Kavitha Mantha: Pioneering Hyderabad’s first farm-to-table experience at Sage Farm Cafe

From the UK to Boston in the USA and Singapore, to an organic farm on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Global Indian takes a look at the remarkable journey of Kavitha Mantha, the self-taught foodpreneur and chef who pioneered farm-to-table cuisine in Hyderabad.

(June 28, 2023) Kavitha Mantha wears several professional hats with ease. She is a foodpreneur who is a self-taught chef, owner of possibly the first and only farm to table café in Hyderabad, a farmer who grows her produce organically and more. In the ’90s, she won a beauty pageant, which led to modelling assignments. Not happy with the glamour world, Kavitha took up a job as a marketing professional. A chance encounter led to her meeting Ravi Mantha, whom she later married. Pursuing further studies overseas, Kavitha applied and got admission for an MBA at Oxford and Cambridge University in 2001, as Ravi too was working in London at that time. They travelled across several countries for their honeymoon, which exposed her to all the new flavours food in these countries had to offer.

Making Hyderabad Home

The following year they moved to Boston due to Ravi’s new job. She recalls, “I had to quit my job because I was asked to rest due to complications with my second pregnancy. To stay busy, I would cook dishes from different regions of India. She would make her friends taste her dishes and their suggestion that she start her own restaurant became a reality a decade or more later.

Says Kavitha, “After Boston, we moved to Singapore. Then, we decided to move back to Hyderabad, because it meant we could spend more time together as a family. My sons, Anirud and Aditya were seven and five. There were concerns regarding their education but the family being together was more important at that time.”

Being exposed to community farming and using local produce while in the States, the couple invested all their savings to buy land in Shankarpalli, a fair bit away from the city. She says, “It was Ravi’s idea; we bought 17 acres and named the place Baby Elephant Farm. For four or five years we set it up in keeping with our vision. Permaculture, rainwater harvesting, composting, animal husbandry etc. We lived in the city and we would commute to the farmhouse.”

There were challenges galore admits Kavitha. “It was a field that was quite new to us but I believe you can succeed if you work with people who have greater knowledge about the subject than you. Your team makes up for the lacunae. Sadly though, agriculture is not attractive enough as a livelihood for young people so finding the right people, with the interest to develop the ethos was a challenge.”

 

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Farm to Table and Beyond

Kavitha and her team started by growing vegetables in a small patch for personal consumption. Other opportunities came their way which furthered the cause of the organic lifestyle that they wanted to promote. Buying the organic store Hyderabad goes Green in 2019, changed the direction of their own enterprise. She says, “We started growing herbs, seasonal greens and more on another farm we bought. These were grown with native seeds, and we grew the entire range of greens from spinach and fenugreek to basil, gongura and vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, cluster beans and moringa. We also started keeping poultry but that was done in a strictly ethical manner. Currently, we want to expand to cultivating fish too.”

One thing led to another and Kavitha was inspired to launch Sage Farm Café, the first farm-to-table café in swanky Jubilee Hills, in a spacious mansion with a sweeping driveway. “It was all the unused produce which gave me the idea. I started creating recipes combining local ingredients and they soon got very popular.”

Some of Kavitha’s creations include the delicious Millet Polenta which offers the same rich and creamy flavour of polenta but with a pumpkin, and simultaneously promotes a local grain. Sage’s green hummus, often mistaken as an avocado-based guacamole, is a favourite with the guests. It uses sorrel or gongura and amaranth leaves to create a unique version of the global dish. There are several such recipes where fenugreek and other desi greens are used as garnish in microgreen form; millets and gourds find expression in dishes from salads to pizzas.

Kavitha is also a firm believer in consuming seasonal produce, so Sage Café’s menu changes accordingly. She says, “For the right nutrition, it is important to eat seasonal. In summer you need to eat water-based vegetables. During the rains you need Vitamin C. I promote this concept through the food I serve.”

Another extension of the café is the store that Kavitha launched. Besides products like hair oils, kombuchas, spices, pulses, gourmet teas and cold-pressed oils etc., made by other homegrown entrepreneurs; produce grown organically at their farm is also sold here, and includes chicken and eggs.

 

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Kavitha also believes in giving back to the environment. Besides eco-friendly practices and rainwater harvesting, she employs local villagers at her farm. “We also indirectly help the local farmers because we frequently talk about adding local and seasonal produce to your diet. The best way to help a farmer is to eat what he is producing.”

She minimises wastage as much as possible. “For example, the gongura flowers are a lovely crimson colour when they bloom but they only appear when the plan is in season. I sun dry these flowers in a solar dryer and do the same with other edibles like beetroot too. Sustainability is at the root of everything we do.”

A Wellness Spa amidst a Food Forest

And what are her future plans? Kavitha reveals, “Akshara Ananda is a marquee farm estate project, spread over 150 acres in Marpally. It offers an unparalleled real estate investment opportunity through its sheer scale and approach.  It promises to be a haven for nature, nourishment and rejuvenation — with its immense canopy of 25-year-old trees, its proposed food forest and a world class wellness resort and spa. In the midst of the biodiversity of mango, teak and more, Sage Farm Café has joined hands with Akshara, to bring their best practices in farming and create a sustainable and diverse food forest. Their food philosophy of local and seasonal will guide the way for a unique food experience, looking to nurture positive and continuous lifestyle choices.”

Expansion and creating innovative recipes with local ingredients are on the anvil for this busy self-taught chef. More power to her.

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