And so Srivalli, Nirmala and I met over a lunch and some coffee this weekend. Honestly, I din’t know how to begin this post. A bunch of food bloggers living in the same city can’t help but meet – is there a better way to have a good conversation with people of the same wavelength? Kamini from The Bubbling Cauldron couldn’t join us because of a last minute health related development. We missed you a lot Kamini. Wishing you a speedy recovery and hope to catch up with you soon. I discovered fairly late that Manju was also from Chennai – she couldn’t join in because of prior commitments that took her out of station.
Amma and I have been following Srivalli’s as well as Nirmala’s blog ever since we started with our own. In fact Srivalli was one of our first dedicated readers who left comments on every single post without fail – she does it even today. Thanks Sri. Though first meeting was virtual, one look at Nirmala’s blog and I immediately connected it with the person – one of my first interactions with her was to check if she lived in Chennai.
Taking a decision to meet up is very simple, but making it happen is far more difficult. In a span of approximately 44 emails, we proudly crushed the biggest barrier of conflicting schedules and decided to meet for lunch and coffee.
Cappucinno at Amethyst, Gopalapuram, Chennai
We met for lunch at Amethyst, Gopalapuram, Chennai – a chic cafe and art gallery that has an awesome ambiance and food one could label as “reasonable”. Amethyst is housed in Sundar Mahal, an oldish pale yellow structure with a large open air sit out amidst greenery.
Amethyst, Gopalapuram, Chennai
We spoke at length for 4.5 hours “bunking work” in the process. Amethyst doesn’t throw people out which is why it is a good place to meet. Though one is likely to have some amusing encounters with the food (which is perhaps also educating). Like the last time I went and ordered a Frappe – I ended up gulping down a black liquid with bits of ice cream (or was it cream?).
We tried to order Paneer Tikka as a starter only to be told by the waiter that it was the special main course of the day. We ordered it anyway along with some french fries, Pizza (I think gallette topped with goat’s cheese, tomato, aubergines and red peppers) and coffee.
Pizza piece spared for a Photo
The Paneer Tikka arrived in a dry as a desert form with some chutney and Roti with holes in it. We were quite stumped on “What do we eat the Roti with?”. According to the waiter, we were supposed to eat it with the chutney which dint seem very convincing. Later on when I was discussing this with a friend, she politely offered to educate me – “You’re supposed to roll them up and eat.” Nirmala and Srivalli, how come we din’t figure this out?
The Paneer Tikka with Roti that stumped us
Anyway we were quite happy to meet up and share some of our own goodies. Srivalli brought along some Nankatai or Salt Crackers that were so delicious that we finished it the same night. Nirmala’s Pakodas were heavenly. In short even a person who is averse to deep fried foods couldn’t have resisted taking a bite off the salt crackers and pakodas. I took along some Brownies – eggless and low fat though not vegan. I made it from this recipe with just one change I doubled the recipe and substituted 1/4th of the Apple Puree with Butter. I used the 4oz chocolate with higher sugar option.
Clockwise from 12′ – My Brownies, Nirmala’s Pakodas and Srivalli’s Nankatais
I can smell a bunch of “curious” people out there who want to know what we look like 😀 . Nirmala, Srivalli and I have unanimously decided that we are very shy people who don’t want to put our mug shots online 😀 . For now you’ll have to make do with pictures of food we had and shared. And some of the flowers we spotted at Amethyst.
Srivalli is a highly energetic working mother of three awesome kids. Her demeanour and attitude are far from the stereotypical “I am harrowed” look that I come across most working mothers in India. I also peeped into her house on the way and met her warm family. The “just turning 1” twins Srihara and Srikara are incredibly cute – the older one greeted me with ready impish but innocent smile and the younger with a “Sorry, but do I know you” look.
Nirmala has a ready sense of humour and wit that one can only find in the south of India. I fell in love with the rib tickling way in which she narrates small incidents. Having known both of them in person, understanding how each of them speaks has added a lot to my experience of reading their blogs – in fact looking back at each of Nirmala’s classic smaller tidbits hidden in her posts make me smile now 😀 .
We’ll be meeting soon and often for sure.
– Lakshmi
Lakshmi, it was indeed a pleasure meeting you and Nirmala. Will post my side of the meeting soon..Thanks for the pictures, now I don’t have to struggle getting them up..:))….
And your brownie, IMHO, is a class of its own.
Wow dear! wonderful writeup! I need to post one which will describe you in my blog! that will make the post complete!
Gosh, they look amazing!
