Yair and Vardit Abramovich make a striking pair. The adventurous expat food entrepreneurs are on a mission to make affordable Mediterranean falafel, pita and hummus an essential part of Bengaluru’s street food scene through their brand, FLFL — meal in a pocket, located in the Gopalan Legacy Mall.
A mission took them from the little Red Sea town of Eilat in Israel to India’s Silicon valley to establish ‘FLFL. It was a mission that did not happen overnight or on a sudden impulse, they tell us. The Abramoviches are clearly driven by intense passion, one that compelled them to leave their family and friends behind and take on all the challenges of operating in a foreign culture and way of life. The passion is also evident when they describe their long 16-hour work days, their interesting interactions with their customers, their delight in the local cuisine and customs or pride in their own culinary heritage.
“Our food is a pure veggie fusion of Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern flavours with European patisserie influences,” they explain.
Born and raised in Israel, the Abramoviches lived every Jewish mother's dream. Yair graduated from Technion, a top engineering institution in the country , going on to become vice-president of R&D at a tech company. Vardit became a lawyer at one of the top commercial law firms. Then in 2000, his firm was acquired by an American company and the couple decided to step off the corporate ladder and reassess their goals.
“We started by pursuing our interest in water sports, and getting our professional scuba diving instructor certification. Then we worked as scuba instructors in a little town on the Red Sea called Eilat. By 2001, to round off our expertise, we qualified for a sailing and skipper license, and spent some wonderful weeks cruising with friends in a small yacht on the Mediterranean sea,” they say.
Then deciding that it was time to “widen their horizons,” and to explore different ideas and cultures though travel ,” the Abramoviches set off on their adventure in 2002, for some reason, fixating on India as their ultimate destination.
“ We were fascinated by its history, mystery, people and food. We ended up in Pushkar, Rajasthan, and made friends with Prem and Pawan Sharma, whom we still consider family,” says Vardit. Together the four friends established a successful restaurant called Shivam Garden in 2004, serving pizzas, Mediterranean and North Indian cuisine, centred around a wood-fire brick oven that they built themselves with bare hands.
Shivam Garden is still operating successfully.
The Abramoviches decided to become full fledged restaurateurs and returned to Israel to equip themselves with a degree in management and culinary sciences.
India was still on the cards, but this time, they decided to invest in intensive market research first. “We found Bengaluru perfect — it has great climate and an attractive cosmopolitan vibe, so we came here. We started operations in 2012 with a functional bakery and a central kitchen, no fuss and no fancy ambience. Just quality ingredients, hygienic operations and authentic flavours,” they say.
The FLFL duo supply restaurants, supermarkets and catered events with excellent pita and specialty breads, Mediterranean chilled and cooked salads, and dips like Hummus, Tahini, Babaganush and Matbouha.
Adjacent to the bakery and central kitchen, on Mysore Road, they run a modest outlet offering a limited version of their planned menu that is already very popular with the locals who stop by for Falafel, Pita, Shawarma, a Majadra rice meal or Pita Topy — a special fluffy pizza with different toppings. And for the sweet-toothed, desserts and pastries, such as Turkish Mallabi (a rich creamy dessert), dark mousses and a slew of pastries.
”The response has been very encouraging, not surprising since FLFL is all vegetarian and uses ingredients close to the Indian palate — cumin, coriander, chickpeas,” says Yair, adding that Bangaloreans in particular seem to love Mediterranean food and would appreciate the option to enjoy it across multiple locations around the city.
“We plan to open five outlets in the next two years, offering our full-fledged menu, including, a mezze meal, Falafel meal, Couscous, Kubbe, Hummus platters as well as fresh and cooked vegetables salads for which our region is so famous,” they sign off.