Twenty Years of Cooking from the Heart

Twenty years ago, Anju Sudarshan set out with a simple idea: to bring her home kitchen into a café. Twenty years later, Anju’s Café has become nearly as famous as the famed theatre space, Ranga Shankara, it is housed in.  On this milestone anniversary, Anju reflects on the chance encounters, family recipes, and unwavering belief in honest, wholesome food at the beloved landmark, where generations of patrons return not just for a meal, but for a sense of home.

People often ask me how Anju’s Café began, and honestly, I never set out to start a café. Food has always been a big part of my life because that’s how I grew up. In our family, good food was never an occasion; it was simply the way we lived. My parents were good cooks, and my sister and I learnt from them. I don’t remember a time when cooking was just a mundane chore; and food was at the centre of everything when we had guests.

After I got married, I worked for a Dutch NGO in Bengaluru, and we used to have guests from the Netherlands. One day, my boss’s wife asked me to cater a team dinner. I refused because I had never catered before. She laughed and said, “Just think of it as a house party.” That made sense to me, so I cooked exactly as I would if people were coming home. Everyone loved the food, and that’s really how it all started. One catering assignment led to another without me planning any of it.

When the NGO project came to an end, my boss said something that changed my life. He told me, “I want to fire you. Go and start your business in food. That’s where your heart lies.” Until then, I had never thought of myself as an entrepreneur. I was happy doing my job, looking after my family, and raising my son. But he believed in me before I believed in myself. He even loaned me five lakh rupees to help me get started.

The café happened quite unexpectedly. I met Arundhati Nag at a friend’s place, and the very next day she called to ask if I would like to start a café at her theatre space, Ranga Shankara. When I saw the space, it just spoke to me. I didn’t sit down with spreadsheets or business plans. I simply felt this was where I was meant to be.

The menu is a reflection of the food I love and the food I want to share. I grew up in Mumbai, so sabudana vada had to be on it because that is what I grew up eating. Akki rotti came from my husband’s family. The first time my mother-in-law made it for me, I couldn’t stop eating it. Everyone told me I was mad to serve it because it takes nearly 10 minutes to make each one and doesn’t make commercial sense. But I never worked backwards from calculations. I wanted to serve something people would enjoy but wouldn’t usually make at home. Looking back, I think that decision became one of the things people remember us for.

Over the years, the menu has grown, but the philosophy has remained the same. We have pasta, herb toast, Mediterranean dishes like hummus, Indian meals, parathas, and simple everyday food, apart from chicken, for non-vegetarians. Whatever we make, we make it the way it is supposed to be made. We don’t cut corners. If hummus has to be made a certain way, we get the ingredients and make it that way, with ingredients sourced from the Middle East. Our masalas are made in-house, as I have never believed in shortcuts or packets. That’s simply because I took my home kitchen and placed it inside the café. I didn’t know any other way to cook.

Anju Sudarshan

People often ask how I managed to run a café in a theatre space where everyone walks in with different tastes. I never tried to fit into trends. I didn’t want to serve junk food, packaged food or flashy dishes covered in butter, cream, and colours. I wanted food that was honest and easy on the stomach, the kind you don’t get tired of eating because that’s how food is at home.

The nicest thing people tell me isn’t that the food is delicious. They tell me, “This feels like home.” Some even say this is their safe place or their healing place. When I heard that during our 20th anniversary celebrations, I felt overwhelmed because that was exactly why I had started the café. If people leave feeling looked after, then I know I have done what I set out to do.

Today, I see people who first came here as college students returning with spouses and children. Some tell me they had their first date here. Others bring their little ones, who have their own favourite dishes. Those are the moments that stay with me. I don’t think of Anju’s Café as a commercial space. I never have. For me, it has always been an extension of my home, and everyone who walks in is simply someone I have invited to share a meal.