 |
| That’s Urvika and me. Two Kolkata kids who are trying to make it in Mumbai. One was born in the year when the other finished his ISC and joined college. That’s me with a 6 kg loss post herpes and clean eating. |
A completely unplanned turn of events saw us stepping out for lunch on Saturday for the first time since my sugar had spiked and my herpes zoster happened and since I went on a strict home food based diet. I chose to try out @cafeduco Bandra which I read about on @riotofflavours ‘ page recently. I thought it’s a Mexican and Lebanese place and reached out to @drriaankola on what to eat before stepping out and she give me a lot of useful info. Turned out it’s a Latin American place and staying within my diet was ridiculously easy.
Let me tell you what we had first:
1. Pick me up. A smoothie made with mixed frozen berries (which gave sweeness), yogurt, almond milk, banana and coconut chips (which we said not to). I had a third of it because I am not really allowed fruit juices and banana now but it was quite nice and refreshing and it was rather hot despite the AC.
2. Butter garlic taco. Juicy small prawns, done right. Whiff of butter which brought me such joy as I’ve not been near butter for 3 weeks.
3. Wild mushroom tacos. Loved the bite and flavour of enoki mushrooms. The taste of both tacos were well balanced, we paid extra and went free for the gluten free taco. They make the flour in house with rice and starch. The presentation was smart & not over the top. The mushroom could have done with a bit less foliage.
4. Fava bean dip and chips. Hummus like, yet different and with a pleasant mouth feel. We went for the gluten free chips which were baked. Great combo. They have ragi crackers but their source from the Himalayas is out of stock apparently.
5. Keto brownie: Made with Calebout chocolate which she said has no sugar, almond flour (which they make in house) & cocoa. Sweetened with Xylitol. I hate most desserts made with artificial sugars and would rather have a watermelon. This was a work of art. Moist, intense. You’d never have guessed it’s diabetic friendly.
I hate most desserts made with artificial sugars and would rather have a watermelon. This was a work of art. Moist, intense. You’d never have guessed it’s diabetic friendly. We liked it so much that we ordered three of them the next day as we had a guest coming over. Once again, it was a hit. Chef Urvika deserves a Nobel for this!
 |
| Urvika is in the same green as the other chefs who are largely Bengali. Front staff are in grey. |
The young chef owner, Urvika Kanoi, came and introduced herself to us when we were taking a break mid meal. Turns out she’s a Kolkata girl! A LCB London culinary arts student who had worked at the Table Mumbai (during Alex’s time) and runs The Daily in Kolkata. A much bigger place where she does ‘modern non Park Street European.’ She knows some of our friends there such as Rukshana, Suneha, Madhushree, Anindya, Poorna very well & spoke how supportive they are.
There are a few things things about Chef Urvika that impressed me in particular.
I was impressed by how warmly she speaks of chefs such as Sanjana Patel (whose chocolate she plans to use), Anurita Ghoshal (who has done the other desserts here), Seefah (with whom she did a collab at the Daily) & Raveena Taurani (with whom she went avocado searching during the lockdown) for example and calls them her mentors and friends. I loved this spirit. I’ve seen it in the women chefs in particular. I wish this spirit of youthful bonhomie was there was among us writers. Maybe we are too old and jaded for it. Or maybe I just speak for myself. Urvika, is hanging out with the right people for sure.
Cribs? The staff, though attentive, couldn’t explain much about the menu. They did not install much confidence about the place and this is why we did not order the ceviche. Things changed when Urvika walked up to us and spoke to. I suggested that she has a more detailed menu to circumvent this. She does face a lot of attrition I was told.
And for a 48 year old me the place was rather small, but an early 20s me who went to such places in Bandra might have found it too expensive. But then coming to Mumbai and Bandra was a leap of faith for Urvika. She pays more on rent here than for her ‘gigantic space’ in Kolkata. And, as Todd said in the ‘Inventing Anna’ closing, ‘you’ve made it only when you have made it in Mumbai and Bandra at that.
