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I remember when I was invited over to Nava for a meal, I read up about how the idea was born from a conversation between the chef, Akash Deshpande and founder Anushka Pathak after a notable meal back in 2018. The idea then translated into what is currently an ingredient-driven space that intends to offer an experience played on the sentiment of familiar tastes, in fine-tuned servings. When we first walked into the restaurant, I was instantly enamoured by the calming white and gold tones, prominent throughout the décor and space. In a later conversation with Anushka, she points to the gleaming black subway tiles she insisted on during discussions with her interior designer, Tejal Mathur, in whose honour the Gondhoraj lemon infused gin cocktail ‘Too Much Drama’ is crafted.
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It has a spicy yet warming mouthfeel because of the green chilli and vanilla, and unassuming but potent. The kokum cocktail, ‘Along The Kokan Coast’, was yet another highlight for its savoury flavours with a hint of curry leaves. Other fun options to pick from were ‘The Glitter Motion Margarita’, a concoction of tequila, musk melon, peach, lime and edible glitter that was a fun touch; as well as a whiskey-amarfal puree-passionfrfuit-based drink called the ‘Shizi’.
'Seoul' Food
What Nava does right and does well are instances where they consciously construct an origin story behind each of the dishes that were near-perfect in one way or the other. The case in point being the ‘Seoul’ Food, a Koren fried chicken that was served with a fantastic house-made hot sauce and a quenelle of kimchi that echoed the taste of kachumber we’ve grown up eating. Anushka points out on how many elements in the dishes featured on the menu stemmed from a sense of duty to be a zero-waste restaurant. Interestingly enough, she divulges that during days when the restaurant is unable to source black garlic for the aioli that’s served with their ‘Crispy Polenta Bars’, peels of regular garlic are smoked overnight in an oven to recreate its taste. Similarly, the crispy fish skin on the ‘Crab Cakes’, served with a black olive tapenade have parallel resemblance to prawn crackers.
Kokum Prawns
Nava manages to do simple things with an exemplary flare. To illustrate this idea, their creation of the flavoursome, pulled ‘Jackfruit Pie’, had a medley of warm spices and tender shreds of jackfruit housed in an unbelievably buttery crust. The ‘Tortellini’, a house-made pasta stuffed with ricotta served on top of a Dijon-cognac sauce and lightly cooked, softened cherry tomatoes were contending for the top favourite spot. A notable mention must be made for the ‘Kokum Prawns’ which stood out for the taste of the ocean the team of young chefs manage to capture on the plate.
Vincent Van Gogh's 'The Starry Night'
The European classical idea is taken up a notch with chef Akash’s imagination using food as a canvas for an entirely edible replica of Vincent Van Gogh’s 19th century painting – The Starry Night. A vanilla bean mouse, passionfruit curd, Gondhoraj lemon sponge with a canvas painted in beautiful blue tones of jasmine custard and a yellow passionfruit jelly moon. And whatever it’s worth, Nava gets credit for the effort and serious craftsmanship dedicated into creating a centre of experiencing culinary magic with a sense of wonder all over again. As our conversation with Anushka reaches to mark the end of the meal, she credits a significant part of the endeavour to her chef, behind whose creativity she banks all her energies into. “I firmly believe that creativity wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for one’s audacity to defy rules and test the limits of ambiguity. And Nava’s kitchen epitomises this fundamental philosophy,” says chef Akash Deshpande.
