Its Red Chilly

Our place, Its Red Chilly, is right in Harihara Square in Puri. It’s really close to the sea beach police station, so it’s easy to find if you’re walking around that area. We started this because we liked being near the water. It’s a small spot compared to the big hotels nearby. Every morning, we open up the shutters and let the air in. The salt from the sea makes everything a bit sticky, so we are constantly wiping down the tables and the counters. It’s a simple setup with a few tables and a kitchen that’s usually pretty warm. We get a mix of locals and people visiting the temple or the beach. The menu is just stuff we know how to make well. We don’t have a big staff, just a few of us who do everything from cooking to washing the dishes at the end of the night. Sometimes the fish we get in the morning is so fresh it’s still moving. We don't use fancy words to describe what we do here. We just cook the food and hope people like it. When the weather is good, we get quite a crowd, and it can get a bit chaotic in the dining room. We’ve had to fix the roof a couple of times after the big storms. It’s a lot of work running a small place like this, but we’re used to the long hours and the heat from the stove. The smell of the ocean is always there, even in the kitchen when we are frying. It’s a simple life.