That looks like fun! How sweet to share home-made goodies.
wow!!! sounds like u girls had gr8 fun 🙂
How cute Lathamma.. I loved the way you narrated the surroundings, the lunch everything.. It was like a live encounter..:D.. and all the home made goodies sound so yum.. and I loved the pics too ..:)
Special mention about the change of ur template… It very nice and sober..:)
– Siri
Siri, Lathamma is in Bangalore and couldn’t make it for this time around. I=Lakshmi. :). lakshmi
hey Nice for u…….u met and had a nice time…….hmmm…I am jealous….Now I will be on the lookout for friends near my place…….haha…kidding …..
Great…..and I enjoyed reading this post 🙂
by the way….the new look of ur blog looks good :-).
thats great..All this time, I thought you were in Bangalore..
NOT FAIR!!! You should have taken a photo of you girls!!!
Sounds like a great get together L, great to read that!:))
Oh, we took photos of ourselves too :D.
One quick question though, now in this new template, how will I know whether its Lathaji or Lakshmiji’s post?.. I know I sound silly, but just wondering..:)
Good point, Was telling Amma. Lakshmi’s will be marked separately 😀
You must have had a great time…love those goodies…btw, those rotis with holes were definitely something new 🙂
Looks like a mini potluck you all had there…! Nice photos and bet you all had a great time there…:))
the initial idea was to have a potluck – but then ditched it in favour of meeting outside
Hope u all had a nice time..Nice write up.
I just commented on Srivalli’s blog… This is such a lovely idea and am sure it was wonderful to meet the pple with whom we interact almost daily.
Lakshmi, enjoyed reading the post. I can identify with the 44 e-mails, having seen something similar, only to have it fizzle out.
This sounds so much of fun!
grrrrr, now I am going a little jealous! must have been so much fun right! thats to freaking out in chennai, those goodies, boohooooo I wish I was there:((
Wow…it looks like you all had great fun. Nice descriptions and pics of food. Wish I found someone here and had a get together.
That is such a cool thing LAkshmi! Wish i were in Chennai to meet u girls and eat all that yummy goodies!
U’re post made me so homesick as always 😦
Wish u guys could have posted u’re pics! it would have been nice to put a face to the names.
Love the names Srihara and Srikara 🙂
Hugs
Latha
Wow Lakshmi, it must be feeling so nice to meet some one personally from the same genre! Looks like you had lotsa fun and loads of good eats!
The new look to your blog is really good and all the best! I really enjoyed reading this post.
Wow, thats awesome… looks like you girls had a lot of fun…. goodies look great….
that meeting i’m sure was fun! now i wish i was living in chennai…girls..c’mon stop being being shy and show us ur snaps..this teaser was so not fair 🙂
oh how nice! thanks for sharing your fun moments with us, Lakshmi. The home made goodies look terrific in comparison with those ‘dry as desert’ rotis.
Looks like you had a wonderful time together…Nice Write up…actually I came here from Srivalli’s blog expecting some pics of you guys :(…those Rotis looks different..Lovely snacks too
How exciting!! and that must have been so much fun 🙂
Do the three flowers in the pic represent the three of ya? 😉
Awesome! Sounds like loads of fun!
I wish I could have met you guys and talked over coffee.
Heh! Sounds like a fun bloggers meet!
BTW, M and I are planning a visit to Chennai in Dec. You should have a bloggers meet then too!
… and I can cure your camera shyness!
heee heee!
:-))
Beautiful place!
we should definitely meet up. let me know plans and we’ll work around it.
[…] read thru Lakshmi’s and Srivalli’s post on the same. Photos were present only of Lakshmi’s […]
i can’t believe i missed it!! 😦 looks like u guys had fun!!! 🙂 i was actly looking for a foto 😀
Lakshmi, after reading this post, felt as though I was there with you all. Very nice experience indeed. Will try when I come next time. Lovely post. Viji
this is so awesome 🙂
Oh yueah!!!Next time when me and nags are in chennai we will plan a meet up OK??? 🙂
…and Lakshmi lets start something going like a chain like amish frienship starter..THINK and letz discuss…OK???(i saw the comment in my sister Nag’s box abt this and immediately thought of leaving a note…NAN READY!!! 😉
Bharathy – of course, we’ll start one asap.
As amma said some Mavu or active dry yeast or whatever…neenga ammavum ponnum decide pannunga! 🙂
Awwwww…. How I wish I cud have been there. Next time when I come to chennai, will you arrange one such meet Lakshmi?
Thats very interesting 🙂
I wish i was there too.
Neat writeup.
wow!! you really had fun!! lovely pics…
I would like to see a continuation of the topic
[…] we finally decided to meet over the weekend. For pictures taken during the meet, visit Lakshmi’s blog here.We decided to meet at a place thats closer by to our offices, in plans to get back to office after […]
Lovely post, lovely pics, especially one of the flowers. I am going to follow this blog more closely now.
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