Article

This chef fulfills her culinary ambition in a supper club

This chef's mission, in addition to creating memorable guest experiences, is to help guests understand the hard work and passion that farmers and producers invest in their grains, produce, meat, fish, oils, seasoning and other ingredients.

Caroline Tosbath helps Deepa Shridhar on her food trailer.

July 31, 2019 by Elliot Maras — Editor, Kiosk Marketplace & Vending Times

This is part two in a two-part series

When Deepa Shirdhar launched her food trailer, "Puli Ra," in 2017, she knew she had turned a corner in her quest to provide a unique culinary experience in Austin.

It all began when the owners of Still Austin, a whiskey distillery, were sold on Shirdhar's cooking, and wanted her to prepare and serve her food to their customers via a food trailer.

Fortunately for Shirdhar, one of the distillery's investors provided the funds to custom build the trailer, complete with cooking equipment and a butcher block, from which she prepared food sourced from local farmers, as described in part one of this two-part series.

Her years of working in restaurants and the relationships she established with the farmers and vendors at the farmer's market finally paid off. Or so it seemed.

Deepa Shridhar delights in helping customers appreciate the commitment local farmers provide.

Standardized menu constraining

From the start, the distillery wanted a standardized menu which did not give Shirdhar the freedom to create menus based on what food was available from the farmers on a given day. 

"There's always a clash if somebody wants a consistent menu that will happen on all days," she said. "That's not something I'm interested in making. I wanted to make food on my terms, and I wanted to make a menu that didn't necessarily have to be made the next day."

Fortunately, the investor who gave her the money for the trailer didn't object when she wanted to leave the distillery after one year. "I told him I couldn't create my art properly," she said. "He is just somebody who understands the vision when he sees somebody with passion and talent. He has made it his business to let me thrive."

"They were incredibly gracious about letting me leave," she said regarding Still Austin. 

In search of culinary freedom

Another establishment, Texas Keeper Cider, a craft cider taproom, agreed to allow Shridhar to make whatever she wanted on any given day. She advertised her menu as low country Indian with a Texan inspiration, all sourced locally. She began hosting supper clubs at the taproom.

And while Shirdhar had more freedom to prepare menus, the demands of providing daily menus still limited creativity. 

"When you do daily service, your value of what you do goes down," she said. "Once I realized that, I couldn't do it anymore. I like cooking. I didn't like cooking the way I was cooking." 

Finding her calling

So, this past October Shirdhar discontinued her trailer to devote herself to her supper club. The supper club allows her to cook a menu of her choosing on any given day based on what the farmers are offering.

"The farmers dictate my menu," she said.

In February, she began hosting supper club events at the Austin Winery.

"They're an urban winery who basically understood who I was," she said. The supper club features "Indian-ish" dishes and wine pairings.

Her SZN supper club events now draw 80 to 100 guests and she is making twice as much money hosting a supper club event once a month compared to daily service.

"Ours is more of a giant party," she said, compared to traditional supper clubs, with a largely millennial following. The cost to attend is usually $90. 

She boasts an Instagram following that allows her to engage with people about her passion for food.

One recent Instagram post reads as follows: "Coconut Appam Challah bread cause when we test we gotta go for every idea, Nepalese dumplings in a TX peach fermented tomato sauce, Laal Maas Bolognese turned out better than expected. Something happens to meat with yogurt, and fire, and making a giant vat of fermented tomatoes for Red Sauce & Red Wine." 

The trailer, while sidelined, has not been discarded. Shridhar is looking for a way to make the trailer a part of the winery or find another use for it.

After all, she acknowledges the important role the trailer played in establishing her culinary reputation.

Her mission, in addition to creating memorable experiences for guests, is to allow them to recognize the hard work and passion that farmers and producers invest in their grains, produce, meat, fish, oils, seasoning and other ingredients. 

"If you put out good vibes, you get what you give," she said.

Photos courtesy of Deepa Shridhar.

About Elliot Maras

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Elliot Maras is the editor of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He brings three decades covering unattended retail and commercial foodservice.