Old, but forever young, (sometimes) decrepit yet essentially
timeless; the manners in which one could describe Fontainhas is endless. In
recent times, there has been a fair amount of revisiting of this neighbourhood.
All the more so when it comes to gastronomy. If one were to work the path
backwards from Mala to São Tomé, here are a few gems that one could chance (and
prance) upon.
First off is the landscape’s new entrant: The Old Quarter.
The creation of Jason Noronha, the urban café has a very Iberian feel to it
while retaining a certain bohemian charm. Designed to offer an array of tea,
including an exquisite Organic Marigold, there are various products from
Snighda Manchanda’s Tea Trunk adorning the shelves, pots and kettles. “We have
designed the café in such a way that we have kept things quaint while at the
same time tried to stay contemporary,” says proprietor Jason. The most
interesting part of this little café is what happens once the food is gone.
Jason’s waste segregation programme pays more attention to detail than most,
all done in sight of the general public.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Walking on, one will come across the verandah of Panjim Inn,
from where one has a panoramic view of Fontainhas. Classified as the first
heritage hotel in Goa in the mid-90’s, the establishment has served as a
watering hole for many a weary (or otherwise) traveller. “Panjim Inn was a
project undertaken in the 1980s by my father, AjitSukhija. After a sabbatical
in Italy, he discovered that it would be viable to convert heritage buildings
so as to make them economically sustainable via tourism,” says head honcho,
Jack Sukhija. Anyone who has spent more than five minutes in the company of the
famous adman Prahlad Kakkar knows that he waxes lyrical about Panjim Inn being the
one-stop shop for the best feni that Goa can provide.
What next dots the map is perhaps a slightly disheartening
sight; the premises of what once was O Fogo. The abstract restaurant for
nouvelle food gave many a diner much to look forward to in the little sleepy
hollow, but it was a dream that sadly, lasted for too short a span before the
shutters came down.
However, if anything provides people with hope, it is the
demeanour of the lovely Linda, who ‘mans’ the kitchen at Viva Panjim. Tucked
in-between a little alleyway, her endeavour has been the haunt of hordes, a
veritable place to feast for people from every corner of the world. Moving on
past Linda’s landmark, is a reminder of 2012’s culinary highlight of the city:
Tea Café. Run by Vandana Naik, the tea/coffee shop was a precedent that was set
for palates to be exposed to more American flavour. Now no longer operational,
Vandana has since relocated uphill to Altinho, where she continues to work her
magic at her newer location: Bodega.
Finally, comes the age old Confeitaria 31 de Janeiro. The
bakery occupies a little corner in Fontainhas and can house a maximum of three
patrons at a time. This little eatery was founded on January 31 in 1930, and
was the brainchild of Andre Mascarenhas. “Upon his return from Africa, he
decided to venture into the culinary line, first in St Estevão, before moving
to the heart of one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods,” Andre’s charming
daughter-in-law, Gletta says.
There is no love like the love of eating, and Panjim has no
quarter more romantic (in every sense of the word) than Fontainhas. So if
history is your thing, or romance, or gastronomy, or just the overall need to
be wowed, you now know (if you didn’t already) where to go.
