GUWAHATI, May 21 � Axomi, a unique initiative of three enterprising sons of Assam to take Assamese cuisine beyond the shores of the State to the rest of India and further, began their journey in January 2013.
Today, a year-and-a-half later, Axomi stands tall among all the restaurants in the garden-turned-silicon-turned restaurant city of India by getting awarded in the category of �Top-10 Restaurants Serving Regional Cuisine� in Bengaluru by an independent jury comprising food experts, foodies and reviewers employed by Zomato, India�s numero uno web food portal created to help people find and connect with great places to eat around.
The category happens to be one of the toughest categories wherein one has to be pitted against a plethora of restaurants serving Indian regional cuisines like Bengali, Andhra, Kerala, Marathi, Punjabi and Rajasthani cuisines, etc.
Axomi prides itself in introducing the most popular and also some forgotten cuisines from Assam to provide a taste of Assam to the people of Bengaluru.
According to its founder Dr Simanta Sharma, �Axomi has been a labour of love and passion � love for Assamese cuisine and passion to put Assamese cuisine on the global map. This award is a vindication of belief that Assamese food is truly global as in the year and a half we have served to people across geographies belonging not just India but also across intercontinental geographies.�
�We have had Germans and Nigerians gorging on our delectable pork dishes, we have had Britishers lip smacking their way through our �Signature Basic Thali� with second helpings of �khaar� and �boror tenga� and we have had Americans getting high on our in-house brewed �haas paani� along with fish, duck and chicken starters � and all of them coming back for more on a regular basis, he adds.
The Top-10 Regional Cuisine Restaurant is the perfect feather in the cap of Axomi that, in a relatively short period of time, has earned for itself a name among both the food loving Assamese diaspora and the non-Assamese people of various other communities present in Bengaluru, thereby becoming a popular destination for many.
�It has been a very fulfilling experience and a wonderful journey so far. Axomi was opened when people from North-east in Bengaluru were under strife and were getting persecuted because of their looks, names and dressing. Non-northeasterners has no idea about the unique cultural heritage that Northeast of India has. During this time of strife, we realised we had to do something to dispel all the myths that exist as part of one�s mindset who is a non-northeasterner,� Dipankar Kalita, co-founder of Axomi, says.
�We realised that food is also an expression of our culture and tradition and could be a very good and powerful way of reaching out to people from outside North-east and thereby, paint a positive picture of ourselves. We feel, in our own small way, we have been able to successfully put to rest many stereotypes and misunderstandings with regards to North-east in general and specifically to Assamese people, our culture, heritage and traditions,� he adds.
