Taking it slow

Fast food culture in India is slowly vanishing, with many people choosing to eat healthy. Following up on this thought process and with the idea of serving delicious, unique and slow-cooked food to Hyderabadis, Dhanesh Sharma started Terrassen Café in Banjara Hills a year ago. “Actually, I had a food truck kind of set up for around four years; I realised that the food I serve is more café-type, and so I started this café.”

Interestingly, Dhanesh is an engineering student, but he started the café as he is a passionate foodie. And Terrassen is one of its kind, being the first fully vegan café in the city, whose motto is to feed people healthy, slow cooked, unique and vegan food. “Fast food culture is wide-spread in India. However, our speciality is slow-cooked, fresh food. We make sure that all the dishes that we serve to customers are fresh and hygienic,” elaborates Dhanesh. So too, all the ingredients for the brews and dishes are made in-house. “To ensure authenticity, we make sure that we do everything here itself. We dry and roast our coffee bean and even make the sauces,” says Dhanesh.

Eat, read and stay

Terrassen doesn’t have regular dishes on its menu — it’s a mix of Indian, Mediterranean, Egyptian and other dishes instead.

“I have travelled a lot, which helped me understand the food culture in various places. I realised that there are a few street foods that are very delicious but are confined to the boundaries of the state they originate from. For example, in Bihar, they make a dish called LittiChokha.  So, I included it in my menu,” explains the 29-year-old.

Apart from the traditional dishes on the menu, patrons of the café can taste some delicious food invented by Dhanesh.

Besides the delicious food and beverages, Dhanesh’s café also provides great ambiance for people who want to relax, work or just read a book.

Divided into the two floors, the café has a low sitting arrangement in the basement and a more formal, chair–table setting in the first floor. “My motto was to provide a place where people can relax,” he says.

While café’s clientele includes a long list of celebrities, government officials, writers and others, Dhanesh explains that his only focus currently is to serve his customers, no matter who they are, delicious food.

“Sometimes, the goal is to reach somewhere. But for me, food is passion. So, all I want to do for now is to keep people happy,” says Dhanesh.