Not many may have believed Shah Rukh Khan’s, ‘Kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho…to puri kainaat use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai’.
But Karan Manavalan, who probably had the quickest response to ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ knew that one day, the entire universe would conspire to make his dream a reality. And, it did.
“Karan is one of those rare persons, who always knew what he wanted to be when he grew up, which is be a chef. And, Goa kind of happened to us,” says Aishwarya, his wife and business partner.
She adds, “Karan was called here for a consultation project, and I decided to visit him for a weekend. The next thing we know, we are locked down in Goa (in March 2020).”
Karan’s father hails from Kerala, but he grew up in Chennai at his mother’s native place.
As his career progressed, working at reputed kitchens, Karan knew that eventually he wanted to start his own restaurant and that the food had to be delicious, like just like his ammama (grandmother) cooked it. But, he never knew when and how things would work out.
“We fell in love with Goa and decided to see where it takes us,” Karan says and smiles. In the meantime, he worked with many brands in Goa, consulting for kitchens and redoing menus.
“On the side, we started Chakos, a Kerala pickle business,” Aishwarya says, adding that Chacko is a common Mallu name (a Mallu way of saying Jacob!). “We turned it into a word – Chakos – something that's easy to remember, fun to say and quintessentially Mallu sounding.”
Maybe it was the way of the universe guiding them that they started to consider Goa to be home to the dream that Karan had been stewing on for so many years.
“It all came together quite quickly last November when we found a home for Chakos in Panjim,” Karan says.
Chakos Kitchen and Bar, housed along Rua De Ourem, Panjim, is a little space curated and owned by the couple, where they let people come in and relish their bar bites, thalis, appams and more.
“We update our menu regularly, the perks of Karan being a chef. He is very involved in listening to customer feedback and what they want from us next and experimenting in the kitchen to add new things,” Aishwarya says and goes on to list some of the popular dishes on the menu.
“Our Thattu (thali) which is a Malayalee style thali comes in veg and fish options,” she says.
Karan adds to the list, “Our appams and curries, like Alleypey Chicken Curry, Raw Mango Fish Curry, Prawn Moilee, along with our Malabar style biryani too are popular as are the classics like Beef Ularth, Pazham Puri, pork and raw banana in bar bites.”
Apart from the appetising dishes, Chakos also has some fun cocktails that have quickly become favs with the customers, like Raw Mango Sour, Cochin Colada and Kandhari Passion.
When the couple opened the doors to the restaurant in December 2023, they hadn't anticipated the overwhelming response from Goa to the Kerala flavours.
“It was a beautiful surprise to see so many different people coming in, from local Goans, to Indian and foreign tourists, and Malayalees, too,” she shares.
While some have been craving for something familiar, others try some new food and find their new love in Malabar flavours. But, for Chef Karan, Chakos Kitchen and Bar, has been a journey of achieving his childhood dream.
WHERE: Chakos Kitchen and Bar, near cross section of Joseph's bar and DTR, Rua de Ourem, Panjim
TIMINGS: 12 pm - 11 pm (closed on Tuesdays)
CONTACT: +91 93221 61846
