Being this long in Delhi, nothing in the city’s food scene surprises me anymore.
When we want to be surprised, we go to another city. So, nothing really prepared me for what we came across today. Not unexpectedly, the surprising element in Delhi’s culinary scene has come from outsiders. The concept, the scale and the implementation is something that you will never be prepared for.
I have been thankful to Sankalp Vishnu for introducing us to great food in Hyderabad. Now, I have to be thankful to our Hyderabadi guest for introducing me to Colocal in Delhi.
Colocal is massive by Delhi’s standards. There is open air seating outside. There is a large compound inside with a retractable sunroof. The ground floor has the kitchen, a potential display space and the kitchen.
The whole of first floor is where the surprise is. It’s a cocoa processing unit that you can walk through and watch. From roasting to grinding to cocoa butter extraction to chocolate making, the whole set up is impressive because there is nothing else like it in Delhi.
Sometimes entrepreneurs have to be thankful to a city for sustaining them. Sometimes, a city has to be thankful to an entrepreneur for bringing in a new experience to them. Colocal is something that Delhi has to be thankful to Sheetal and Nishant for.
Ashis Nayak has been telling us for years about Sheetal and Nishant and ROASTERY. He has been so passionately recommending them that I discarded him as biased. But the unassuming, easy to love couple is a house of talent – from setting trends in coffee to now chocolate, from doing the interiors to sourcing to the crockery, they are doing it all.
Passion has a vibe of its own. And, that’s all I respond to. If I don’t like you, I won’t like anything you do. So, I am biased here. I love the couple for their energy and I think Delhi should make them feel at home.
The Chattarpur road has been widened. The compound has loads of parking. The space is huge so distancing is not an issue. And, in this evil evil world, you need to meet good folks. So, go.
Btw, the chef they have hired on LinkedIn is a guy who has travelled the world – worked in Austalia, US, on cruises and where not – and has done good things with the menu.
