Is Kozhikode witnessing a pasta-biryani nikah? It looks like so, from the way Italian food with Kozhikodan mix is setting local palates on fire. Indo-Italian fusion food is the in-thing in Kozhikode these days and the place to zip down for a bite is the 6th Avenue Cafe near the fourth gate on P. T. Usha Road.
The Kozhikodan touch
It’s no secret that foodies the world over go weak in the knees on seeing Italian cuisine on menu cards. The taste is 'oh-so delicious' and the dish- dressing, enticing, to say the least. The 6th Avenue Cafe’s USP is its fidelity to the pure Italian taste mixed with the best of Kozhikode’s spices. You just have to check out 6th Avenue’s popularity on Instagram to realize how folks here have taken to 'Kozhikotaly', the mix of two diametrically opposite cuisines.
A passion to serve food
Pause before you order. A serving for one spills over and is good enough for two, however much you may eat. Aneez Abdul Latheef, one of the owners of 6th Avenue Cafe credits this generosity to the rich servings of food he grew up with at home. Food was not to be grudged and he remembers his umma (mother) telling the family that people had to be tummy-happy. “That’s why I serve far more than what one can eat,” he says.
Aneez is no stranger to the business of food, for he has a rich tradition in the trade. His grandfather’s eatery, K. P. Restaurant, was once quite a joint in Kallayi. Later, Aneez’s father took over the business. That explains the family’s DNA coding in food. And when his Dubai-based cousin Roshan Abdu Razack backed Aneez, there was no looking back. After finishing his MBA, Aneez worked in a restaurant in Mangaluru for three months to get a real feel of the business and Roshan worked part-time in a restaurant in Dubai. Armed with this experience, the duo set up the venture in Kozhikode. But the enterprise had to be different. They wanted to treat Kozhikode to new tastes, fusion food, to be precise. Since Italian cuisine lends itself to culinary experiments, the two youngsters decided to take an Italian call. It’s been three years now since 6th Avenue Cafe breezed in on the Kozhikodan scene. The youngsters are now all set to open two such outlets, one in Bengaluru and the other in Dubai.
A quaint design
6th Avenue Cafe has been designed after a concept in Dubai which caught the fancy of the duo. Not to be called copycats, they brought in changes by incorporating Kozhikode’s traditional motifs into its interiors. The shelves showcase artifacts from all over the world. The cafe can seat 70 people at a time. The joint has also a separate facility to host a party for 40 people.
Avenue Hits
From sunrise to sunset and beyond, it’s a multi-cuisine experience in 6th Avenue. You name it, it’s all there … veg, non-veg, hot, cool, spicy et al. Here goes another list with starters, soup, the main course, desserts, sides, shakes, mojitos, hot drinks, mocktails, burgers, veg main courses, waffles and salads all ready to be served. The hit item happens to be Grilled Asian Chicken and Chicken Alfredo in a mix of rice. Yummy! Delizioso!
Chicken pot pie
Chicken cubes are cooked in white sauce and placed in pastry puffs. With scraped cheese on top, they are then oven cooked and served.
Avenue special waffles
The chef needs just 10 minutes to whip up this sweet delicacy. Homemade waffles mix is cooked in a waffles machine. Served best and hot with chocolate sauce, maple syrup, fresh fruits, ice cream or fresh cream.
Avenue dynamite shrimp
Prawns mixed in sweet and spicy sauce is then fried.
Green apple mojito
Apple, mint, lime and sugar are crushed and the juice extracted. A splash of soda along with it and you have a wonderful drink.
Sulaimania
The sulaimania served in 6th Avenue Cafe is special in that it is laced with so many flavors… vanilla, hibiscus and Morocco mint. You can set a timer to the sulaimania in the glass teapot to get the right intensity of the flavor you need. It’s quite curious that it’s a candle set in another glass pot underneath your pot of sulaimania that adds vigor to your drink. A pot can hold three glasses of the drink. All the different flavors of tea served in cafe have been sourced from Dubai.
For details: 0495-4061909
