Copyright thehindu
With people eating out more than ever, to add one more boutique space to Delhi’s thriving cafe culture seems like a good investment. But to be able to stand out in a crowd with a conviction of serving only organic food requires a lot of hard work and imagination. Meenakshi Kumar, a former criminal lawyer, has launched Roots Cafe by Rural Mitra in a tiny corner of N-block Market, past fancy shops in Greater Kailash I, where the menu is fuelled by fresh produce from her organic farm. And just in six months, the place is drunk with buzz about sustainability. Meenakshi is also Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and mentee of celebrated Chef Gaggan Anand and the flavours in every bite and sip she offers on the menu are bold, quirky, and innovative. The detox carrot-ginger-malta cold pressed anti-inflammatory juice that reaches my table swiftly as a welcome drink clearly makes me love what is meant to be good for gut health. The concentrated dose of nutrients perked by ginger leaves a lingering flavour in the mouth. There is a Gaggan influence in the 12-seater cafe that creates a degree of mystique. You walk into the tastefully done interiors dotted with potted plants, minimalist furniture, funky posters, and surreal paintings including one of Neem Karoli Baba gazing at you, setting a meditative mood for mindful eating. Meenakshi says, she wishes to drive a conscious dining revolution. “In a world of processed food people should remember to slow down and reconnect with Nature that nurtures us. Healthy eating is about how we savour every morsel with gratitude,” she says. Roots Cafe has 70-plus dishes that change every month and season. Last month on a visit, the sweet-tangy Avocado Mango glass noodles salad formed my first bite. This month it comes with pineapple and grapes. The broccoli steak with beetroot hummus followed by the roasted pumpkin soup made a good starter combination. The Vietnamese rice paper rolls stuffed with carrot, beans, tofu cooked in spices as main course offered a taste for the Indian palate. The mushroom melt sandwich in sourdough was delicious. Orders for meaty items were flying out — the Indonesian Nasi Goreng (fried rice with chicken, boiled egg, sambhal); the yellow Thai prawn curry with rice and, Vietnamese Pho with chicken, vegetables and chicken stock top the list. Meenakshi promises chemical-free freshly prepared dishes for the wholesome farm-to-table feeling. “Roots is for slow moments; it is not just about what’s on the table — it’s about who’s around it,” she adds. Behind every dish, there’s a woman rewriting her story: a new mother with a year-old daughter has stepped out, a woman after 17 years of marriage is no longer confined to her home, another woman commutes 70 kilometres daily from Najafgarh. They are 10 of them, with no background in culinary skills and hospitality but driven by passion and trained meticulously by Meenakshi, whose own story is no less fascinating. More than a decade ago, she did a culinary course in Bangkok. Her father came visiting, and she took him out for dinner @Gaggan. Chef Gaggan Anand served them mullet fish, which incidentally was supposed to be Meenakshi’s main ingredient for her final exam the next morning. She asked Gaggan about his technique and tweaked it with her own to win the best creative recipe award. “When I made a courtesy thank you call to Gaggan, he asked me to come and work in his kitchen. With three months visa left, I took it up as fun learning.” But then Gaggan opened more restaurants in Bangkok and Meenakshi stayed on for the next eight years. “After returning to Delhi in 2019, I sensed I was no longer fitting into courtrooms. During Covid, I cultivated my one-acre organic farm in Noida and drew up a menu at home with all vegetables, fruits and spices I was growing.” Till September 2024, Meenakshi had little idea about Roots Cafe. The GK market was her favourite place to walk around; one day she saw a little shop vacated and the possibility of a cafe hit her. By January 2025, neatly designed colourful interiors, eco-friendly practices such as use of pottery, keeping the space plastic-free and using only home-grown ingredients in cooking fell in place. “ People want to be seen in big happening places. But smaller places too have a distinct character,” she smiles offering a jumbo oatmeal cookie with in-house ice cream as dessert. At GK-1, N Block Market; 8am to 10pm (Open all days); Cost for two people ₹1,200 approx.
