Udupi: ‘Chef Plated’, a continental bistro cafe was inaugurated by T Ashok Pai, secretary, Dr TMA Pai Foundation, Manipal on recently.

The cafe is situated opposite to St Joseph Chuch, Canara Milk Dairy Road, Eshwarnagar.

Vittal Kamath, a bio-medical graduate of MIT-Manipal, working in the health care industry, the automotive industry and market research spent a good part of his career working in North America, Europe and the Middle East. Moving out of his comfort zone, he has started Manipal’s very first continental bistro cafe serving artisan food at casual dining prices. The cafe is aptly named ‘Chef Plated’ and it will be the first-of-its-kind in the overcrowded F&B market in Manipal.

Shahid Masood and his brother Kalim are backing Vittal in his venture as silent partners having comeback to their roots themselves. Shahid, who worked for a British construction company in Dubai, more literally as he is now the son of the soil and has invested significantly into farming and agriculture amid a varied portfolio of businesses in his home town of Udupi. Kalim, also an MIT bio-medical graduate shares the same passion as his brother and is in the process of eventually coming back to Udupi after winding up his affairs in the Middle East where he has worked for close to two decades. Kalim strongly believes in pumping his hard earned money into Udupi’s local economy and wishes more individuals like himself fuel the growth of his beloved hometown.

Dolphy, having lived abroad for over twenty years has already been initiated by fire as he started his own venture a decade earlier. He has created a niche for himself in the fast food space by creating his own brand - Hot Chix. Dolphy has tasted phenomenal success with through his work.

In a polarised India where caste, creed and religion are increasingly giving way for acts of unnecessary violence and disruption of communal harmony, these NRI examples of sharing similarities and celebrating differences. Different names, different faiths, different backgrounds all having a common thread - the urge to come back to their origin as mature family men having left the country as ambitious bachelors. All of them want their next generation to grow up where they grew up so that they stay true to their traditions and culture. A reverse trend is in play and more and more people are embracing India and contributing to their local economies with capital infusion and job creation.

Purushotham Shetty, MD, Ujwal Constructions & Developers was the chief guest of the event.Jerry Vincent Dias, chairman of Mandavi Real Estate and Developers, Udupi was present for the event. Asvinash Kamath compered the inaugural programme. Appetizing and flavorsome snacks were served to the gathering thereafter.