Food for the soul

Ever since she can remember, Anisha Freitas has always wanted to have her very own cafe. "My mother and grandmother used to cook and bake a lot so I pretty much grew up in the kitchen and took up after them," says Freitas. And while baking came easy for her, Freitas admits that she had no clue about decorating cakes in the beginning. But all that changed after she did a course where she learnt exactly that. Having worked in the finance sector for a long time, Freitas moved to Goa in 2013 and in no time opened a back end bakery at home. And began doing cakes , small party orders and also taking Christmas orders for turkeys, ducks, chicken etc.
But the desire to have her very own cafe was always at the back of her mind. "I began looking for a space soon after I moved to Goa but didn't find anything suitable for awhile. In a way this was good because it allowed me the time to work with the Goan crowd and understand what Goan people wanted," she states. After finally zeroing in a space in the idyllic Altinho area of Panaji, surrounded by pretty heritage homes all around, Freitas finally threw open her cafe - Meraki- this October end.
Painted in a soothing Turquoise hue with dabs of matte gold, the quaint little cafe exudes a welcoming homely air, and the colours and decors have all been planned and executed by Freitas herself who has filled her little space with knick knachs that she has collected over the years in preparation for this cafe. "I had this concept for a long time in my mind, I had the design and everything in my head. All of the little decoration pieces adorning the cafe are things I picked up over the years. In fact I even have a hand mirror which was given to me when I was ten years old!" says Freitas with a smile. As for the colour, Freitas chose to paint it in her favorite colour. "A few people told me to do it up in food colours like red as this apparently increases people's appetite. But I believe it shouldn't be the colour but the food that should increase a person's appetite," chuckles Freitas. Looking to give a French touch to the whole setting she chose to add dabs of gold too. "I did this with a cake scrapper that I used to smoothen the cakes," she says.
The choice of name for the cafe was also decided a long time ago. "When I first began taking cake orders, people suggested that I should call the endeavour Alisha's Cakes, so that people will associate the cakes with my name. But I didn't want the same name!" says Freitas laughing.
"My father gave me this book on words in different languages which are not in use anymore but have a really nice meaning to it. Meraki is a Greek word which denotes the love, soul and creativity that you put into what you are doing. It is essentially putting something of yourself into the work," explains Freitas, and adds, "That is exactly what my food is about."
And sample from her variety of pastries and snacks and one understands exactly what she is talking about. From the traditional apple pie to the fresh food flan, Freitas has also concentrated on putting out food which is not too common. "I opened with regular cakes and items but quickly understood that people were ready to try out different things, perhaps bored of the same fare they get elsewhere. This gave me to opportunity to start something new. I started chocolate macaroon tarts just a week ago and am also planning on doing real French macaroons soon," informs Freitas, adding that she will also be adding in Christmas cakes and puddings soon. "What I have noticed is that people are just looking for a really good product. They are so very fussy about the variety as long as they get their value for money and can see the love and dedication that has gone into the food," observes Freitas.
Apart from the pastries, cookies and breads, Freitas also has soups, salads and sandwiches. "Basically the concept is to have one soup a day and three salads- a house salad, ceasar salad and a Greek salad," says Freitas. Recently she has also started meals. "I want the cafe to feel like an extension of home where you can relax and socialise in an informal setting while enjoying good food, dessert and a cup of coffee and tea," says Freitas, adding that being a coffee lover , she has been very particular on choosing her coffees and teas. A few board games and books are also available for guests to enjoy. The cafe is open from 10- 8 from Monday to Saturday, although Freitas informs that she plans to open a little earlier and do breakfasts soon. She is also looking on being open on Sundays shortly.