Saima Thompson– Juggling Restaurant Rotas & Cancer
Restaurateur Saima Thompson, founder of much-lauded Brockley restaurant, Masala Wala Cafe, was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in April 2018, at the age of 29. She spent two years undergoing various treatments including multiple rounds of chemotherapy, targeted therapy drugs and immunotherapy - whilst also, incredibly, running the restaurant, writing for her blog, ‘Curry & Cancer’, and co-hosting the podcast Fresh to Death.
We sat down (virtually) with Saima on The Shift Show to hear more about her journey to opening Masala Wala Cafe and what it’s like to juggling cancer and setting up a business. If you missed it, we pulled our favourite sound bites from the chat. But you can listen back to the full conversation here.
“Cancer is a full time job”
In response to when she found out she had stage 4 lung cancer:
“I haven’t got time for this, terminal cancer? Are you joking! I am busy”
In response to being a woman opening up a restaurant:
“There is a lot of fear to set up a place, we (women) feel that we don’t really have a place in the industry. On top of that we have Asian women who are told this is not the place for you”
On why and what kind of place she wanted to open with her Mum:
“This restaurant comes from a place of love and necessity. We needed to create an income for me and my Mum, but also I wanted to create someplace people felt at home. They are all my Mum’s recipes and we wanted to do something different to what the other curry houses were doing, actual home cooking.
In response to the mindset you need to open a place:
“You can never be ready to run your own business. You can never plan enough. You’re never ready until you’re actually doing it.”
Saima sadly lost her battle with cancer in June. Our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends. We are beyond grateful for the time we spent chatting to her, and for everything she brought to the industry. Read her obituary here.