Philosophy & Vision
This isn’t a restaurant or full eatery - it’s our community kitchen that supports the alwaysbecooking ecosystem. The focus is providing fresh, homemade food during peak co-working and library hours while staying true to our core mission of hyperlocal experimentation and learning.
The magic is in the JaJam Udaipur approach: limited cafe functionality with custom weekend menus and basic coffee/tea availability. Since this is literally our house, this flexible model makes perfect sense.
Selfhosting Plants: Growing our own food and cooking it is like selfhosting but for plants. Instead of accepting what big tech (or big agriculture) gives us, we can experiment with weird combinations, unique processing methods, fermentation, pickling, and other creative food experiments. When you control the full pipeline from seed to plate, amazing things become possible.
What?
Fresh + Local + Experimental + Community
Grow it → Cook it → Share it → Learn from it
- Limited menu philosophy: Small selection, high quality, homemade focus
- Seasonal and hyperlocal: Menu changes based on what’s growing in our nursery and what’s available locally
- Support function: Primarily serves the co-working space, library users, and community events
- Flexible programming: Weekend specials, workshop meals, community dinners
Nursery Integration
Farm-to-Table Pipeline
- Direct sourcing: Using herbs, greens, and vegetables grown in our nursery
- Seasonal menus: Food offerings change based on what’s actually growing
- Experimental ingredients: Testing unusual varieties and traditional plants in cooking applications
- Seed-to-plate learning: Understanding the full food production cycle
Growing for Cooking
- Culinary herbs: Basil, mint, coriander, traditional Assamese herbs
- Quick greens: Spinach, lettuce, microgreens for immediate use
- Experimental crops: Testing unusual vegetables and traditional varieties
- Fermentation ingredients: Growing specific plants for pickling and fermentation projects
Community Programming
Food Workshops & Learning
- Traditional cooking techniques: Learning Assamese recipes and preparation methods
- Fermentation experiments: Kimchi, kombucha, traditional fermented foods
- Food preservation: Pickling, drying, traditional storage methods
- Seasonal cooking: Making the most of monsoon vs dry season ingredients
Community Events
- Shared meals: Community dinners during workshops and gatherings
- Cooking collaborations: Multiple people contributing to meal preparation
- Recipe sharing: Documenting and sharing successful experiments
- Cultural food exchange: Learning from community members’ family traditions