Tastes Like Nostalgia

Chef Niyati Rao shares how nostalgia plays a significant role in building her culinary identity, and how the sentiment drives the menu of her restaurant, Ekaa

- ISHA MAYER

Food is memories for me. From a very young age, I have seen my family’s lives revolve around food. It was the source of celebrating happiness. At a young age, I understood that food has an unimaginable impact on situations, feelings and moods. It can end wars, make people feel things, and remember things they had forgotten! That is how my mother’s and my grandmother’s food made me feel–it was nothing short of power. And that’s why I decided I wanted to wield that power, and so my journey began.