Dishing out curated culinary experiences

  • | Tuesday | 3rd March, 2020

Soon it’s forgotten, as they enthusiastically pin on their Chefathon Badges and Sundar pulls out his phone with a Chefathon cover on it. Together, they’re Chefathon — a platform that has been curating home-cooked culinary experiences since September 2019. “To think that seven months ago, none of this was even there is something that still baffles me,” says Sundar. “To think that seven months ago, none of this was even there is something that still baffles me,” says Sundar. “It was just the two of us trying to make something we love work,” completes Lekha with a smile.

Shwetha Surendran By Express News Service CHENNAI: Taking out the gold trophy from the bag, Lekhamitra Shunmugam and Sundaramanan Kannan’s excitement is infectious as they hand me their trophy for ‘Best Food Start-up of the year’ at Anna University’s Entara 2020. Soon it’s forgotten, as they enthusiastically pin on their Chefathon Badges and Sundar pulls out his phone with a Chefathon cover on it. Seated side-by-side, to the observer, the conversation unveils the yin and yang balance of their partnership. She’s the chef, he’s the foodie. She’s the business head, he’s the engineer. She’s the realist, he’s the dreamer. Together, they’re Chefathon — a platform that has been curating home-cooked culinary experiences since September 2019. Not his first entrepreneurial rodeo, Sundar, an engineering graduate, borrowed the field’s core principle of ‘solving a problem’ to fuel three other start-ups that, in his words, “never made it out of the laptop.” But with Chefathon, not only did he hit the jackpot but found the missing piece that would complete the jigsaw puzzle. “I’m a massive foodie and love everything about food. When Sundar approached me with the proposition of exploring different cuisines, it was an offer I could never turn down,” says Lekha. And on September 4, 2019, came their make-it-or-break-it moment as they hosted their inaugural event titled ‘Mudaliar Kitchen’ with mother-daughter duo Shanthi and Divya at the Summer House Eatery. After a sip of the delectable first-course — mutton saaru — the city was hooked. Since then, it’s been one success story after another, with events such as the ‘Nagarather’s Dinner’ drawing from traditional Karaikudi flavours to the Harry Potter-inspired Hogwarts Feast. Each Chefathon six-course dinner, an experience in itself, can be thought of like an episode of My Kitchen Rules, minus all the catty competition. But the duo is not resting on their laurels just yet, with new projects such as the Chefathon Hub and Chefathon Box in the pipeline. “To think that seven months ago, none of this was even there is something that still baffles me,” says Sundar. “It was just the two of us trying to make something we love work,” completes Lekha with a smile, and nothing feels more of a testament to their journey than that. New projects The duo is not resting on their laurels just yet, with new projects such as the Chefathon Hub and Chefathon Box in the pipeline. “To think that seven months ago, none of this was even there is something that still baffles me,” says Sundar. “It was just the two of us trying to make something we love work,” completes Lekha with a smile.

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