Frankly speaking I have always been very fond of my grandpa’s farm in the outskirts of Chennai, which presents me with evergreen memories from my childhood or perhaps it brings back those lingering memories from the mid 80s where I was only a school kid asking my grandma to prepare my favorite dishes. 20 yrs passed by and jus 2 days back I gladly accepted an invitation from my brother to visit THE FARM on the beautiful and picturesque OMR stretch. Gladly accepting to empty my brother’s pocket …we hit the road on a Saturday evening with keen curiosity yet perhaps some subconscious anticipation. A 40 minutes drive from home took us to a nearly deserted road near Sathayabama University only to be welcomed by a plain white sign board guiding us to a brightly painted puny wooden door virtually hidden on the humongous and extended cement walls. With slight apprehension along with a fervent consideration we stepped in this most unlikely restaurant I have ever been in Chennai. Of course yes,–THE FARM- was so characteristic of the place.
I could not help notice the unusual lounges right beneath the open sky. Seats made of naked wood and stone benches adorned the place perfectly. And now with a big sigh I gave my brother a satisfactory smile. And as soon as we entered one cannot notice this short guy with a neatly chopped hair draped with a t shirt as vibrant as the place with a warm cozy smile greeting you. Introducing himself as Arul (the creator) he received us with a divinely cold and sweet tender coconut! (I was secretly praising my brother for his invitation) However, just having scraped through what this beautiful farm has to offer, we waded through the green netted walls of the restaurant with very simple and elegant thatched roof above us, neatly cut stone benches of some unknown shapes, and put together the whole place reminded me of a theme that both subtly and surprisingly astonishing the senses. It is a PERFECT get away from the raucous and mundane weekdays we all go through (I was secretly blessing my brother this time).
Taking our places, I settled down for a handmade wooden chair while my brother rested himself on a wooden bed close by. 5 minutes of chit chat we wormed our way to the open kitchen near the unseen entrance only to get flabbergasted by the bold and innovative dishes straight from the Farm. The curd , paneer, beer can chicken made the dishes even more exciting. Hunting for all the sumptuous meal, with our plates almost chock-a-block and dripping my brother and me made our next greedy move to the pizza parlor. Here one gets to make their own pizza, I settled for a veg., and my brother as well. Then back we headed to our seats, impatiently, to get ourselves buttered up lavishly. The 2 hours spent at the farm was worth the brother’s hard earned money. At the end of it all, very much impressed with the interior and concept and the kitchen we have already made this place a local stop for our friends and family meetings. Definitely worth checking out even for business purposes!
-- Bharathi Priya, feelingpeckish.in
