The sweet smell of freshly-baked cookies greets us as we enter the Art Deco bungalow from the 1960s. With sleek curved edges and smooth pillars characteristic of the style, it now bears fresh coats of bright yellow paint, and a French garden with white wrought iron seating. Amour aspires to be among the first French cafés in Dindigul. Located on a busy road near the main bus stand, the café is a year old, and belongs to the Ponram group, the popular biryani chain.
The café’s menu, however, features sandwiches, wraps, salads, pastas, and pastries that also offers Indian flavours to appeal to a customer base that loves it biryani and fiery meat curries. Think chicken kothu kari (minced meat) pizza and chicken tandoori rolls. On a Sunday afternoon, we see dhoti-clad men enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee alongside a college crowd that is there for the fries and ice cream. “This is exactly what we want to offer: contemporary food in a traditional setting that will hopefully appeal to people of all ages,” says 24-year-old S Mani Ram, whose family owns the café.
