It’s not the easiest of tasks to find Arnav Bajoria’s kitchen-cum-diner. Nestled between a vegetarian tandoori restaurant and his mother’s garment factory, the fact that there’s no board makes us wonder if we’re in the right place. All lingering doubts are dispelled as a cheerful apron-clad Arnav opens a battered door and ushers us in. In the centre of the room is a large granite counter with food waiting to be plated up. There are bread rolls in the oven, while a side of bacon is roasting away merrily on the stove. There’s also a spick-and-span table laid out with freshly pressed napkins and cutlery in the same room. “Yep, this is Soul Kitchen,” shrugs Arnav sheepishly, as he whips up some lemon butter. If you fancy having your meal cooked and plated up in the same room that you’re enjoying your dinner in, then this is the place for you.
After quitting his job at a mediterranean restaurant in Adyar, the 27-year-old really poured himself into his little hideaway kitchen venture, “I started this kitchen and dining place initially because I really wanted to experiment with community dining. And for the first few weeks all my friends came in and they really liked the fact that I was cooking up a three-course meal and serving it to them, all in the same room. I used to do it on my days off from the restaurant,” he says. As to why he chose the name Soul Kitchen, pat comes the reply, “Its from my favourite song by The Doors - Soul Kitchen. It just seemed right. I don’t have a board yet though,” he laughs.
Over the past few months, Arnav has become extremely popular among people craving three-course dinners, which they can discuss and order in advance - and dine without having to put up with noisy co-diners. “We can pretty much cook anything people want - from a variety of French, Italian, Mediterranean cuisine - I relish the challenge of diving into cookbooks and watching videos of how to make authentic continental fare. The only hang up is that I need time to prep,” he says. And that has proved to be a dampener for some clients, he admits, “Because we’re not a restaurant, everything is literally made on a need-to-serve basis. Sometimes people call and say that they’re on their way and I hate to turn them down, but I really can’t do dinners in a hurry,” he states. Ideally, a 24-hour advance notice keeps this chef happy. And believe us, when we say, he can do wonders in that time – he once served a roast suckling pig complete with an apple in the mouth!
Coming to the chef’ part, that is what makes Arnav’s story all the more endearing. For someone who’s cooking well enough to start his own enterprise, he has never actually studied the culinary arts – unless you count poring over books with 300-year-old recipes for cooking squid, anyway. After graduating with a degree in fashion technology from NIFT, Arnav followed his heart (and his nose) and somehow wrangled jobs at the Marriott, Sangeetha Veg restaurants and finally Azuri Bay. “I still don’t know how I got the jobs! But they all helped me,” he says with a wide grin.
Now that his little ‘soul kitchen’ is finally simmering and coming to a boil, we can’t help but wonder what’s next. “Eventually I’d like to start an outdoor catering business, but one that’s completely customised for what the customer wants. But I’d never want to start a full fledged restaurant, really,” he reveals. Perhaps it’s for the best - as it will take him and the soul out of his kitchen!
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