We are not talking about just food delivery. We are talking about delivering an entire foodie experience. Meet Mr.Jayesh Paranjape founder of Pune Food Trails, who values authentic food and heritage. This group aims to balance the two by “exploring the traditional eating joints in the city“. We are extremely happy to share the conversation that we had with this interesting venture along with some “mouth watering” clicks of their food trails
TYT: Pune Food Trails?
JP: Since September 2013, I started doing customized ‘Food Trails’ or ‘Food Walks’ in Pune city to explore the traditional eating joints in the city. The food trails are guided by me and my colleagues who are quintessential Punekars, hardcore foodies at heart and know the best, most authentic places to eat in the city! Along with the food walks, we also do heritage & bazaar walks in the old city. Sometimes we have fun and merge all these 3 together! Currently we have 2 food walks
- ‘Breakfast Trail’ in the old city.
- ‘Snack Walk’ in the cantonment area
TYT: The beginning?
JP: I run company, called The Western Routes which is a responsible travel company dedicated to providing travelers with unique tour experiences in beautiful and unexplored corners of Maharashtra. Food is the most important feature of the tours with The Western Routes. Initially, I used to do only heritage walks in the city and used to always take my travellers to sample the traditional dishes served in old restaurants in the old city. So a lot of my travellers started asking for a dedicated food walk. So, on the insistence of a chef friend, I organized a food walk for some food bloggers and it was an instant hit. Since then I’ve been doing the walks in the old city. Since February 2015, I’ve added the Snack Walk in the cantonment area.
TYT: Gauging the market?
JP: I was quite sceptical with the concept of a food walk in the city which for me is a no-brainer. So I started marketing it to foreign tourists and the expat community in Pune. But to my surprise I got an equally great response from Indian tourists and also from localites!
TYT: Biggest challenge?
JP: Initially the most challenging part was to create an itinerary and actually picking the right restaurants. I had to select restaurants which have a certain history or heritage value to them or at least to the food they serve. In the old city finding the right mix of restaurants was a bit of a challenge.
TYT: The trail?
JP: The most important aspect when I started researching the walks and the food joints to take people to was that the place needs to have a certain history or heritage value, be originated in Pune, serves something unique or traditional or must have contributed in shaping Pune’s food scene. It was not really hard to find such places, but I had to select the dishes one needs to eat at these food joints. Here are the restaurants and what we eat there while on a food trail!
Old city breakfast trail
- Shrikrishna Bhuvan – Puneri ‘Misal’, Shira and Taak (Chhas)
- New Sweet Home – Sabudana Khichadi and a variety of laddoos
- Poona Guest House – Puran Poli, Thalipeeth & Dadpe Pohe
- Cold drink House – Mango Mastani, Malai Kulfi
Cantonment Snack Walk
- Garden Wada Pav – Wada Pav, Taak
- Dorabjee & Sons – Mutton Patties, Mutton Cutlets, Ardeshir’s Raspberry Soda
- Café Yezdan – Salli Scrambled Eggs, Bun Maska, Bun Maska Jam
- Husseny Bakery – Visit the bakery and the wood fired ovens. Khari biscuits, coconut cake
- Mahalaxmi Dhokla – Dhokla Chat
- Marz-O-Rin – Chicken Mayo & Vegetable Sandwich
TYT: Response?
JP: The response has been great. I do customized walks as well as announced walks both. Also, I don’t have a minimum number requirement, so we also do walks for individuals. Due to this, we’ve been rated well on TripAdvisor. We get a lot of enquiries from TA now!
TYT: Future?
JP: This year we have already added a new walk. Hoping to add another food walk with a specific theme. I am very keen on doing specific festival walks themed around food like Ganesh Festival, Ramzan, Durga Pooja and so on!
Now a question for the TYT audience Interested? I am sure I heard a YES….
Then here you go! For more information visit their Facebook Page or their website . Start planning for your walk today.
Images Courtesy Of Pune Food Trails