You Are What You Eat

We eat with a lot more awareness these days. Back in the day, it was usually the elders in the family who would drop nuggets of wisdom like “eat the amla, it is rich in vitamin C”. These days everyone knows and has a clear idea of the food they want to consume. And not just Indian food, we are well versed with cuisines from different cultures, and here too, we know exactly what we want and how it should taste. I remember, ages ago, a family friend travelled to China and got a rude shock when they ate the food there. They were expecting the ‘Dili wala Chinese’. Gone are those days of ‘Indian Chinese’ being the only Chinese food we knew. The restaurants too, are in sync with our refined tastes, we caught up with a few food entrepreneurs to understand what makes their eateries popular.

EVOO Eatery & Pizzeria, New Delhi


For Sachin Grover of EVOO the inspiration to set up an Italian restaurant was a desire for authentic Italian flavours where the ingredient would be the star. During his trips to Italy, he noticed how flavourful food was prepared with bare minimum ingredients. He craved for this back home in Delhi and so, EVOO was born. At his restaurant , authentic flavours are the focus,“90 per cent of the Italian restaurants serve Carbonara with cream, we do ours without cream”, he says. He uses locally sourced ingredients and regularly experiments with the menu. The restaurant also caters to the health conscious consumers, dishes are curated specially for people with strict dietary needs.

His customers praise the consistency of the food and look forward to the innovation in menu and flavour. “We have been growing at the rate of 10 – 12 per cent year on year. We are targeting another branch of EVOO in Gurgaon, this year”, he says.

Mehico, Kolkata


Saket Agarwal of Manifest Hospitality that is behind Mehico, the latest Mexican restaurant in Kolkata says, “most approaches to international cuisines tend to use a fusion twist to make the food more palatable to Indian consumers – for instance, Tex-Mex is perceived as authentic Mexican cuisine. However, many Indian consumers today are discerning and well-travelled, which helps them appreciate the genuineness of cuisines. With Mehico, we have taken inspiration from tradition to create new, genuine experiences which utilise the best in produce and the most traditional of approaches to pay homage to Mexican cuisine”.

He says, that in addition to establishing Mehico as a leading restaurant in India, they are also looking to expand their presence to newer markets.

Beachville Coffee Roasters, Chennai


For Divya Jayashankar, Founder of Beachville Coffee Roasters, the entry into the coffee business came a few years ago when she started Mad Rush Coffee– a specialty roaster which distributed Indian coffees in New York. “When I moved to Chennai in 2019, I brought this concept back with me to launch Beachville Coffee Roasters, with the aim to provide high quality specialty coffee. Our roastery ensures a meticulous process every step of the way to brew excellence in every sip. We opened our first cafe in 2020 and designed it as a community first space, for people to interact over a cup of coffee. Our new space, opened just a few days ago follows through on our mission to promote and educate people on good quality coffee,” she says

The focus on serving up food that is consistent in quality and tastes authentic is what makes these restaurants popular.

Watch this space for news on innovative F&B ventures