The vegan all-day dining cafe, a passion project, is a space for environmentally-conscious brands to display their products, says Sameer Bawa
In June 2021, when celebrity Chef Daniel Humm started serving a strictly plant based menu in his award winning, three michelin star restaurant, Eleven Madison Park, in New York, it raised a few eyebrows. The menu got mixed reviews but the chef was convinced that it was the way forward and the menu was more luxurious than ever before.
While veganism as a practise might be quite evolved in the West, I have started noticing that a lot of restaurants back home in Delhi have also started incorporating vegan preparations in their menus which optically seems a bit surprising, considering that the major population of India has always been vegetarian. A couple of days ago, I got the opportunity to try out, People Of Tomorrow, a vegan all-day dining cafe located in the Dhan Mill compound.
“Upon being educated about the negative impacts of the meat and dairy industry on the environment, I realised the importance of veganism and the lack of food options for those wanting to adopt this lifestyle. I knew I had to delve into this project, making veganism accessible,” says founder Ritv Kapoor, a vegan convert for the last four years.
The rustic, casual and vibrant cafe serves reconstructed soul food with a wide array of small plates, salads, platters, a live taco counter and much more.
We started with the Signature mezze platter comprising two bean falafel, baba ghanoush, beetroot hummus, muhammara, tabbouleh and pita. As they say, well begun is half done! Really liked all the dips but a special shout out for the muhammara which was almost a perfect blend of red peppers, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. I requested for an iced tea on the side but they do have nice options for coffee lovers as well.
We also requested for a Go-Green beans salad which complimented the mezze platter beautifully. Seasonal green beans decorated with a kaffir lime sambhar and garnished with almond slivers and chilli soy. The beans had the perfect crunch and sambhar provided the requisite contrast that the dish warranted. Just brilliant!
Next up was the Puff-lo broccoli, a dish which intrigued me the most. A broccoli preparation glazed with cream cheese, buffalo sauce and white onion soubise. A very comforting dish, it had a lovely and creamy aftertaste with a hint of heat.
We sampled the Smoke - don’t choke arti pizza, a charcoal fettucini and a pumpkin ravioli next. The pizza topped with smoked artichoke and almond with a drizzle of balsamic was light and fluffy. I was told that they rest the pizza dough for 24 hours.
All the pastas at People of Tomorrow are from the artisanal pasta brand, Casarecce.in. The fettucini was served al dente with some seasonal mushrooms and drizzled with some portobello powder. It was very nice.
Their take on the pumpkin ravioli, though, was a slight dampener for me. It could have been served at a warmer temperature. Nice touch of sprinkling it with hazelnuts and capers but if you are expecting a North Italian classic, then you might be a bit disappointed.
They gave the finishing touches to the meal with the Textures of chocolate. As the name suggests, different preparations and textures of chocolate were served on a platter with contrasting flavour profiles. Can’t go wrong with chocolate, can you?
In a nutshell, it was a very nice dining experience. I wholeheartedly support the endeavour and the ‘sustainability’ message behind the brand, along with the food expression of the chef. While People of tomorrow is passion project which, in its own way, wants to help preserve future generations, it is also a space for environmentally-conscious brands to display their products. Vegan food might be propagated at the heart of the brand, but I personally feel that it also shares a perspective which encourages a super healthy and sustainable lifestyle. I would not be surprised if over the next few years, the F&B industry in India embraces vegan food and we have more such concepts mushrooming across the country.
(The author is a food critic and food connoiseur.)