A serendipitous meeting between Anju Sudharshan and Ranga Shankara theatre’s founder Arundhati Nag led to the creation of Anju’s Cafe. “We met at a common friend’s house. She was going out the door and I was coming in. She called me later and asked me to take the space and start the cafe,” says Anju who had been cooking for friends and family in her home kitchen then.

This year, the cafe is celebrating its 20th anniversary. At any afternoon, a mix of theatre folks, casual visitors and newbies to town who are watching a play for the first time, can be spotted at Anju’s. It has evolved into an integral space for the theater community of Bengaluru, and loved for its sabudana vada, akki roti, and annual onam sadyas.

Anju moved to Bengaluru in 1987, after being born and brought up in Mumbai. “I come from a family of foodies, so I always used to cook for office parties and school events. My boss eventually told me, ‘I want to fire you, so that you go and start your own food business. That is where your heart lies.’ He helped me set up a kitchen 24 years ago, and we started supplying lunches to office employees.”

In June 2006, she took up Arundhati on her offer and opened up the cafe in the theatre. It served dishes like parathas, akki roti, pastas and sandwiches, and fresh juices (nothing aerated here). “The place really spoke to me, and I felt a connect to it. People from the hospitality industry always told me, you cannot make a menu like this, a mix of everything. For some traditional items like akki roti, they said ‘no way you can make this, it takes 20 minutes it make!’” We spoke to a number of people, and they all mentioned the sabudana vada, or as a very young diner called it, the bubble vada. These crowd favourites are crispy outside and chewy inside, these are made in the typical Maharashtrian style, as Anju grew up in Mumbai. The millet khichdi is also a popular choice if you want something comforting. The kheema pav and the chicken salami sandwich are fast moving dishes. In times like these, vadas priced at ₹60 make the place affordable.

Arundhati Nag says, “We had many different people running the cafe initially when we opened. It did not gel. When Anju came in, it just clicked. It was like the Prithvi Cafe inside the Prithvi Theater in Mumbai. Twenty years is a long time, and she has become part of institution. She is a very special person.”

Celeb favourite

Anju reminisces when they started, some college kids used to mix their tea and coffee and named it tea-fee. In one of the earlier festivals, Rajat Kapoor fell in love with this tea-fee. “I will never forget when Ila Arun saw the akki roti, she said, oh my god it is so sexy. And whenever Naseeruddin and Ratna Pathak Shah come, they have their afternoon meal here.”

City-based actor and director personality Vinay Shastry has been going to Ranga Shankara for almost 18 years now. “The cafe really reflects the connection between culture and theatre. I love the ambiance, there is no plastic and it is really rooted in nature,” says Vinay who’s go-to is the jaljeera and of course, the sabudana vada.

In an age of big chain cafes or spaces that are designed for Instagram, Anju’s remains a space with a unique identity that does not buckle to trends. Anju broke all the industry rules when it came to running a cafe. “Not coming from the industry worked in my favour. I never did any number crunching; I just wanted to put food on the table. I look at the cafe at the extension of my dining room.”