Cafe Malabar, the celebrated Southwestern Indian restaurant, is riding high after a triumphant night at the Sixth Annual YAM Best Restaurants Awards held on June 23.
Co-owners and chefs Kiran Kolathodan and Karma Tenpa took home the coveted title of Best South or Southeast Asian Restaurant for the second time, a remarkable achievement considering their humble beginnings just three years ago at the Victoria Public Market.
But the accolades didn't stop there.
The dynamic duo was also crowned Chefs of the Year, a recognition that left both humbled and in disbelief.
"This is like a chef's dream," said Tenpa, who moved to Canada three years ago from India. "This is obviously a dream come true because I co-own the kitchen too.”
"It’s pretty humbling," added Kolathodan. "We were not expecting that. Our goal was to hopefully grab the Best South or Southeast Asian Restaurant again and nothing else."
Tenpa, a veteran of renowned hotel kitchens and a trained Japanese fine dining chef, along with Kolathodan, a French cuisine expert, fuse their expertise to create a unique dining experience that pays homage to their roots in Kerala and their grandmother's traditional cooking.
Kolathodan joked that their secret weapon was "four hands and two brains," highlighting their dedication to crafting dishes from scratch in their new, albeit cramped, kitchen at 407 Swift Rd. in Victoria’s Chinatown.
"It was funny, because during the awards night at the Inn at Laurel Point, we were both showing our hands and how much burns we get every day, right after receiving the awards," Kolathodan recalled with a laugh. "It's not because we are bad cooks...just the tight space in our kitchen and having to cook and prepare everything from scratch."
The awards, presented by YAM Magazine, Victoria's leading home and lifestyle publication, brought together over 300 members of the Greater Victoria culinary and business community.
