We went to Espresso AnyDay, a cafe in Gurgaon, after we landed in Delhi and checked into our hotel last Sunday. The place was packed, and we had to wait a bit for a table. It was worth the wait. The vibe was vibrant yet relaxed. The perfect place to chill after half a day of hectic travel. The service came with a smile, as the cliché goes.
The food from chef Tarranum Sehgal’s kitchen— pasta, pizzette, sando, salad, dessert, macha, coffee— bore testimony to the 12 years that this former copywriter had spent working in restaurants in France. ‘If only they would open in Bandra (our home in Mumbai),’ was the thought that we left with.
Espresso AnyDay is owned by Rajan and Deepika Sethi. I went to Omo: Soul Food Community, a restaurant in Gurgaon’s Galleria Market, during my last trip to the city. Omo is owned by Rajan & Deepika, too. The look and feel are more ‘grown-up’ than Espresso AnyDay’s. If Espresso AnyDay was buzzy, this was all about serenity. Omo is a vegetarian restaurant. I enjoyed the food there quite a bit. What’s remarkable is that a meat lover like me didn’t miss the meat. And the fact that two such diverse restaurants, impressive in their own ways, are owned by the same owners.
You could say that versatility defines this husband-and-wife restaurateur duo. They own Ikk Panjab, which serves Punjabi food that goes beyond the usual and focuses on the roots of Punjabi cuisine. I had gone to the opening of their outlet in Chandigarh. The food, served in an aristocratic Punjabi home-like setting, touched the heart. The rustic Punjabi fare had no similarity with that of Espresso AnyDay or Omo. Ikk Panjab has outlets in Delhi and Gurgaon too.
Different from all three is AMPM Cafe & Bar in Delhi NCR & Kolkata. My brother and sister-in-law have gone to the one at Galleria Market and praised it profusely.
Then there is Top Banana, the recently launched cocktail bar in Delhi, from the couple.
Didn’t I say that versatility defines them? I wonder what’s coming next from the Sethis
