A new Indian dining experience is coming to Mount Pleasant this fall!
And it will be one rooted in tradition, shaped by global influences, and crafted with heart.
Chef Tushar Tondvalkar, founder of The Indian Pantry and former chef at Vancouver’s Blue Water Cafe, Bauhaus, and Mumbai Local, is finally opening his first full-fledged restaurant: Kavita.
Set to open in September 2025 in Mount Pleasant, the space is named after the Marathi word for “poetry,” and in honour of Tondvalkar’s mother, Kavita is a nod to the personal and poetic nature of the food he plans to serve.
But this won’t be your standard butter chicken and naan operation.
Instead, Chef Tushar is drawing from India’s diverse regions and festive culinary traditions, reimagined through a West Coast lens.
He’ll be pairing time-honoured Indian cooking methods with British Columbia’s seasonal bounty, allowing each dish to tell a unique story.
There will be two menus.
The first is an à la carte selection that changes with the rhythm of India’s festival calendar.
Expect celebratory flavours inspired by Holi, Diwali, Onam, and Eid, each with a regional twist.
Some early dishes teased include Mangalorean banana buns with toasted coconut chili butter, Malvani prawn pulao, and chicken kebab-stuffed morels served in a lush korma sauce.
The second offering – perhaps the most exciting – is “amma-kase”, a tasting menu inspired by omakase and Indian matriarchal hospitality.
“Amma” means mom in several Indian languages, and this menu is all about trusting the chef to guide your journey, just like home-cooked meals passed down with care and intuition.
Kavita will seat 46 guests, including eight at the chef’s table.
The space is expected to blend natural textures and modern finishes with subtle cultural touches, creating an atmosphere that feels both globally sophisticated and intimately rooted.
“Kavita has a lot of meaning for me – not only is it named after my mother, it will be a place where I can finally introduce Vancouver to the regional and diverse flavours of the India I know in new, creative ways,” he shared.
Kavita now joins a growing wave of elevated South Asian restaurants in Vancouver, but stands apart for its deep storytelling, festival-driven menu, and dual-format dining approach.
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