A search for some of the oldest surviving small eat outs of the city reveals an interesting facet, that of family businesses that have survived the test of time.
Well past their heyday and not really a competition to the gourmet fare that has come to define the city in the past decade, these eateries survive on the decades of reputation that their founders and successors have built. Their charm remains in their “homely food” promise.
Nestled in Arundale Street off Kutchery Road in Mylapore is possibly one of the oldest surviving eateries of the city — the Madras Rayar Mess (previously Rayar Café). Brothers P. Kumar and P. Mohan are the third generation of the family that is running the pure vegetarian eatery that has a reputation for serving idlis, dosas and even chutney that has had a constant benchmark in taste. They had taken over running the mess from their father Padmanabha Rao.
P. Kumar says Rayar Café was started “some 70 years ago” by their grandfather Srinivasa Rao, who had arrived in Madras from their ancestral village near Villupuram.
In its heyday through the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Café was situated on Kutcheri Road, next to the Post Office. Among its leading patrons were the film stars of the black and white era, including comedian ‘Thengai’ Srinivasan. One of the regular patrons from then on till date is actor turned political journalist ‘Cho’ Ramasamy, who until a few months ago, used to visit the café at least three times a week.
Though the going is not as rosy as in the past, the brothers keep the Rayar Mess running on the dot for the two services a day – 7 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. serving idly, vada and pongal; and from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. serving rava dosai, adai and a sweet. The menu is modest but the taste is spectacular as regulars verify.
A slightly newer mess, but with just as strong family connections, is the Mami Tiffin Shop on Pitchupillai Street near Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. A small eatery founded by an enterprising Brahmin lady ‘Vasantha Mami’ in 1969 has today become one of the well known hotels in the area. Her sons G. Murugan and G. Kapaleeswaran run the hotel under the banner ‘Vinayaga Caterers’ but out of respect for their mother and the several generations of patrons who have frequented the eatery, have retained the name ‘Mami Tiffin Shop’.
“Our mother started it as a bhakshana kadai (snack store) in our thinnai . For several years, people used to call it thinnai kadai ,” G. Murugan recalls.“Till even last decade, we used to serve the snacks in manthara elai. Thavala vadai and idly milagai podi were our specialties.”
A photo of Vasantha mami adorns the wall right next to the till. On Wednesday, K. Vasanth, her grandson, was manning the counter. The legacy lives on.
