Until a decade ago, those going to the Thiruvanmiyur beach got to taste ‘sundal’ (chickpea), ice-cream, roasted corn and raw mangoes sold in push-carts and in small vessels that vendors carried on their shoulders. Things have changed now. The massive food street on RTO Beach Road, which houses over 50 shops (push-carts/small trucks), sells everything: pancakes, spicy fish fry, Burmese Atho, Golgappa, Turkish tandoori chai, blooming onions (bhaji), and freshly fried tapioca chips, among others.
Another key attraction on the food street is the smoked mojito. The food street gets crowded as early as 5.30 p.m. and it is full of people till late in the night. People take this route to the beach, and the shop-owners tap into them. Enter the food street, you will find Popcorn Hub, run by K. Arun and Anjo Anjolose. This outlet sells popcorn, which tastes like the one available in popular multiplexes across Chennai. “We started this over a year ago. It is a part-time business. We offer popcorn variants at reasonable prices,” Arun says.
At the other end of the food street, just before the beach, B. Akash sells Kozhukattai (south Indian dumpling made from rice flour, with a filling of grated coconut and jaggery) and freshly made Gulab Jamun. “I completed automobile engineering and did not find a suitable job. My mother B. Sangeetha makes sweets at home. I decided to sell them for her,” says Akash. After tasting his Kozhukattai, employees of nearby IT companies call him up and place orders for office parties and family functions.
Fresh from college
Interestingly, most of the shop-owners here are youngsters, who are fresh from college, or who have worked in a retail firm before venturing into entrepreneurship. The food street also has women entrepreneurs. K. Suganya and D. Latha run a fish food stall, called Li Sea Foods. “We are from a fisherman family. We are operating here for the last two years,” Suganya says. “Youngsters like our masala, as it is home-made.” There is a plethora of options for desserts, too. At Dessert Warehouse, K. Deepak and his brother K. Sriram sell eggless cakes in various flavours. “We came to this food street a month ago and the walk-ins have been good. We make these cakes at home,” says Deepak.
Working after classes
Since the food street opens late in the evening, many college students have taken up part-time jobs here. “Owing to my financial constraints, I come here after college and work for 4 hours and get paid ₹7,000 a month. Now, I know how to cook,” says a student who has been working at one of the outlets. Shopkeepers says that on weekdays, they make ₹2,000-₹4,000 a day and the amount doubles on weekends. Youngsters working in IT companies, especially at the TIDEL Park, a few kilometres away from the beach, visit the place at weekends with their friends and families.
