Naveen Vijayakumar is bursting with energy all the time. It comes as a surprise to learn that the restauranteur is a Mechanical Engineer who went on to do his Masters in Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Warwick, United Kingdom.

“My exposure to the food industry in the UK brought out my hidden passion. Now, I’m a very happy food industry person.” He is ever present at his Cigusta (‘We Like,’ in Italian). “I’m at the restaurant from 10 in the morning until 11 at night. It’s interesting to work in Coimbatore, the city known for entrepreneurship. I feel at home here,” says a very cheerful Naveen.

Naveen’s elder brother Karikalan is getting married soon, and is taking care of the family’s transport business while staying with their parents, Poongothai and Vijayakumar, in Namakkal. Naveen hardly takes off from work and is a workaholic. He also works with his team, shoulder to shoulder, and bubbles with enthusiasm.

The story behind his restaurant venture is a very interesting one. “I did some research on the internet and discovered Cigusta. They have 10 outlets in India. Chennai and Hyderabad were doing really well. I decided to set up shop in Coimbatore, and now we are at Tristar Dejavu on Avinashi Road. It’s a beautiful place, full of fancy cars and bikes, under the shade of the tall almond trees,” says Naveen.

The food entrepreneur is careful with what he serves. The imported Gelatos for fruit flavours are 100 percent fat-free and do not contain preservatives. He serves 100 percent whole wheat flour pizzas, which are prepared in his large and unique oven made of clay in just four days by Gopi from Pondicherry. The frozen yogurt is fat-free too. Everything served at Cigusta is prepared by themselves, except the vegetables and the pizza raw materials. Wheat pastas are on the anvil. The recipes of the brownies, banana cakes, and orange cake are his own.

On his plans for the future – ” I want to improve the business of this outlet. Fortunately, the business has been good for me. It’s growing by the day and we have very decent customers who make us happier by their presence. In future, I wish to establish a traditional food outlet in Coimbatore and serve healthy food. I may do it the organic way too. I like Coimbatore for it’s a wonderful city which has welcomed several entrepreneurs by opening the doors of success. ”

Coimbatore has been a self-made city, and more and more young entrepreneurs, like Naveen, are going to be drawn to it.