26 Facts About Meeru Dhalwala

Meeru Dhalwala is a restaurateur, chef, public speaker, and cookbook author.

Meeru Dhalwala is one of Vancouver's most prominent promoters of women in business, climate change and sustainability, and healthy-elegant home cooking.

Meeru Dhalwala co-owned the restaurants Vij's and Rangoli and currently co-owns Lila in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Meeru Dhalwala was born in Delhi, India in October 1964.

Meeru Dhalwala lived in DC in her adult years, until she moved permanently to Vancouver, BC in February 1995.

Meeru Dhalwala worked as Program Manager for the Committee of Human Rights at the US National Academy of Sciences.

Meeru Dhalwala then worked in Washington, DC on various development projects in Rwanda, Uganda, and Malawi.

Meeru Dhalwala is co-founder of Vij's with her then-husband Vikram Vij and Lila restaurants.

Meeru Dhalwala co-founded and ran Rangoli market and restaurant from 2003 to 2020.

In 2002, Meeru Dhalwala created the concept and design of boil-a-bag, sustainably sourced, and modern Indian foods and worked with designer Marc Bricault on the packaging and labels.

In November 2012, Meeru Dhalwala launched a new Indian restaurant, Shanik, in Seattle, Washington.

Meeru Dhalwala has written three cookbooks, co-authored with Vikram Vij.

In 2006, Meeru Dhalwala penned the first, Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine, which won several awards in 2007, including Cuisine Canada's Gold Award for Best Cookbook and Cordon d'Or Gold Ribbon International Cookbook Award.

In 2022, Meeru Dhalwala launched My Bambiri Foods, an online organic baby and toddler food company.

Meeru Dhalwala believes in supporting local business and agriculture, and is committed to improving her business environmental footprint.

Meeru Dhalwala was a pioneer in the use of crickets in gourmet cooking, bringing attention to their potential as a sustainable protein.

Meeru Dhalwala developed a recipe for cricket paranthas, which were on the menu at both Vij's and Shanik and an Indian cricket pizza, served at Rangoli.

Meeru Dhalwala is active in the community and was a board member of Vancouver Farmers Markets.

Meeru Dhalwala currently serves on the board of IC-IMPACTS.

Meeru Dhalwala has been a judge for Canada's Outstanding Young Farmer Awards and has been a member of Les Dames D'Escoffier, BC Chapter since 2010.

Meeru Dhalwala is particularly interested in sharing her cooking skills with parents who wish to feed their families in a way that is "easy, delicious and healthy".

Meeru Dhalwala shared her ideas through her regular monthly column in The Vancouver Sun, titled Food for Thought, and a regular Point Person for CBC Radio's 2009 national show The Point.

Meeru Dhalwala is founder and co-organizer of the Joy of Feeding, an annual international food fair held at the UBC Farm in Vancouver.

Meeru Dhalwala's vision is to grow the event to "a worldwide Joy of Feeding day where various communities throughout the world gather together to feature and share their home cooked meals".

Meeru Dhalwala won the WORTH Association's Woman of Worth Empower award in 2023.

Meeru Dhalwala holds honorary doctorates from both Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia.