After championing indigenous heirloom rice varieties and curating an ingredient-driven menu at her Goa restaurant Edible Archives, chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar has taken her love for K-dramas up notch with Bento Bento. The recently-launched Asian restaurant in Bengaluru, says Anumitra, came to be because she felt that there was a chance to show that good food could be good in other ways — for our bodies, the farmers growing it, the city — but without sacrificing on convenience or taste.” As for her choice of city, the chef calls Bengaluru “a city full of interesting people who care about what they eat, in terms of their own health and the impact it has on the world. At the same time it’s a city that seems to subsist on delivery apps!”
A bento box | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Anumitra’s culinary experiments during lockdown aside, the inspiration to go the Asian route came from her love for K-dramas like Reply 1988, Crash Landing On You, Hotel Del Luna, and food-related shows like Midnight Diner Tokyo, Kylie Kwong Travel. “I’ve lived briefly in Japan, and travelled to Thailand, China and Vietnam. Everywhere I go, I make a beeline for the nearest local market or wet market, try out new ingredients and, of course, eat everywhere: from street food to people’s home food to Michelin-starred restaurants,” says the chef. When recreating dishes she saw online, Anumitra thought about how difficult it is for the average person to find such food. “I was sure there would be a market for authentic Asian food in a contemporary avatar. I’m a huge fan of Indian Chinese, growing up in Kolkata, but people want to explore beyond the schezwan and manchurians.”
Taking us through the process of setting up Bento Bento, Anumitra explains they launched pretty quickly — six months to be precise. The team prepped backwards, she shares, “We first made sure our rice, seafood, vegetables and sauces from Hanoi, Seoul, Shanghai were in place, even before we were sure about our exact location. Once we were sure we could serve the quality ingredients we wanted to, we found a place in Indiranagar,” she says, adding that it all happened simultaneously with the launch of Yo Colombo!, a Sri Lankan delivery-only restaurant that opened in September. “Yo Colombo’s signature dish is inspired by Sri Lanka’s everyday meal, the bhath parcel. A meal-in-a-leaf-parcel, this combo of rice, curries, meat/seafood and vegetable sambol can be eaten with pleasure every day. In the evenings we offer Lankan-style biryani, known from the times of the Dutch burghers as lamprais,” she says.
A dish at Yo Colombo! | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The cuisine at Bento Bento and Yo Colombo! might be at two ends of the spectrum, but Anumitra says their core values of “ingredient-driven and sustainable food” held everything together. “As we searched for farmers growing vegetables that we could use for Yo Colombo!, we also wound up exploring the menu possibilities for Bento Bento, so we have items like sweet potato skewers and a grilled pumpkin salad on the menu because of this process.” From her travels to the Northeast a few times this year, the chef says she sourced rice, chilies, herbs and tea for her restaurant. “We also work with farmer collectives just south of Bengaluru for our fresh veggies, gingers and oils; we get excellent mushrooms, tofu and toasted sesame oil from Indian suppliers.”
One of her favourite things about most Asian cuisines is the “focus on the fresh, clean taste of each ingredient, and the huge diversity of vegetables such as gourds, herbs that we don’t usually associate with Asian foods”. “I also wanted to bring a sense of this kind of Asian cuisine to the city,” she says, adding that the bento box is the perfect way to feature a variety of dishes. “I’m a firm believer in a balanced meal, with rice, veg, pickles, and of course, meat or fish. Bento Bento gave me a chance to explore all sorts of combinations and I’m not limiting myself to only Japanese food but featuring Korean, Thai and Vietnamese too.” Her top bento, she says, is the galbi jjim with beef short ribs braised traditionally on a cauldron lid. “I also have a soft spot for one of the desserts — the vegan Pandan flavoured coconut milk, with sago, fruit and a completely surprising peanut brittle crunch.”
A dish at Bento Bento | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Anumitra explains that the basic premise of “sustainability and care” followed at Edible Archives continues. All ingredients are fresh, there is a focus on local produce and heirloom rice varieties are championed. “We make our own pickles and kimchi for Bento Bento, use almost no pre-packaged ingredients or masalas for Yo Colombo! Even our packaging at Yo Colombo! uses banana leaves and newspaper.”
Bento Bento is at Paramahansa Yogananda Road, Indiranagar, Bengaluru. ₹1,800 for a meal for two.
