Chennai-based Toss by Coffee? offers healthy salads that boast taste and a gourmet twist

With healthy eating a prime focus for many of us now, Coffee? Since 1999 has created a new vertical and started a cloud kitchen to cater to this burgeoning market. “The idea was definitely born out of the demand we witnessed during lockdown last year,” shares Taruna Hinduja, who owns the establishment, along with her brother-in-law, cinematographer Nirav Shah.

During lockdown they saw nearly 40 requests for subscription-style orders for daily salads every week. Our curiosity piqued, we settle down for a tasting session with Chef Deepesh Attupurath, thanks to whose salad recipe on the menu made us realise that pomegranate and roasted sweet potatoes are a marriage made in heaven! In fact, soon we find that the chef’s superpower is in understanding flavour combos and picking the right dressing. While that ensures the taste factor is on point, the chef lets on that though there is no fixed menu, he does have a plan. “Expect a cooked vegetable, a fruit, some nuts and grains and some raw ingredients,” says Chef Deepesh, adding that you could include grilled chicken as an add-on to any of the salads.

We start with a wholesome combination of veggies, fruits and grilled chicken with roasted almonds, a tangle of sprouts and sesame dotted soba noodles, drizzled with a peanut-based dressing. The fresh crunch of carrots, broccoli and other ingredients instantly has us in a feel-good place. Next we dig into a colourful box of dragon fruit, sunshine yellow sweet corn, greens and peppers with cashew nuts in the mix and a drizzle of srirachcha dressing — Chef Deepesh explains how getting avocados can be a challenge at times and hence, the dragon fruit. We quip in that healthy eating is 
easy-peasy when it tastes this good!

Order / DM on their Instagram @toss.chennai

A salad a day, subscription priced at INR 1,375 ++ onwards for five days a week.