On a ‘festival day’ — Onam, Vishu or Eid — Paragon Restaurant in Kozhikode sells 700 to 1,000 kilograms of biryani. That is high praise from a city that considers biryani a religion. The cherry on the cake for Paragon is being placed 11th on experiential travel online guide Taste Atlas’ Top 150 Most Legendary Restaurants list for 2023.
“The restaurant has been called legendary and the biryani, iconic. However, I would like to add four other items on our list [Paragon’s] of bests — the fish curry made in coconut gravy, tea, parotta and sambar,” says Sumesh Govind, managing director Paragon Group, over the phone from Kozhikode. Tunday Kebab (Lucknow), Peter Cat (Kolkata), Amrik Sukhdev Dhaba (Murthal), Mavali Tiffin Rooms (Bengaluru), Karim’s (Delhi) and Ram Ashraya Mumbai, were ranked 12, 17, 23, 39, 87 and 112 respectively.
What started out as Paragon Baking Company in Kozhikode in 1939, best known across Kerala for its plum cakes, has grown into the Paragon Group, which has more than 25 branches spanning various cuisines in Kerala and Dubai. But it still retains its original space, in the heart of the city. “That space is more than a building for me. It is a temple!” says Sumesh. He remembers a granduncle telling him how the people of the city would come to Paragon Bakery to see fancy cars like Chevrolets and Impalas parked outside. “People came from as far as Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam [Kochi] for our Christmas plum cakes.” It was started by his grandfather PM Govindan and father PM Valsan.
