When I announced my quest for cappuccino, someone suggested Ashvita Café on Radhakrishnan Salai, just west of Hotel President.

I had wondered about it before: When you drive by, you see only a sign pointing in to a very narrow lane, with an indistinct building at the end of it. In fact, you do not reach the end of the lane, but turn right about midway, and drive into the yard of a small house which has been converted to the café and an art gallery.

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I love South Indian filter coffee, but sometimes I just need a cappuccino. Luckily, there are more and more places where you can find good cappuccino in Chennai. Sacrifcing all in my desire to serve the readers of this blog, I plan to visit them and report on them here.

There’s a new place at No. 64 C.P. Ramaswamy Road, Coffee World. It’s part of a chain, with outlets in Thailand, India and Reunion. This is its first outlet in Chennai.

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Do you sometimes go to places to recreate other people’s memories? Perhaps to glimpse the sparkle in their eyes as they talk about a favourite bench or dish? Then do you feel that what you see and what they see are two different places? Maybe a few moments later when your favourite part of the flashback has been narrated for the umpteenth time, your eyes reflect the sparkle too…musty interiors – sofas with faded upholstery, rickety chairs, a gaping hole in the wall from which you think a rat may jump out any moment, jaded waiters who walk out eerily from a darkened room behind, all of these cease to matter…
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Thanks to Chenthil and Lavanya, and to the power of collective intelligence, we now have an unofficial and nascent Chennai Food Guide, hand-built by people circulating for around two weeks. Lavanya felt that The Hindu Metroplus: Chennai Food Guide was pretty good, and Chenthil sent us all a list of 70 plus restaurants he’s tried out. Couple of more e-mails (shoo, can’t share them) and here’s what we came up with: A Restaurant database.
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When the radio volume is kept high during school days, parents and others at home will remark ” Ennada tea kadai maathiri radiova vachirukke” . I remember tea shops at Chennai playing radio in high volumes. When you visit the outskirts, one sees a thatched shed with the boiler, with Viboothi and kungumam, on the body. The boiler is the same one we used to have at our homes during 60s and 70s for making hot water for bathing during rainy season and co called winter months of December and January.

I remember one such boiler, which was kept in the backyard at our residence at Lazarus Church Road, which was stolen one night during early eighties. Surprisingly on a complaint given to the Police, the boiler was restored and handed over to us.
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