Trini runs Miami restaurant: Scientist by day, executive chef at night

FOR Vidya Maharaj, home is where the heart is, and one of the ways she expresses her love is through food.
Maharaj runs a successful India-fusion vegetarian restaurant in Miami called Diya, where she is proud to show off her Indo-Trinidadian heritage. 
Serving up aloo-pies and doubles with her twist, Maharaj enjoys experimenting in the kitchen and surprising customers’ palettes with an array of flavours.
Originally from Sangre Grande, Maharaj left high school to further her studies in the United States.
She says food was not initially part of her plan, but acknowledges that life itself can take you down many paths. 
Maharaj said right after she graduated from Northeastern College, she went to Miami to become a doctor, but instead she became a scientist.
“I am the vice-president of a biotech company that submits FDA (Federal Drug Administration) approved new drugs and therapies during the day, and at night, I am chef,” she said.
Maharaj says it took some convincing from her brother to share her passion for cooking with the world.
“Diya was established in November 2018 and was officially opened for fine dining in January 2019. The name Diya is a combination of my mom’s name (Daya) and my name Vidya,” she said.
Maharaj is the executive chef at Diya, and as a bonus, she works with her family: her younger brother Dharam, his wife Valeri, and her older brother Muneshwar. Her 20-month old niece Rani is also a part of the family’s food legacy.
Although her brother, Dharam, actually established the restaurant, Maharaj says it was her intervention at a critical stage that caused it to thrive. 
She said, “My brother always loved my cooking and wanted me to open a restaurant. He said I had it in me to be an amazing chef. I declined as I was at the height of my career in the biotech world. I finally said yes in January 2019 when I attended his soft opening and realized he would lose all his money if I didn’t intervene.
“I told my job it was a family emergency and immediately took four days off. It was a Tuesday. I told him we would do a reopening on Friday night. I started on the menu on my way home and tried to incorporate things I like and a fusion of Miami.” 
Maharaj said she never doubted that she could be an integral part of a successful restaurant. She was more concerned that her brother, Dharam, would lose it all.
“He and his wife had just had a baby girl two months before. I had to step in. Love for my family was greater than anything. I am lucky I have a very supportive husband who lets me do these things,” she said.
Maharaj had absolutely no professional culinary background, but her gamble paid off.
She said, “We serve fusion traditional Indian cuisine. In the beginning, we used to serve up traditional Trini aloo pie and doubles and Indian street food. It changed due to manpower and popularity as a result of the pandemic. I moved towards more traditional Indian cuisine and, recently, world fusion. For example, we do kofta pasta, a spin on traditional malai kofta. We still serve doubles but on an elevated level and call it channa taco.”
Maharaj says her fusion of traditional Indian cuisine costs between $10 - $30US per dish, and her channa taco is popular with customers.
The pandemic has not only been a colossal global-health crisis, but it has also been the toughest challenge for the restaurant industry to date. While some countries have been able to roll back restrictions, some restaurants may never reopen.
Maharaj says in the ever-changing economic landscape, Diya has had to adapt and refine its fine-dining restaurant model to move forward in the new normal.
She said, “We opened before the pandemic and had to do whatever it took to stay open. We are growing by the day, and people are saying our dishes are different but worth Michelin stars. We pride ourselves on service, food, and presentation.” 
For first-timers to the restaurant, Maharaj recommends they try Gobi Manchurian, channa taco (doubles), kofta pasta, and their signature ras malai tres leches.
Given the present economic landscape, she does not plan on opening a branch of Diya in Trinidad soon, but is planning on expanding her menu to include more elevated Asian cuisine.
The restaurant is located at Sunset Harbour in Miami.  Source: Sunday Express, Aug 4, 2021

---