La Maree Restaurant

We’ve been here at No 5, Jawaharlal Nehru Street for a while now. You can find us inside the Du Parc Hotel. It’s a busy part of Pondicherry, but once you step inside, the noise of the street sort of fades away. I spend most of my days making sure the tables are set and the kitchen is moving. It isn't a fancy corporate setup. We just have our routine. The building itself has some history, which is nice to see every morning when I come in. People often wander in because they’re staying at the hotel, or they just saw the sign from the street. We try to keep things simple. Sometimes the fan in the corner makes a little clicking sound, but nobody seems to mind much. We use what we can find in the local markets nearby. It’s just us here, a small team. Some of the guys have been working in this kitchen for years. We know the regulars by their first names. It’s not about being the biggest place in town. It’s just about having a spot where you can sit down and have a meal without too much fuss. Pondicherry can get quite hot in the afternoons, so having this space inside the hotel helps keep things cool for everyone. We just do our work, clean up at night, and start again the next day. It is what it is, and we like it.