Anju Sudharshan’s face is synonymous with sabudana vada in the city. As soon as people learn that she is the force behind the Ranga Shankara Cafe, they tell her “oh sabudana vada!”. Theatre buffs in the city have nurtured their passion on not just good plays but also her soft and crunchy sabudana vadas. When Anju started in 2007, she had no idea of what is to come. All she loved and wanted to do was to feed people home-cooked food.
Today, she has the entire cultural enthusiast community in the city eating out of her hands. Besides Ranga Shankara, Anju’s Cafe runs in NGMA, Alliance Francaise, and Indian Music Experience (IME), the latest addition. “I didn't do any number crunching. I didn't have any strategy. Had I done that, I wouldn't have been able to start,” says Anju, sipping on her tea and watching people queue up for a Kannada play.
She calls Ranga Shankara an extension of her drawing room. The volatility and competition in food business makes one’s survival a tough affair. Reinventing, they say is the key. But Anju, hasn’t resorted to anything like that. Sabudana vada, akki roti, vada pao, banana custard and many more have become staples in her menu. The same theatre crowd has eaten it all these years and want it more. “At IME, I wanted to a different menu so didn’t include sabudana vada. On the inaugural day, people were shocked by its absence. I had to include it.” Simplicity, consistency of quality and a likeness to home-cooked food is what has helped Anju’s enterprise.
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She is finicky about hygiene, using fresh ingredients including spices. The puri in sev puri is made in-house using whole wheat. “We make our own masalas. We don’t use colours. No Maggi, soda and commercial food. I tell my people to wash vegetables the number of times, they would wash it at home. It is not a business for me. We are entering people’s bodies and we can’t afford to play the fool.” A hands-on person herself, Anju has also blurred the boundaries between her staff. “If the maid who hasn’t turned up to clean up the dishes, then we do it. If the cook doesn’t come, I do it myself. My kitchen is run just like at home.”
Anju’s cafe menu is determined by the nature of the place it is in. While in NGMA, she focuses on lunch with biryanis, keema pao, aloo parantha at Alliance Francaise, to appeal to the young crowd, the cafe churns out brownies, sandwiches and muffins. At Ranga Shankara, there is peas pulao, aloo tikki, bhelpuri, veg biryani, akki roti, ragi roti, sandwiches, vada pao, pasta and salads and of course the mainstay - sabudana vada and sabudana khichdi. The major items are prepared at the central kitchen plus the chutneys and dips. “Each of these cafes also have individual kitchens. The dough for sabudana is always ready. As soon as one lot gets over, the staff goes at the back of the cafe to prepare fresh ones on demand,” says Anju, who also does highly customised catering.
And there is always a demand for it. As I order one plate of vadas, a lady standing next to me orders 10 plates. On weekends about 500 sabudana vadas are sold.
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Anju’s day starts off with a session of Bollywood dance workout, a visit to the central kitchen and IME followed by Ranga Shankara. She likes to be around and receive feedback from people. “I may look like I am just sitting and chit-chatting but I am keeping a close eye on everything. So, if someone leaves food in his/her plate, I run after that person to ask the reason.” Anju realises her way of functioning isn’t really conducive to scaling up. With her son, who is a trained chef joining the business, Anju feels things are going to be more smooth and professional.
Over the years, Anju has also turned into a theatre buff. With the ringing of third bell, she is inside the hall watching a play. “I have made friends with so many well-known people. I sit and chat with them. It never feels like I am coming to work.”