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Cafe Lota Reinvents Holistic Food

Organic is the New Delicious with Cafe Lota

Payel Majumdar

Cafe Lota gives National Crafts Museum and ‘ghar ka organic khana’ a contemporary avatar.

Remember Nani ghar memories, trips down to a tidy little town nestled in the hills somewhere, with aam orchards on the way?  Nani would have her own kitchen garden from where she foraged lunch everyday? Or that trip to Sikkim, snow in May, and the smell of fresh air interspersed with hot thukpa steam? Maybe tea estates in the Nilgiris and beetroot cutlets during Durga Pujo in a lightbulb bathed lane. Cafe Lota, the latest arty cafe in town is capable of rustling up such memories and more, with a menu card that knows the subcontinent as well as the Indian Railways.

The mud-based mural of the cafe’s logo at the entrance, the Devnagri script letters shaping themselves into the form of a lota which is then embellished with many diamond shaped mirrors, is a clue about the inventiveness of the Cafe Lota folks. Located outside the Crafts Museum souvenir store, with the soft rustle of silk sarees and whiffs of cardamom, Cafe Lota is but an extension of the handicraft friendly post-modernist ethos you often encounter in the cross-cultural pastiche of Delhi.

We cheerily mused on such thoughts one rare sunny Sunday afternoon as we munched on a Chicken Ghee Roast and some Palak Papdi Chaat made its way to our stomach. The cafe resembles the casual atmosphere of the Triveni Cafe or Max Mueller Bhawan with faux wicker chairs, a bamboo shed overhead and well-cared for plants which make you feel as though you’re sitting on someone’s porch.  The menu coupled with the ambience is designed for leisurely long lunches, or even ‘small plates’ between meals with items like Beetroot Cutlets with Bhaja Moshla Cream Cheese, Arbi ke Kebab and Kanda Batata Laal Poha. A sumptuous meal followed with the Gangtok Gya-thuk, Parsi Salli Boti, Sindhi Kadhi and their signature dish Amritsari Fish Cutlets coated in amaranth (amlan) grains adding that extra crunch and element of surprise. Similar thought has been given to the reinvented and delicately flavoured Bhaapa Doi, now in the form of a cheesecake, and Apple and Cinnamon Jalebis to cater to the globalized palate of our contemporary times. Ditto for the health conscious Appam, which was made out of brown rice. (Indian Railways could strengthen their similarities to Cafe Lota by adopting similar quality and inventiveness when it comes to food from the pantry). Chef and Manager Rahul Dua assured us, “The menu at the café will continue to grow organically, and seasonally, to ensure that guests always have reason to return. With each dish, we have tried to push the cause of local and indigenous produce that is both seasonal and sustainably harvested.”

Bhaapa Doi with a twist

Plans for Cafe Lota are on at furious speed, with a garden dedicated to the cafe being set up in the future. It also plans to host soirees and workshops on the type of Indian teas and coffees, spices and the grains. Cooking demonstrations are also on the offing, and we were excited to hear unplugged evenings with local musicians and theatre artists were going to be held in the future with tasting sessions for new menus.

In a country particular about its food habits and thriving on a diverse and evolved traditional cuisines, Cafe Lota is attempting to a back-to-the-basics journey of traditional ingredients and cooking methods as well as keeping in mind contemporary style of cooking and eating habits. A menu that does not discriminate against vegetarians, there is enough in their portions for a doggy bag after the huge meal you will inevitably end up having there. Delhi is drinking from the Lota this winter.

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