Chennai’s stand-up comedians are a concerned bunch. You probably can’t poke fun at Anna Nagar in her comedy sets anymore because this Chennai neighborhood is where all the culinary action happens, with several restaurants opening their stores every week.
The latest in this illustrious list, which includes names like popular patisserie Theobroma and bakery chain Glen’s Bakehouse, is VB World. This sprawling 180-seat restaurant in the Shanthi Colony in Anna Nagar from the folks behind vegetarian specialty chain Vasanta Bhavan seeks to tantalize Chennai’s foodies with flavors from around the world.
Established in Chennai in 1974, Vasanta Bhavan became experimental in 2016 when the youngest member of the family, Ravi Anand Krishnan, founded VB Signature in Nungambakkam with a mission to spread the concept of fusion cuisine. With VB World, launched as part of the brand’s 50th anniversary celebrations, Anand describes it as taking a giant leap to give them a global experience. Here you can sample Mexican fare like tacos and nachos, which co-exist alongside a live pizza counter that’s not far from someone running a live dim sum station.
VB World from Vasanta Bhavan offers Chennaiites | a global dining experience Photo Credit: Special Agreement
“For a hotelier, this is a dream come true,” says Anand, while pointing to the tastefully designed interiors, which include huge handcrafted pine chandeliers hanging from a ceiling about 20 feet high.
The world aspect does not come from ambience and design, but also from the food: most of the ingredients used here come from all over the world. While the chocolate and hazelnut come from Belgium and Turkey respectively, the cheese comes from Italy and India.
Dim sum gets a colorful twist here: they are pink, purple or even yellow. Anand explains: “We get the colors from the vegetables used; Red cabbage or made from turmeric and carrot. The dim sum sheet will pick up the color of the vegetable used.”
While Anand is excited about this project, he’s admittedly a little nervous about their new bakery and coffee pop-up, Cones and Brew, which is located in the same room and serves a range of ice cream, sorbets and craft coffee. In the future, he hopes to expand this to standalone outlets.
Vaudeville fare at VB World in Anna Nagar, Chennai | Photo credit: special agreement
All of this might seem daunting for a largely traditional chain like Vasanta Bhavan, but what gave them the confidence to invest in a concept like VB World is its location: Anna Nagar. “All the big outlets have settled here. We wanted to make sure we covered multiple culinary options in our menu to cater to different family members with different tastes. It’s more like a food court, but you don’t have to move an inch,” says Anand, who is also busy overseeing the opening of six new Namma Veedu Vasanta Bhavan branches, including branches in Thiruvananthapuram’s Lulu Mall, Chandigarh and Delhi , along with his father Ravi Muthukrishnan.
VB World is located at 45, AD Block, Shanthi Colony, Anna Nagar. A meal for two costs ₹600. Call 47742498 for details.