Menu

Breakfast

Fruit bowl ……………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0214/-

The chef puts together watermelon, dragonfruit, muskmelon, chickoos, grapes, and blueberries in a single bowl to start your day together. She likes knowing you are gazing at her but she can’t bring herself to look you back in the eye. She watches you leave out most of the watermelon and blueberries instead. She does not find the brightness of mornings onerous anymore.

Oatmeal ………………………………………………………………………… ₹ 1020/–

The chef cooks oatmeal in milk, topped with dry fruits, honey and nutmeg, for quick-release energy. She wants to hold you close and bring you back to health, but she knows you’ll get sick when she leaves again.

Beverages

Glühwein ………………………………………………………………………… ₹ 1224/-

The chef mulls madeira wine with cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom pods, mace, nutmeg, and oranges. This is her Christmas tradition in the making, and she thinks you partaking in it completes it. 

Butterfly pea lavender tea .……………………………………………………. ₹ 0209/-

The chef steeps this blue herbal tea to soothe your throat. She purples it with lemon as a symbol of acceptance into her violet-shaded life, if you choose to be a part of it.

Mixed herbal tea ………………………………………………………………. ₹ 0506/-

The chef puts together a dry mix of ginger, cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, clove, cardamom and black lemon tea for decongestion. She doesn’t want to catch your cold but she wants to take care of you.

Coffee …………………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0311/-

The chef decocts this coffee mid-dark to start your morning as you would have done in your own house. She doesn’t drink coffee so she hopes the sachet taste is up to par.

Desserts

Glühweinkuchen with glühwein icing and Valencia orange slices .…………. ₹ 1227/-

The chef bakes this batch of spiced cake for all her friends, but you leave her Christmas party early. She uses it as a pretext to meet you over a year-end moonshine get-together, but she really just wants to be around you.

Chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache, strawberries and grapes …… ₹ 0209/-

The chef prepares this because she wants to spend time with you. She wants to be around you, she wants to get to know you, so she doesn’t yet know that you do not enjoy sweets.

Mains

White rice and mango-lemon-chilli-amla mixed pickle ……………………… ₹ 1109/-

The chef wants to experience a precious winter afternoon with a simple meal that reminds her of Chennai in her childhood. You are invited.

Multigrain sub sandwich ……………………………………………………… ₹ 0101/-

The chef stacks butter-toasted multigrain bread with vegetables and chips. She wishes you were there last night, but you’re here now, and she wants you to be around her as long as you can.

Set dosa ………………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0520/-

The chef likes her dosas thick and fluffy. She knows you prefer yours crispy, and you’ve supposedly already eaten, but she makes one for you anyway. And a tiny one for your cat, who seems to enjoy it.

Egg fried rice …………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0413/-

The chef scrambles brown eggs and dark soy sauce over caramelized white onions and tosses it through sona masoori rice, with spring onion as a garnish. This is a staple for her, and she makes it every time you decide to come by after work. She wants you to come by everyday after work.

Pink prawn béchamel over farfalle .…………………………………………… ₹ 0209/-

The chef sautés red wine-marinated prawns in butter, and reduces the marinade to add as stock to the béchamel. She pairs it with farfalle, the only pasta fit for princesses. She presents to you her most guarded and beloved prawns with you as an offering of affection. 

Kundapura crab ghee roast …………………………………………………… ₹ 0214/-

The chef does not find labour- and power-intensive meals to be an optimal practice. So she suggests a Mangalorean restaurant that you both walk to. She cracks the shells for you to reveal chunks of red-streaked flesh, just like her father does for her.

Ginger-garlic marinated chicken ……………………………………………… ₹ 0507/-

The chef fries chicken pieces because she doesn’t want you to go on your overnight journey hungry. She comes to terms with your trip taking you away. You haven’t though, so you delay boarding the bus to wait next to her, nearly missing it.

Pasta salad ……………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0710/-

Farfalle and diced vegetables. The chef tailors her cat’s birthday celebration so that you can attend. She cannot fathom a world in which she is unloveable to you.

Sides

Squid rings ……………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0412/-

The chef marinates squid with tamarind juice, vinegar and Kashmiri chillies, and fries it in coconut oil. You accompany her to the Jayanagar fish market where she buys her seafood twice a month. You meet the market cats she tells you about.

Crab claws ……………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0304/-

The chef plates air-fried crab surimi with cucumber and carrots. She is cautious of erring again. You eat together under the night sky.

Garlic potato pops ……………………………………………………………… ₹ 0710/-

The chef serves these air-fried with oregano-flecked honey mustard sauce. Both your favourite condiment. She thinks you can still be in each other’s lives. There must be a way.

Extras

Balchão ………………………………………………………………………… ₹ 0117/-

The chef is in circumstances that do not allow her control over food – making or eating. Her parents make her this tangy Goan pickle of dried prawns, chillies and vinegar, so that she may eat and enjoy eating again. You are offered some.

Salt …………………………………………………………………………………………

The chef gives you Himalayan pink salt. There is also sea salt and table salt. She says it feels like licking rocks every time you leave; the cracked lips from kissing you, the pearlescent sheen of sweat cocooning you and her into one; the briny taste of tears and mucus worth it. She finds it ironic that you are named for both beauty and salinity.

All prices are in mm/dd.