Three things are considered basic for survival, food, clothing, and shelter. Vizha is a multidisciplinary studio that brings a modern approach to these elements with local roots. It’s a team of young minds with varied interests under one roof amalgamating their creative pursuits. They conceptualize décor for events, food and menu curation for various events, and design clothing too. Apart from this they also have created some interesting products like seetu kattu, which are basically playing cards with a Tamil twist in terms of design, and conduct workshops like mood board making and pasta making which are perfect for you to unwind during your weekends.
One of their recent inventions was the concept of ‘Vizha Dinners’ where they bring strangers together for a night of conversation and laughter, and not to forget, very good food. So far, they have conducted four dinners, and one running theme in all was Tamil months and seasons. Each dinner was named after an element that has a significant relation to Tamil months of a particular quarter like nilachoru, manvasam, karaiyoram, and kootanchoru. The menu curated was based on that quarter’s seasonal ingredients and flavors derived from our rich culinary history. “Our present obsession is with the changing of the seasons; we want to explore and discover the food, the daily life, festivities, and nuances of each month in the Tamil calendar” is how they put it.
But it’s not just about food, with months of research and preps going behind each dinner. Each dinner is dedicated to one quarter of a Tamil Year and valiant research is done to understand all the tinges of it to make the experience as rich as the food itself. Starting from the location, theme, and aesthetics all are chosen based on that seasonal quarter to make it an enriching experience and this is what makes it even more special. As the team rightly said, “Vizha dinners are planned as a multi-sensory experience. Every detail of the dinner experience is carefully thought out to invoke nostalgia and immerse the guests in the sights, tastes, colours, and memories of the season."
So, when asked about the ultimate goal behind the idea and concept of their dinners, “The end goal is to release a reinvented Tamil Calendar as a product, which will be a culmination of all these shared stories and experiences” they responded. And, it’s only a matter of time before this young creative bunch comes up with some other exciting concept for their Vizha Dinners “…we are also planning to continue with the dinner experiences but with newer concepts and themes as we keep exploring our local artscape” as they promised.
