When you first step inside the People of Tomorrow restaurant in Vasant Vihar, your eye is immediately drawn to the earthy tones and rustic interiors of the space. The 100 per cent plant-based restaurant moved to its new digs just eight months ago from the Dhan Mill Compound in Chhatarpur, transforming itself from a daytime café to a gourmet dining spot in the process. The high ceilings, simple furnishings and warm yellow lighting made me feel soothed and relaxed, a feeling that only intensified the longer I stayed.
I was there to taste their vegan summer menu. Every few months, five to six chefs put together a menu that uses seasonal ingredients sourced from Indian farms to delight customers’ taste buds. Head chef Tashyaa Mehrotra’s selections, for instance, are packed with fruit-based dishes that you only get in the summer, like mangosteen. She says the process of what’s put on the menu is very collaborative.
“We have a process where I will make something and then [founder Ritv Kapoor] will taste it. [Then], 10 other people will taste it and we will call people from outside to taste it before it’s on the menu. We want to make sure our palates aren’t the ones that are dictating the menu,” she says.
“We [always] try to pick ingredients that are sustainable. We have a dish on the menu that uses cow-pea hummus, like the lobia that is so commonly found in Indian households. We don’t mess with the ingredients too much. People have a very set perception of what vegan food can be. Our idea is to expand and educate people that a lot of food that you eat is already vegan and that you can easily make it vegan.”
That’s the philosophy that led Ritv Kapoor to start People of Tomorrow. He saw a huge gap in the market for vegan food and wanted to change the negative perceptions people have of the diet. “Everybody eats vegan food on a daily basis [but my customers typically] come up to me and say, ‘Oh your restaurant’s the first time I’ve ever tried vegan food.’ And I’m like, ‘You have been eating rajma chawal since you were born.’ It’s nothing rare,” he says.
"We also try and keep our things very basic, very traditional. We don’t try to do a lot with food. We don’t try to do mock meats or mock cheese. We try and do it with vegetables which are regularly available in the market so that changes perceptions of people."
All this talk of food can make one forget that the restaurant also has a cosy bar space where people can enjoy the finest liquors. In fact, bar sales at People of Tomorrow are almost equal to the food sales. There have been many instances where loyal non-vegetarian customers who came just for the drinks menu started eating the restaurant fare and quickly became fans.
My first dish was the “Ananas Carpaccio,” an appetiser made of pineapple, sumac onion, olives, walnut sesame crumble and mint. Served on Meghalayan black clay crockery, the dish was pleasingly tangy. I washed it down with a non-alcoholic citrus highball that was so refreshing and zesty, I had it twice.
Next was the “Tartare De Nasu,” a take on the classic French dish. Made with eggplant tartare, lotus stem chips and served with scallion dip, the savoury dish was delicious to eat. The crunch of the lotus stem chips added to the mouthfeel.
My last main was the “Tomatoes of Tomorrow.” Using rejected cherry tomatoes from grocers, the dish is a confit topped with dried tomato jerky with a creamy stracciatella underneath. You eat it with pieces of fresh sourdough bread and crackers. The creaminess of the dish made me feel like I was eating a warm and hearty pasta—I simply could not believe that there was no real cheese in it!
Finally, I opted for the classic caramel hot chocolate fudge for dessert. Its overpowering sweetness and the small scoop of biscoff ice cream was the perfect end to a meal that was just right for one person.
Overall, the warm hospitality of the staff; the excellent dishes; the soothing interiors where the walls are painted with Multani mitti, customers sit on cactus leather seats and coasters are made out of recycled wine cork; and the vibe of keeping things simple but tasteful made me yearn to come back soon. It’s a feeling that Kapoor encourages.
“I just hope that [my customers] have a great time. That’s about it. We are not preachy, we don’t like to go up to their face and tell them about what we are doing,” he says.
“It’s all about conscious consumption. Not everybody has to turn vegan—it’s just not possible. The whole idea is to be conscious about what you are consuming [and] where it’s coming from, be it something on your plate, be it something you’re buying, be it anything. Sustainability just doesn’t end on your plate, it’s a lifestyle.”
Price: A meal for one person made up of two mains and dessert will cost approximately INR 1,350.
Timings: 12AM-12PM | Closed on Mondays
Address: 5, Ground floor, Basant Lok Market, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi 110057
For more information follow the restaurant on Instagram (@peopleoftomorow2.0) or call +919315916153