Bonding over food

When foodies Aravind Soju, Anjana Gopakumar, Aslam Kunjumoosa and Vinay Sivadass began EAT — Eat At Trivandrum on Facebook, little did they expect it to be a hit. A first of its kind online community, where denizens in the city share their culinary experience and thoughts on restaurants or food, EAT which started with just a handful of members, has crossed over a lakh membership.

EAT, according to Anjana, tries to stay relevant in this “rivaling age of social media” by organising food-related events. The group’s Eat Up, which is open to members of the EAT community is extremely popular. A ticketed event, members meet up at a local restaurant. “We have over a lakh members in our group and we don’t know even half of them. As our members are all foodies, what better way to get to know each other than over a meal,” she says.

Currently, EAT is trying something new by teaming up with Sree Chitra Thirunal College of Engineering’s inter-collegiate tech festival - Cult A Way. “College fetes and cultural fiestas are a norm in our city. And while these events do allocate space for food stalls, the limited fare is usually open to only a certain section of the public. Food should be enjoyed by all and that is why we have made the fete open to the public. Also, the denizens of our city usually shy away from speaking to strangers as they wonder what to say. Even college mates find it tough to start a conversation. Food, we feel, helps in breaking the ice.”

And so, EAT will be organising a food fete in connection with the college festival. There will be six stalls serving everything from quick bites to piping hot biriyanis and juicy burgers. “We are hoping more and more people will bond over food.” The dishes on the menu, says Anjana, are nominally priced. “We have also introduced a token system wherein diners can buy tokens that represent denominations. These tokens can be used to purchase the dishes they want.”

For a carnival feel to Cult A Way’s food festival, there will be game stalls too. Those with a good voice can regale the crowd with a song or two.

The food festival is on at Kanakakunnu Grounds until April 2.