Nikki Thakker has always been versatile when it comes to her talents. As a child, she took up archery and quickly rose to become a national-level archer. At the same time, she was also pursuing her studies at London School of Economics. It was while she was here that Nikki got to explore another love of her life — chocolates. Now back in the country, Nikki has opened up a shop of artisanal chocolates, each unique in their taste and flavour.
“I have always been passionate about chocolates. Whenever I would travel to America or Europe, I would get chocolates back for myself, my family and my friends. In doing so, I realised that we don’t really have those kinds of chocolates in India, and I wanted to bring quality chocolates to the country. That’s what I’m doing with Entisi,” she explains.
The chocolatier’s earliest sweet-tooth memories go all the way back to her childhood when her mother would have to lock up all the chocolates in one room. Even so, Nikki recalls breaking in and later being found by her mother with chocolate all over her. “Later, when I was about 13 or so, I travelled abroad for the first time. That’s also the time that I started to collect chocolates from other countries,” she recalls.
The love for all things sweet followed Nikki to London, where she was able to explore artisanal chocolates for the first time. She says, “It was when I was studying in London for my economics degree that I discovered some of the more gourmet chocolates. There’s a shop by Pierre Hermes and one by Pierre Martini. I used to visit them regularly, including an Italian store called Venchi. Those are the kind of chocolates I have in my store no.”
Before she began exploring chocolates, though, Nikki was also a national level archer. Ask her about her archery achievements and she says, “It’s really something that I wanted to keep as a hobby. I started when I was 13 and continued till I got to the national level. I didn’t mean to take it up as a career. For that matter, I was also a national level kathak dancer. I also took classes in salsa, jazz dancing and belly dancing. I just love to learn something new and I keep picking up new skills whenever I can.”
It was this love for learning that made Nikki take a serious course in chocolates before coming back to India and launching her store. “I went to a food exhibition in Dubai where people from all over the world come to showcase their food. Then I took training to become a chocolatier in Italy. I also travelled extensively through Italy and France picking up tricks of the trade and speaking to chocolate vendors. Unfortunately, that left little time for sightseeing,” she rues, adding, “Maybe next time I’ll have some time on my hands; I can go back and actually take in a few sights. France and Italy are such beautiful countries and I want to take them in like a tourist next time, visit Rome and do all those things that I didn’t get to do last time,” she reveals.
