Archana Becker, the owner/founder of Atlanta’s Bhojanic Restaurant, has been honored by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation with a ‘Faces of Diversity’ award. Archana’s family came to the U.S. from India when she was 11. At 14 she began working in the drive-through at a fast food restaurant. She progressed to various industry jobs for another decade before going into business for herself. Since she loved cooking, she opened a catering business in the early ’90s and a full-service restaurant after a few years. Now she employs more than two dozen Bhutanese refugees and offers them a training program to help them learn English and ease their transition in the U.S.
Archana and seven other awardees were honored at a gala in Washington, D.C. on April 12th during the National Restaurant Association’s annual Public Affairs Conference. A $2,500 scholarship in the name of each winner will be set up for aspiring students pursuing a career in the restaurant and hospitality industry.
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