first hand all the skills of the trade.

This created the spark - then 2o years ago, the ladies found themselves selling steaming platefuls of curry to queues of eager, hungry students at Kent University. The word got around and gradually the business began to evolve. Very soon they were delivering fresh curries cooked in their own family kitchens to private customers in their own homes. As demand grew, they began to cook curries in batches and then freeze them by the portion so that distribution became easier.

Over the years Tina and Isobel have tried and tested, tweaked and perfected their “main-stays” on The Chai Stop menu. To this day they cook curries from scratch in small batches, while still managing to keep things interesting by experimenting and introducing new recipes.

The love of cooking is genuine and is without a doubt the “secret ingredient” to The Chai Stop’s success. Tina and Isobel strongly believe that food cooked with love, care and respect satisfies and comforts on all levels.

It is the love that makes the food truly wholesome, healthy and nutritious for the mind, body and spirit. The Chai Stop now consists of a team of six in a very happy and harmonious kitchen.

Visiting The Chai Stop on Saturdays is a unique and pleasurable experience. Customers are offered tastings of what has been cooked during the week - which prompts discussion about the ingredients used, the origins of the recipes and the background and history of the business.

The business is going from strength to strength, particularly since being voted Kent Food Producer of The Year 2009. However, although this is very exciting, Tina and Isobel are very keen to maintain the essence of The Chai Stop – it is all about the good food, the team cooking it and the customers enjoying it. In Tina’s words “We are delighted at our success but want to keep the intimacy and personal involvement with the customers our main priority”.

For more information on Sahaja Yoga, visit

www.freemeditation.com/sahaja-yoga
or
www.sahajayoga.ca