4 | Rahi, Masalawala, and Adda: Roni Mazumdar

This week we speak with Roni Mazumdar, a modern-day polymath. He’s an entrepreneur, actor, tech startup founder, dad, and in a former life, an engineer. But today, he’s primarily a restaurateur.

If you’re a foodie in New York City, you may have visited one of his three restaurants: Rahi, a high-end artisanal Indian restaurant in the West Village; The MasalaWala, featuring South Asian street style cuisine in the Lower East Side; and Adda, an Indian canteen that recently opened to much acclaim in Long Island City. Last year, the New York Times named Adda one of the top 10 best new restaurants in NYC.

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In this episode, Lynne speaks with Roni about: 

His early years in America,
How his many interests fuel his creativity,
And his advice on how to become what you’re truly meant to be.

For anyone who is interested in a lot of different things, Roni’s advice will shed light on how to explore as many of them as possible....without forsaking your bank account. You’ll also hear Roni talk about overcoming the fear of failure and why he thinks combining acting with his engineering degree was one of the best moves he ever made. 

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Relevant Links Mentioned in the Show:

Roni’s three restaurants (check them out if you’re in NYC!):

Adda NYC, @addanyc, NYT's Top 10 Best New Restaurants in NYC
Rahi, @rahinyc
The MasalaWala, @themasalawala

Roni’s bio: Roni Mazumdar is the creative vision behind three Indian restaurants in New York City: Adda, Rahi, and The MasalaWala. He is also an actor and producer, known for 9 Eleven (2011), Uncommitted (2015) and The Word Trader (2013), as well as Founder/CEO of tech startup WonkWall. 

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Each week on Rock The Boat, co-hosts Lucia Liu and Lynne Guey take you into the minds of an Asian American entrepreneur, technologist, or creative  and ask them how they view success, what they struggle with, and what it means to rock the boat.

A big thanks to our audio editor, Molly Schulson! Check out her personalized audio story collection at tellmystoryaudio.com. 

As always, please subscribe and share this episode with anyone who you think could benefit from it. Leave us a kind review and maybe a 5-star rating ;) 

If you have suggestions for topics about the Asian American community, or a personal story that you’d like to share, email us at [email protected]. 

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Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rocktheboat/message