Where everybody knows your name’ by SHONALI MUTHALALY

‘Where everybody knows your name’
SHONALI MUTHALALY - The Hindu July 11th 2009
At the newly opened Café Evo on Kasturi Ranga Road, the food’s a sort of mix and match affair from around the world, with a distinctly desi accent
PHOTO: R. Ravindran Chill-out The laidback ambience at Café Evo draws crowds
Sun-soaked earth smells so good after a light drizzle. And there’s nothing quite like listening to rain pattering on the roof as you sip on a steaming cup of Madras filter coffee, and eat something appropriately wicked, indulgent and deep-fried.
The Scots exult in rainy days and aromatic single malt whiskeys. Europeans curl up by the fireplace with a cup of rich hot chocolate. The English have their tea and scones. Monsoon food is necessarily different in India. After all, over here, when it rains it pours, quite literally. Which means once you sit down to eat, with your hair still drippy, your feet still soggy and your designer scarf draped unglamorously over a wobbly pedestal fan, you want something substantial. No namby-pamby delicate cucumber sandwich will do the job. It’s the perfect time for a mutton kheema dosa. Or spicy kothu paratha. Or even a big bowl of thick tomato soup, spiked with pepper. All teamed with cup after cup of scalding masala chai of course.
Not surprisingly, cafes that deliver all this are slowly opening across Chennai. And a good thing too. It’s nice to have an alternative to the many soulless chains that standardise cities as much as they standardise coffee. On the flip side, it means that quality can be wildly variable. But that seems to be the price you pay in India for variety.
One funky new joint worth checking out is Café Evo, which has a decidedly glamorous past. Set in the Russian Cultural Center (RCC), the place it currently occupies was originally a mysterious bar called Ovan, open only to people ‘in the know’ roughly 8 years ago. Terribly exciting, really, especially since you had to whisper ‘Ovan’ at the gate to get in. Which, of course, given Chennai’s delightfully small-town party scene, made it a lot like that bar from the TV series ‘Cheers,’ “Where everybody knows your name.” It eventually closed down, and was later reopened as a salsa bar of sorts, where the students of the Academy of Modern Danse, which operates in the same campus, crowded to show off their twirls, dips and tricks. That closed too, and there was silence for a while.
Now, we know why. Over the last 8 months the place has been completely transformed. The new classy air-conditioned interiors are pretty enough, but it’s really the outside seating that’s drawing the crowds, with its laidback atmosphere, featuring a hammock, quirky hanging lanterns and, inevitably, a group of dance students from the academy chilling over Red Bulls and their popular Chilli Cheese dosas.
The setting is really the best thing about this café. Since it’s in the RCC compound, it’s relaxed and spacious. More importantly, there’s a constant buzz, thanks to the steady flow of students, coming in and out of dance classes, RCC sessions and Kamlesh Futnani’s aerobics. Hence you also see people of all ages here, starting from 5-year-old jazz students bent over homework and Milo Ping.Tasty basics
The food’s a sort of mix and match affair from around the world, with distinctly desi accents. They say their greatest strength is their flexibility or ‘food pampering’ so dishes can be altered to suit you. While they do need to refine their techniques and hone skills, especially with the more ambitious items on the menu, the basics are quite tasty. And the basics — masala omelettes, egg-cheese dosas, chilli cheese toast — are really what people will probably come here for, as it’s more of a chill-out than a gourmet zone.
Interestingly they plan to feature Russian food eventually. To begin with, there’s the beetroot based Borsh on the menu.
The best thing? That warm sense of fraternity that still pervades. This is still the place “Where everybody knows your name/ and they’re always glad you came.”
Café Evo is at 74, Kasturi Ranga Road. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. A meal for two will cost about Rs. 300. Call 42177000 for details.
shonali@thehindu.co.in