Aragma Restaurant: Making heroes out of everyday ingredients, Hospitality News, ET HospitalityWorld
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Aragma, a restaurant which professes to be driven by ingredients rather than style of dishes was the brainchild of Poornima Somayaji who wanted to build a brand which has become a sanctuary of her—something that helped her champion the cause of local while still pushing the boundaries of how everyday ingredients used in home kitchens could be served in ways which were far from everyday dishes.'I come from a tech background and food gave me so much joy that it got me out of a very negative phase in my life, and that is when I felt that I wanted to create experiences for people where food gave them joy beyond just tasting a dish,' said techie-turned-entrepreneur Somayaji about her restaurant.Aragma can be loosely translated from the Greek to mean 'enjoying the small pleasures of life'.While they were cuisine agnostic, Somayaji said the aim was to use everyday ingredients, things like tinda and lauki which were sourced by them from around the city and then used in dishes.'The real (culinary) culture of India is in our homes, and what we eat there. And clearly, what you find in the market and bring home is the freshest and it's so everyday and banal, that's why we don't celebrate it. At Aragma, we make it a point to cook with food that is so everyday, but like you have never seen them,' she said.The hero in the kitchen at Aragma is the head chef Amit Ghorpade who returned to his roots in Pune to join Somayaji in the venture of making heroes of everyday ingredients. Ghorpade who was travelling around India at the time of the interaction was inspired by what chef Massimo Bottura said that one needed to get back to their roots to become truly great chefs.The food itself is a very interesting mix of memories based on seasons where both Somayaji and Ghorpade sit together to develop dishes based on what they ate while growing up and how certain ingredients were always associated with the time of year, she said adding that even other members of the team contribute to the process.'We come up with a list of ingredients associated with the memories, then the ideation stops and Amit's (Ghorpade), technical expertise and understanding of flavours come into play. The dishes are created and go through multiple trials before going on the menu," she explained.When it comes to the kitchen, though there is a very distinct division of labour, Somayaji said she does not get in there—her role is more in front of the house as well as adding the 'softer touches' to the product.The restaurant which is open for dinner through the week and lunch and dinner during the weekends offers an eight-course tasting menu with four changes annually connected to availability of seasonal ingredients that they source from both farmers and vendors.The food she helps create at the restaurant is also a huge part of how Somayaji healed herself from a personal tragedy and her interest in food is something that she says has made her stronger.'I think your everyday food needs to come back into focus, because it is fresh, it is who you are. The restaurant is a place where hospitality is very important, and you have to make it to a point where people have to experience it and get a feeling of belonging,' she said.Speaking about the restaurant, which is three years old, Somayaji added that she felt it would remain a one-off at its current location.
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