Puducherry has always been French. Now, it also offers a slice of Italy. On your next road trip, stop at brunch at a Parisian croissant, then dine on pasta from Piedmont
gastronomica auroville
Antonello Giglio first started serving pasta during lockdown: again, he couldn’t stop.
“I started a food kitchen, and made ravioli, lasagna, and other fresh pasta from whatever was available from the farms around us. Soon, there was a long queue outside my door, and to be able to feed them all, I was in the kitchen for eight to 10 hours a day,” he says, leaning over the counter in his newly opened Gastronomica, in front. Set Popular Auroville Bakery.
The Italian entrepreneur hands the last few slices of his signature, spongy flat bread pizza to customers, before turning to his well-stocked refrigerator to reach for bottled pasta sauce. When he first visited Auroville 20 years ago, he saw how difficult it was to find good pasta, but had no intention of stopping to solve it. “I did different jobs in Italy and then Spain, from selling furniture to managing spas … Then eight years ago, I returned to Auroville to live here,” he says.
Living and volunteering with the Auroville community, Antonello began creating the food he eats in Piedmont, catering for private events. He then began focusing on manufacturing and creating a line of high quality, organic dried pasta. “The best ways are the old way. We make pasta the same way it is made in the south of Italy with organic wheat.”
Instead, springy coils of Tagliatelle Blush with beetroot, green radiator curls are brightened with spinach and Kasarekka’s twists are tinted with turmeric. To make it easier for customers to pull together a dish at home, Gastonomica also has a range of freshly made bottled sauces, including a creamy white mushroom sauce, pesto Parmesan, and arabiata.
“Right now we have fresh pasta like everyday ravioli with local mozzarella and ricotta. We make pizza, and ciabatta, and multigrain loaves,” says Antonello, explaining that Gastronomica is a gourmet store that doesn’t have seating. “People at Fior D’Agosto marination include grilled zucchini, grilled capsicum, and eggplant. For example, you can also take aperitivos, which contains 13 herbs.”
Auroville Road, Kuilapalayam. Call 078100 99118
Cafe Le Pondicherry
Crowds for scheduled holidays now come in increasingly frequent waves. HiDesign founder Dilip Kapoor laughed and said, “We can’t stand it anymore.” They should know: Dilip runs Le Duplex, two of Puducherry’s most popular hotels – The Promenade and Heritage Hotel. And now, he’s just launched a cafe, which he runs with Ruth Sequeira. Fair enough for a venue that attempts to recapture the glamor of a small French town, it’s dubbed ‘Le Pondicherry’.
“People want a vacation, a little escape. They’re looking for that French Pondy, more French tropical, with a place to relax,” he says, “a place with great croissants!”
Walking through Casablanca, which was launched in the early ’90s, he says, “When we started it, we restored an old French Colonial house and went on to create this ‘Pondi’ store The atrium opened. But now, in a few years, Pondy will become a city and that’s what caused Casablanca to exist.” The answer, he felt, was to create a space for both locals and travelers, so that they could relax and to recharge.
Ruth orders a refreshing cold soup, followed by plates of large billowy croissants filled with chicken and mango sauce, as she explains how the cafe is actually a creative collaboration between friends. While Chennai-based restaurateur Sandesh Reddy and Auroville’s Daniel Trulson helped the kitchen perfect their croissants, the coffee is adapted by Divya Jaishankar of Beachville, and includes a Vietnamese cold coffee, which many Vietnamese people enjoy. There is a gesture to those who have made Pondicherry their home. Fabian Bontems of Auroville, who runs the popular Mason & Co., has also created a line of bon bons for the cafe.
As we try the goat cheese and mushroom wedges with a cup of Wild Forest tea, Ruth explains how happy she was to find these elder leaf teas were made by local women in Manipur. The menu is concise, but full of confidence, with a focus on a few things.
“In terms of food, it’s modern French: salty, sweet, with chocolate and coffee,” says Dilip. Discussing how he plans to open his ‘Wildfish Bistro’ at the next Promenade, he says, “We’re not a party town. But we have what we have in Pondy and Auroville – which I think It’s going to be some of the best food on the East Coast soon.
Casablanca, 165, Mission St, Heritage Town, Puducherry
.