Sunday’s are usually spent having late brunches (read lunch) at home. But on, 12th April I decided to do two things:
1) Have brunch on time
2) Know a little bit about where the food on my plate was from.
I am not talking about the source of recipes, but stories that trace the history of food, we claim are authentic. How did I do this? By attending “Once upon a Brunch” held at Atta Galatta.
Vikram Sridhar- story teller, theatre enthusiast, animal lover and a foodie takes us on a virtual train ride with 2 kids who want to taste the most authentic food across India. Do they find it? Now that would be telling. While you are enjoying Vikram’s stories, you also get to munch on sandwiches, cakes and sip hot coffee. I caught up with Vikram after the event to know a little about his foodie side. This is what I found.
How did you come up with the idea of “Once upon a brunch”?
Over a discussion on storytelling sessions at Atta Galatta, with Lakshmi Shankar (the founder), I suggested repeating a session on food that I had conducted few months back. The audience (mostly children) were served Vada Pav and tea at the end. It was an effort in bringing out stories about food in our daily lives. Being a Sunday, we decided to do a morning session at 10 AM. Lakshmi suggested arranging breakfast. Being “early” on a Sunday, we were sure people would be hungry. I discussed the idea with my Tahatto team. This lead to the name and concept “Once upon a Brunch” .We decided on the idea of having the audience cherish their Brunch on a Sunday morning as the stories unfold.
As a foodie yourself tell us a little about something interesting that you have eaten.
I remember haggling with my parents during my childhood days for food. Buy me a packet of mixture, I will go play tennis, let me eat pongal for breakfast and I will come out for a walk at 6 AM etc . So food became my earliest friend in life. And I feel food defines a space and culture to a great extent. One interesting food I have eaten is the Roti in Kenya . Yes its called the same there . But the way its eaten is very different. Folded into 4 , and using a fork , eaten by dipping it in a meat or vegetable curry . Another thing is the Tibetan tea for me. It is so different to the tea we generally drink. It took some time for me to get used to it.
Morning coffee or morning tea person?
Hmmm . tough question . Morning tea person . Tea and coffee entered late into my life. The variety of teas available amazes me, given that milk based is just 1 type. So given a choice I will choose tea.
Favourite foodie places in Bangalore?
Quite a lot . Naming some of them which is unique for me
– Café in NGMA , Palace road . For the ambience and less crowd
– SLV , Banashankari . For the history and the simple idli available
– Shivaji military hotel in Banashankari for the Biriyani
– Pulimunchi in Sadashiv Nagar for the Mangalorian cuisine
– Junior Kuppanna in Kormangla
– Om in Raheja Arcade , Kormangala
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Want to know more about Vikram? You can do that here. Also like “Around the story tree” page to know about upcoming events.