Mindfulness on the menu: Sumukh Tallam celebrates the slow life at Maya

(May 26, 2024) It is always heartening to meet a young person who follows his or her passion while caring about the environment. Their career trajectory feels like a victory lap – a win-win situation where they are doing what they love best, and simultaneously, saving the earth. One such determined young entrepreneur is Sumukh Tallam from Bengaluru. Though he comes from a family of jewellers, he had an early interest in cooking. One he attributes to his mother and grandmother. “I was always curious about what went on inside the kitchen. My mother and grandmother were feeding us haute cuisine, microgreens and edible flowers, and experimenting with regional cuisines, well before these concepts became trendy,” recalls Sumukh in an exclusive with Global Indian, adding, “My grandmother has also written a cookbook – Pakadharshi – by Bhoopalam Suryakaanthamma and Tallam Vijaayalakshmi.”

The freedom to pursue his calling led Sumukh to a post graduate degree in culinary arts at Manipal University. This was followed by a course in food styling and mixology at EBS, London. On his return to India, he worked with various food brands as a food stylist before launching his restaurant, Maya, in Jaya Nagar, Bengaluru.

Sumukh Tallam

Recollections in tranquillity

Maya is unique in several ways. Sumukh elaborates, “Firstly, I believe in the concept of the maker’s maya – that everyone has a creative side. You have an ikigai, as do I, and Maya gives you a platform to reflect on your creative side, whatever it may be – from painting to writing to cooking.” To each their own Maya. In keeping with this paradigm, the restaurant is on the first and terrace floors and the ground floor houses an art gallery. “We provide a platform for up-and-coming artists and my sister Anusha, who runs a creative studio named Ebbxflo, is also a curator. We have a different artist exhibiting every month and Maya is the first restaurant in India to have built a dining experience inside the premises of an art gallery where you can enjoy a slow, relaxed meal and art.”

The bungalow in Jaya Nagar is on a long-term lease and Maya has been designed in keeping with the Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa’s design philosophy. Seamless incorporation of lush greenery, natural elements and ventilation, open spaces, and a synergistic blending in with the surroundings. As a nature lover, Sumukh has planted over 100 species of plants there that have certification from the Lalbagh Botanical Institute. He plans to bring in 100 more to make it the greenest restaurant in the country.

Mindfulness on the menu

The ambience is all about tranquil and calm surroundings. The music playing in the background too is soothing. The icing on the cake? The food reflects all these artistic elements. Says Sumukh, “I believe that you eat with your eyes first. The entire concept of eating is an art to me. When you eat mindfully, your soul is appeased. I aim to create that experience with every meal. I want my guests to have a consciously relaxed, spatial and culinary experience. Maya has a homely feel amidst all the chaos; we chose this area because you won’t find a green belt like this anywhere in the city, and the locality represents old world Bengaluru.”

Maya

The most important aspect of course, is the food. Sumukh, who refuses to call himself a chef, but prefers the moniker ‘a passionate cook,’ has designed the menu to serve global cuisine in a farm to table concept. “We source most of our ingredients locally. Most of them are organically grown. Having said that, since the water and soil is contaminated with pollutants and pesticides from elsewhere, one can’t really say they are 100 percent organic. Our herbs however are certified organic. We source our produce fresh every day directly from farmers and they are all within an 80 km radius of the city. We have a zero plastic policy and within six months we aim to achieve a 100 percent zero-wastage in our kitchen too. Our crockery is sourced from a company that works with tribals who live around the Nugu river. The eggs and chicken come from a farm where they are not fed hormones or antibiotics and are completely free range. Our seafood comes from Mangalore.” All in all, with the best practices to bring in the best quality and freshest food to the table.

Beyond Maya

The cuisine is global with Pan-Asian, Italian and a smattering of Indian dishes on the menu. Sumukh reveals, “We did try cuisines of my choice – Greek, Ethiopian and a bit of Sri Lankan. For some reason, they were not popular so we stuck to global food with wood fired pizzas, freshly made spring rolls etc. The most popular dishes today are the Vietnamese Onion Flower – a starter made with the flower bloom of the onion, the pizzas, and the Vegan Spring Rolls with julienned vegetables and glass noodles. Though they take us five to ten minutes more, we roll the wraps freshly just before filling them. This makes them less oily and is in keeping with our fresh food-only philosophy. The Palak Stuffed Paneer and the Kokum Infused Prawn are popular dishes. I love working with unique and atypical ingredients like kokum, jicama, palm sugar, cayenne pepper, salt alternatives like soy, miso paste, parmesan rinds, and pickle juice.

Maya is an all-day diner open from noon till late night but comes with its inherent challenges. Sumukh believes they are commonly faced in the hospitality business. “Staff attrition is huge; it is the hardest because getting good skilled staff is difficult. The overheads eat into our profits as real estate costs in Bengaluru are quite high. Plus, we face constant harassment from the regulatory and compliance folks.”

Despite all this, once the zero wastage in food milestone is achieved, Maya will become the greenest restaurant in India due to its sustainable practices. Sumukh’s company is called The Food Smith and Maya is one of its brands. Next on the agenda is a new project in Hyderabad, and, at Maya – virtual art exhibitions, artisanal food pairings where the artist’s vision is echoed through the food. He plans to hold an exhibition of the wildlife photographs shot by Chef Michael Swamy, Sumukh’s mentor and a photographer as well. He also wants to grow herbs where guests can walk through the garden and pick their herbs as ingredients or garnishes for the dish they have chosen.

With Maya on such a solid footing, where Mama Earth and her well-being is as important as serving good food, Sumukh is bound to be blessed by the universe to achieve greater heights.

While travelling, Sumukh likes to eat at:

Michelin star or guided restaurants as well as street hawkers, “I love jumping into the authenticity of the regional cuisine and trying local specials. Here are some of the best restaurants I have tried around the world,” he concludes.

• Gaggan Anand, Bangkok – Opera of Food
• Les Fondus de la Raclette, Paris – Grill and Meat
• Moeders, Amsterdam – Translates to Mother’s Authentic Dutch cuisine
• Dishoom, London – Modern Indian
• Savoy, Sthalika, Mussorie – Garhwali cuisine

Follow Maya on Instagram.