Ritu Saraf - Allow Your Passion to Become Your Purpose, and It Will One Day Become Your Profession (Blogger)

I'm Ritu Saraf, curious by nature, typical Virgo in every form and always trying my hands on something new. Being born and brought up in the city of mishti doi and rasogollas, kinda acted reversed for me as I hardly have a sweet tooth. 

For my studies, I have completed my CA inter and have a work experience of around 5 years in an MNC. I love photography, dancing, travelling, learning new languages, trying out new places /cuisines and reading books. Recently, I have started with my food blogging journey and taking one day at a time to enjoy every bit of it

Tell us about your background and journey.


I am ‘Ritu Saraf’ the face behind ‘Cheerandchew’. Born and brought up in Kol, I come from a finance background with a working experience in MNC. My passion for trying new things made me learn different languages like Hindi, English, Bengali, German and a bit of Spanish. 

Talking about my journey of food blogging, it all started over the most trending drink during the lockdown, i.e. Dalgona Coffee. After making and uploading its pic on social media, I was widely appreciated by my friends and family and that is it, post that there was no turning back. 

In just a few months, I have collaborated with multiple brands and even got the title of “presentation queen” by my fellow bloggers. However, this is just the beginning and I have so much more to learn and improve to make it only better from here.

Which is your favourite cuisine and dish?

So although I enjoy a lot of cuisines if I had to narrow it down to one it would undoubtedly be Italian. Pasta is literally my first love. Apart from that, I also love Pizza, Bruschetta, Lasagne, Risotto, etc and even for desserts, Tiramisu is one of my favs.

Should food blogging be just a passion or can it become a regular career?

I would like to quote ‘Gabrielle Bernstein’ here, “Allow your passion to become your purpose, and it will one day become your profession”. So yes, although food blogging may start as a passion it can definitely convert into a career. 

There are so many bloggers already doing that and earning their bread and butter out of it. I believe if you are truly passionate about something and work hard towards it then you could be unstoppable. But it’s extremely important to be focussed, consistent and enjoy the whole journey.

Which restaurants/food joints would you recommend to food lovers?

This has to be one of the most difficult questions because choosing a restaurant depends on so many factors. However, if I have to still name one it would be “Bar-B-Q” because this place never disappoints and it’s like an evergreen restaurant here. Also, another place worth mentioning is “The Grid”. 

It’s one of my fav places to hang around and the noodles here are to die for. When visiting Kolkata, these two places are a must-visit.


What makes you appreciate a particular dish or a restaurant and talk about it on your blog?

It can’t be just one or two things but a combination of so many factors that makes or breaks a restaurant. For instance, the overall ambience, hospitality, hygiene, portion size, presentation, price and most importantly the taste, literally everything matters. 

You might visit a place once for all the jazziness but to attract the crowd second time, the quality of the food has to be impeccable.


Is there a dish you particularly associate yourself with?

I would like to think of myself as a Sandwich, the reason being its versatility. Like I mentioned earlier I have always been passionate about experimenting new things just like sandwiches where there are endless possibilities to experiment. 

Whether the outcome is good or bad is absolutely secondary but what really matters is trying and that’s something I would never cease to do.

Which is your favourite book and why?

Hands down ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ is a clear winner in this category. Although, I am more into mystery, thriller, horror genre of books this book is so simple yet so effective in its own way. It talks about the ground realities of life and gives one a different perspective altogether. With lots of lessons to learn from and valuing one’s life, this book teaches you a lot. 

Anybody who has read this knows that it’s gonna leave a beautiful impact on you and those who haven’t, should put it on their reading list right away. Probably, you could follow my page later to thank me.

Interviewed by - Naveen Meena