Aayush Talreja

Food Worth a Conversation

4 min read

Someone recently asked me what kind of food I like. I know they were asking about cuisine and style, but because of my pride and ego, I wanted a cool response. I told him, “I like food that’s worth a conversation.” To me, that means I enjoy food I can talk about. This doesn’t mean that the food has to be unique. Still, it should be a meal to remember, regardless of whether the food was what made it memorable; maybe it was the live music in the background of the packed restaurant that made it feel like the meal was taking a weight off my shoulders, or maybe it was the people I ate with making a funny joke that resulted in some food getting stuck in my throat. To me, food is a shared experience. That’s why I love trying new places with people, because you never know what might happen at the table.

Happy Ice Cream

My favorite ice cream place in the world is Happy Ice Cream in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. The ice cream there is excellent, no doubt, but I love it so much because every time I go, the flavors are unique enough that I have a genuine debate with whoever I bring there, all the way back to the metro. Flavors like Olive Oil Cacao Crumble and Buttermilk Lemon Shortbread are all executed so well that it makes you wonder how they even came up with the idea. I love to debate whether the olive oil makes the ice cream feel too peppery, whether it actually complements the chocolate, or whether the lemon shortbread is too sour for the buttermilk flavor. The flavors somehow do this without being so opinionated that people don’t actually enjoy them. Everyone I’ve taken there has at least liked it; maybe they don’t love it as I do, but it was fun to talk about it. Happy Ice Cream is a magical ice cream shop where the scoops they serve create conversation out of thin air.

A cup with two scoops of ice cream, one drizzled with olive oil, held up at night beside a string-lit outdoor patio
Two waffle cones side by side on the sidewalk, one with a light brown scoop and one with a cream scoop full of chocolate pieces
A single scoop of white ice cream flecked with chocolate in a waffle cone, held over a brick-lined sidewalk

Bungalow

For my birthday recently, I went with my family on the brown boy pilgrimage to Chef Vikas Khanna’s world-renowned restaurant, Bungalow. Bungalow is easily the best “fine dining” Indian restaurant I’ve been to. The food is exceptional, but more than that, every dish is worth talking about. The Yogurt Kebab was so good and so interesting at the same time that it inspired me to spend weeks tirelessly trying to recreate it (I didn’t succeed because I can’t deep fry in my apartment). Bungalow didn’t fall short on the experience either; Chef Khanna walked around, actively engaging with customers and making everyone feel like they mattered—an excellent way to leverage his status as a genuine celebrity among Indian home cooks. Experiences that complement exceptional food spark genuine conversation, and you get to see the joy in people’s eyes as they eat great food. I remember how my dad’s eyes lit up as he ate the Mango-Lemon pickle and remarked how it reminded him of what he used to eat as a kid. Moments like that make the room feel brighter.

The Yogurt Kebab: two rolls wrapped in crisp shredded pastry on an engraved brass plate, with dots of mango-yellow sauce around a dark purple purée
Four seared pieces in orange sauce, each topped with a thin slice of pink watermelon radish, on a blue-and-white plate
A dark bowl of orange curry topped with fried curry leaves, next to brass bread baskets and a small table lamp
Curry garnished with cilantro in an engraved brass bowl, with papad rolls and bread baskets behind it
A pink flower-shaped dessert with a lit gold birthday candle in a hammered brass bowl
Rose falooda: a rose-shaped pink dessert drizzled with red syrup, sitting on clear jelly with rose petal and pistachio bark

Taco Bell

A couple of months ago, I ate at a Taco Bell for the first time in 3 years. I never really knew how popular Taco Bell was among the Indian community, so that discovery was a surprise. Beyond serving as a community hub, my favorite experience was learning that everyone has their own personalized Taco Bell order that fits their appetite and diet. It’s fun to listen to people share stories about the fast-food chain they grew up on and hear their unique twists on the base menu items. I never knew you could swap the beef for chicken or beans on pretty much all menu items at Taco Bell. I never knew about combining queso with Diablo sauce to give it a little kick. Every time I go to Taco Bell with friends, I get to eat a little piece of their childhood and learn more about their life. Taco Bell orders all tell a story, whether it was that time someone had to wait an hour and a half for their order to come through, or that one time they got Taco Bell during a riot. It feels like in the Indian American community, everyone has stories to tell about Taco Bell.

Worth a conversation

Food is about shared experiences; it’s a medium through which stories are told and conversation is made. Even food that tastes terrible sparks the question, “What were they thinking when they made this?” When everyone shares a dinner table, you get to hear about their day, and all the days of their life that you missed. So next time someone asks what kind of food I like, I’ll give the same answer, and now I can actually explain it.