From the power brekkie of idli, medu vada and uthappam that cycle-top stalls offer, to the filter coffee-laced addas and rice plates at the many udupis dotting the city, Mumbai has an intimate relationship with South Indian food. One that’s built on subsistence, feeding the working-class Mumbaikar. Hailing from a Jain family, Bandra-based chef Rahul Desai, too, grew up on a diet of South Indian breakfast fare. Banking on Mumbaikars’ soft spot for this cuisine, the former chef of Indigo, Taj and Masala Library has started his delivery venture, Vanakkam Cafe, which serves both OG staples from various parts of South India, as well as thoughtful twists to the same.

Born amid the second wave, the deli is a re-invention of his Malad restaurant by the same name that had to shutter due to the pandemic. The 2.0 avatar came to life under The Taxi Incubator programme, started by Lower Parel-based restaurant London Taxi’s managing partners, Pawan Shahri and Dhaval Udeshi. The programme aims to give a leg-up to small entrepreneurs looking to open a cloud kitchen. “I’ve worked with Shahri and Udeshi for a while now [Desai is also the executive chef at London Taxi], and they had eaten the food at Vanakkam. They knew that it held the potential to become a 100-chain brand. So, I pitched the idea to them for the incubator project,” shares the 29-year-old. With the cloud kitchen, Desai hopes to spread the word about the diversity of South Indian food and its roots in the five states. “The idea is to also redefine South Indian flavours,” he adds.