The Hindu Business Line : More than coffee

A coffee pub that offers traditional Kerala cuisine? The combination may seem odd, but not to Verghese Thomas and Sarah Verghese, the couple behind Kerala's first home-grown coffee pub chain, Coffee Beanz, which has outlets in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Coffee Beanz was established in December 2001 at Kochi where Sarah and Verghese are based. The couple was already running a restaurant that served traditional Kerala cuisine. "When some space became vacant next door and someone suggested starting another restaurant, we said: No, we already have one," Sarah recalls. However, the couple was open to doing something different with the additional space.

It was while travelling to the metros and other large Indian cities, that Sarah and Verghese realised there were coffee pubs everywhere. Kerala had none. Though the couple wanted to explore this niche, Verghese suspected that coffee alone would not sell in Kerala, especially at the prices most coffee pubs charge. He also felt that the average Malayalee would have trouble accepting a coffee pub that served only expensive coffee and western eats.

Thus was born the idea of an affordable coffee pub with an all-day breakfast menu to go with the coffee. So, while most other coffee pubs offered predominantly western snacks or pastries, Coffee Beanz decided to serve up "more than coffee". In doing this, it concentrated on traditional Kerala breakfast delicacies like appam, a lacy pancake made of rice batter and coconut milkthat could be had any time of the day.

Verghese says many youngsters had warned him in the beginning: "No way uncle, a coffee pub cannot have appam and dosa!" But Verghese was hopeful his concept would work. And it did.

So, why appam? Verghese believes that appam is to Kerala what cheese is to France. "I thought Coffee Beanz could offer good appams at affordable rates to all, including tourists looking for Kerala cuisine," he says. Sarah says they wanted to offer something original and something they would be good at. "Even if a cook leaves us, I can step in and make appams," she adds.

However, making the perfect appam was not easy. It was after a lot of hard work and many experiments that Sarah discovered the right recipe. "Arriving at the right combination of batter was difficult, because we had to make sure the appams did not turn sour. I spent so much time on that one product."

The Coffee Beanz appam served with traditional chicken or vegetable stew has even found mention in the international travel magazine, Town and Country Travel. Basil, chief cook at the Thiruvananthapuram outlet, says this "fast and tasty" traditional treat is popular, even as he turns out appams by the minute. The other traditional item on the menu is dosa stuffed with paneer or minced meat, both versions served with a combination of chutneys and sambar.

However, Coffee Beanz, in line with its image as a coffee pub, also has its share of snacks like brownies, sandwiches, eggs, baked dishes, rolls and samosas. The beverages menu, created by the Bangalore-based coffee consultant Sunalini Menon, offers regulars such as cappuccino, mocha, Irish coffee, hot chocolate, tea, cold coffees and milkshakes.

Buoyed by the success of the Kochi outlet, Sarah and Verghese ventured to open a franchise outlet in Thiruvananthapuram in July this year. Tom George and Valsa George, the franchisees, were hopeful that Coffee Beanz's success in Kochi would be replicated in Thiruvananthapuram. And they were not disappointed, says Valsa.

Based on customer feedback, the Georges suggested some changes to the Coffee Beanz menu. "We have tried some new dishes like Spaghetti Bolognese, which we offer as a special," says Valsa, who introduced the change based on suggestions from some Italian tourists. The recent addition of hamburgers to the menu was based on the suggestion made by Tom and Valsa.

In both Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, Coffee Beanz has developed a community of dedicated customers who come just for the appam and stew combo. And this tribe is growing. Says Verghese, "On Sundays, we get many people coming for breakfast after Church".

However, coffee is the main draw for many, including foreign tourists who enjoy the strong flavour of an espresso. There are also some who visit Coffee Beanz just to relax with a cup of coffee. Runa, a regular at the outlet in Thiruvananthapuram, says, "I do not feel rushed here. I love the coffee and the friendly service." Cheers to that.

Picture by the author

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