For Chaahat Jain, the brainchild behind the Italian eatery Tera Vita, food was her frenemy.
During her pre-teens, people constantly told her how she was larger than other kids her age so she started hating the idea of eating anything at all. “My mother would bring food for me, but I would ask her to just get me some cornflakes instead. I would eat a little and leave the rest,” she said. While she did end up losing a lot of weight, the rapid weight loss led to health problems; she has become quite frail. Eventually, the doctor asked her to put on some weight to recuperate. So Chaahat started eating again, slowly mending her habits and healing the toxic relationship she shared with food.
Delicious pastas at Tera Vita
Chaahat is now 26 years old. She has turned into a vibrant young woman and has fortunately rediscovered her love for food.
Perhaps this is the reason why after she finished her education from Babson College, Massachusetts, she decided to start a restaurant. Her first venture was CJ’s Fresh (short for Chaahat Jain), a delivery outlet in Meherchand Market, New Delhi. “It was quite successful even though I was not aggressively marketing the place,” she reveals. And in December 2019, she decided to launch another restaurant called Tera Vita in Khan Market. “There weren’t many fun Italian restaurants in Delhi. That is why I started this place,” she adds.
The Delhi-based restaurant also has healthy options like avocado toast
Tera Vita holds up all the values that should be important to a new-age restaurant-goer, from sustainable ingredients sourced from the Livorno in Tuscany, healthy options for those who are mindful of what they’re eating, picture-perfect interiors to a whole lot of sumptuous Italian food. The gastronomic merit of the place goes to refreshing and cosy dishes like the tomato and stracciatella pasta and baked eggplant melanzane along with delectable desserts like the cheesecake and tiramisu. Plus, the romantic, powder-pink interiors remind you of the elegant belle-époque era.
The interiors are in all shades of pink
“Inspired from the streets of Capri, Tera Vita community welcomes its guests to transport them to a little Italian corner, basking in the warmth of simplicity, detail, flavour and calm. At Tera Vita, we take a strategic approach to use fresh seasonal produce thereby enhancing the menu and reducing our impact on the environment,” explains Chaahat.
This Italian eatery is perfect for a mellow lunch and transforms into a buzzy bistro by the evening. It’s great for any occasion (really). But, food is definitely the star here.
Get ready for an Italian escapade in Delhi.
Salads are also served at Tera Vita
The pretty interiors at Tera Vita
