OF all the restaurants I have helped the Taj Group of Hotels to set up, I am particularly fond of the Karavalli in Bangalore. I admire its assorted seafood that is sourced from all along the western coast. The fleshy black pomfret of Mangalore. The succulent baby lobster from Goa. The soft-shelled blue crabs of Cannanore.

The exclusive pearlspot from Cochin�s backwaters. And fresh bekti, shrimps, tiger prawns, scampi, squid, lady fish, sear, sole... all cooked over slow wood and charcoal fires in earthern pots with Byadgi chillies from North Kanara, shallots grown in Bangalore, Goan palm jaggery, Coorg vinegar and white coconuts off Coondapur palms. It makes a wonderfully spectacular cuisine!

Ten years ago when I suggested to the Taj that we ought to set up regional restaurants in our hotels, I was shouted down. True, the age of eating out had arrived in a big way. But when there were Continental, Chinese, Italian, Thai, Mexican, Japanese and even North West Frontier Province restaurants to chose from, why would anybody pay fancy prices to eat their own cuisine in a five star, I was asked.

Still, I convinced the dynamic Ajit Kerkar to convert an old disused shed at the Bangalore Gateway Hotel into an eatery of 40 seats with a tiny kitchen. It was an unpretentious restaurant where locals would feel comfortable. And I appointed Bernadette Pinto, a talented young girl I had drawn out of the Bombay catering college, to be head chef here.

I was clear about what kind of food I wanted in Karavalli. Coastal cuisine had always fascinated me. But there was no restaurant doing justice to it. So I planned the Karavalli menu keeping in mind the wealth of local spices,

souring agents, fresh fish, meats and vegetables of the western coast, and the cuisines of the Malayalees, the Bunts of Mangalore, the Coorgs and the Portuguese of Goa. Bernadette sourced recipes from the homes of families in Mangalore, Bangalore, Hubli and Karwar. She also picked up culinary secrets from Christian and Hindu homes in Goa. Then she returned to Bangalore and backed by a young team that was unfettered by handed-down recipes and formulas, set about creating this kind of food at Karavalli.

I must say Karavalli was not an instant success. Out of curiosity, it drew a small crowd, about 10 people for lunch and 25 for dinner. But those were early days. Slowly word spread about its amazing seafood menu that set tastebuds alight with its unique tangy tastes and hot and sour flavours.

And it took about a year-and-a-half for the restaurant to develop a following. A little more for visitors to the city to be recommended the Karavalli by locals. The rest, as they say, is history. Now Karavalli has an enviable clientele of loyal customers from all walks of life and from all over India and abroad. Unfailingly, they come here whenever on a visit to Bangalore. Interestingly, the people of Bangalore too developed a special rapport with the restaurant and have made it their favourite eating out place.

But the Karavalli has grown much since then. Bernadette returned to Bombay for personal reasons and her place was taken by Chef A. V. Sriram. He extended the menu further South, into Calicut and Cochin, and the interiors, including Bhatkal. Sriram visited several homes and spent time in their kitchens,

as also in the Malabar Hotel in Cochin where there are fine local cooks. He also wanted to extend the range of the seafood, so I encouraged him to visit exporters in Mangalore. Sriram persuaded them to send daily supplies of oysters, mussels and crab to Bangalore and reach these fish to a wider audience. From here, Sriram carried the cuisine of Karavalli and moved on to London�s Quilon restaurant in Taj�s St. James Court Hotel. His place was ably taken by Chef Timmaiah, who not only held the standards but put a little bit of his own personality into the cuisine.

Now, in its tenth year, under Chef Timmaiah and Executive Chef Surinder Singh, the Karavalli has entered an interesting phase. While 75 per cent of its menu remains the same, a whole section of local vegetables like yam, snake gourd, banana stem, green brinjal, tapioca, jackfruit and greens have been introduced to it.

The menu also covers the foods of Trivandrum, Palghat and Allepy in Kerala. And they are trying to tap the Moplah cuisine of the Malabaris of Calicut. I think the success of Karavalli has got much to do with the consistency of the food. Its chefs still learn traditional recipes from the kitchens of housewives along the coast.

Then they come back with them, experiment in the Karavalli kitchen, add a dash of toddy from Goa, a measure of Kodampuli vinegar from Corg, raw mango from Allepy, coconut milk from Coondapur, and serve it on a bed of starchy IR8 rice from Coimbatore. And as they say in French, viola, a discovery has been made.