Restaurants

Breaking: Chef Tushar Tondvalkar Debuts “Poetic” Contemporary Indian Restaurant in Vancouver this September

At Kavita, the chef pays homage to the seasons through a festival-inspired à la carte menu plus an “amma”-kase tasting experience

By Kristi Alexandra /

You’d be hard pressed to find a chef in Vancouver who doesn’t think that good food is about storytelling—and they’re not wrong.

Chef Tushar Tondvalkar will be making his Vancouver restaurant debut by doing just that with Kavita, opening in September in the OFISWERKS building, right beside the gluten-free commissary kitchen and event space, The Skript Kitchen.

You see, Kavita, is the Marathi word for poetry—and also happens to be the first name of Tondvalkar’s own mother.

Chef Tushar Tondvalkar. Photo credit: Luis Valdizon.

“Kavita has a lot of meaning for me—not only is it named after my mother, it will be a place where I can finally introduce Vancouver to the regional and diverse flavours of the India I know in new, creative ways. Like poetry, we want each dish to tell a story and spark conversation and connections when people take their first bite,” writes the Mumbai-born chef, whose accomplishments include founding The Indian Pantry, appearing on Hulu’s Chef vs. Wild (and winning the foraged-ingredients-only, three-course meal challenge) and cooking at acclaimed global restaurants such as Gaggan and Gaa in Bangkok, and locally at Bauhaus, Blue Water Café and Mumbai Local.

The spot will have two special menus to choose from: an à la carte menu inspired by India’s festival calendar—think Holi, Diwali, Onam and Eid—bolstered by regional and seasonal ingredients; and the “amma”-kase tasting menu, a play-on-words nodding to Japanese omakase and the homage to mothers, as “amma” translates to “mom” in several Indian languages.

Mainstays on the menu will include the buns & butter (Manglorean banana buns with toasted coconut chili butter), the Malvani prawn pulao, chicken kebab stuffed morels complete with korma and green peas—topped all off with puran poli for dessert (milk cake, feuilletine, ghee and chili crisp).

Kavita’s Manglorean buns&butter. Photo credit: Aditya Pawar.

The 46-seat,1,500 square-foot restaurant—which includes an intimate eight-seat chef’s table and an open kitchen—will be designed by Janks Design Group, the folks behind spots like Tap & Barrel, Field & Social and Earnest Ice Cream.

“It’s always exciting when guests let you cook for them and take them on a culinary journey,” writes Tondvalkar.

Doors to Kavita are set to open in September at 250 W 3rd Avenue.