Tucked away in Bandra’s quiet lanes, The Lovefools has long been known as Mumbai’s original dinner lab — a space where food is never just eaten but experienced as story, theatre, and memory. This season, Chef Sarita Pereira unveils her newest creation: The Travelling Heart.
The Travelling Heart is a memory map — a culinary anthology built from the fragments of journeys, kitchens, and landscapes that have shaped the chef and her team. Presented as a three-part series, it traces her experiences from travels outside India — flavors that stayed with her long after the passport stamps faded, her team’s travels within the country — a sense of discovery from familiar landscapes, and finally capturing the inward journey into fermentation, preservation, and the slow alchemy of developing new flavors.
At its essence, this is not a menu to be skimmed — it is to be read, tasted, and remembered.
The opening chapter is one of delicacy and quiet intrigue — a pause before the adventure. The Beet Carpaccio, paired with sundried tomato, pickled asparagus, and a hint of apple pie purée, finished with blue cheese, evokes the elegance of Europe. Beside it, the Tuna Tataki, seared just enough to blush, is lifted by the sharp brightness of yuzu kosho and the cool creaminess of wasabi yoghurt.
The menu then unfurls into vibrancy. Salads here are not side notes but central acts — a stage for flavor play. Nilah & Wild Honey Salad, with handcrafted Eleftheria cheese, pineapple, arugula, and a drizzle of honeyed blue cheese dressing, feels like Greece meeting Goa on a plate. Meanwhile, the Mediterranean Glow, with creamy avocado, candied walnuts, dried cranberries, and a tangy raspberry-goat cheese dressing, leaves you with the warmth of a holiday glow.
This is the heart of The Travelling Heart — dishes that feel like the middle of a novel — layered, emotional, and rich. The Sushi Crackers (LF Signature) are playful couture on a plate — wasabi mascarpone, kachai lemon, smoked avocado, and cured watermelon arranged on crisp rice crackers, finished with saikyo miso and balsamic drizzle. A new variation, Sushi Cracker: Avo Black Garlic, turns the spotlight on confit garlic miso and avocado, finished with a bold burst of black garlic — unapologetically chic, unforgettable.
Vegetarian innovation takes center stage with the Aubergine Parmigiana (Jain, Gluten-free) — tempura aubergine and zucchini layered over tomato-basil marinara, molten mozzarella, and Stracciatella — Italian drama, smoky and crunchy at heart. Or the Morimoto-Style Kebayaki, a Japanese-inspired medley of tofu, spinach, and sweet potato kebabs topped with lotus root, wakame, mushrooms, and daikon under a glossy tonkatsu glaze.
Meanwhile, the Nori Mosaic Sushi presents art as an appetite: a terrine of vegetables wrapped in nori and sushi rice, finished with bright yuzu sauce.
Each plate in this section is both experiment and memory — a playful reinterpretation of global flavors through the prism of The Lovefools’ imagination.
This section is less a course, more a meditation. Here, the finest artisanal cheeses are paired with freshly baked breads, showcasing restraint and indulgence at once. Choose from dishes like Hot Pan Fungi, creamy mushroom Tartufo showcasing aged Eleftheria’s Brie served with a Parmesan toasted sourdough or the Brie Brioche, a bite where crisp meets cream, addictive, and almost impossible to resist.
For those who travel through indulgence, this is the soul of the menu. Here, smoke is language, and time is the ingredient. The Absinthe Pork Roast, lacquered in apricot, embodies this ethos — twice-cooked, deeply charred, unapologetically lush. The Yaki Pork Chashu, belly rolled, braised, and lacquered with soy–sake mirin, arrives soft as silk and smoky as sin. The Lankan Mutton Vadouvan, roasted till nearly black, brushed with coconut milk and partnered with croissant-hammered parotta — is a dish that whispers of spice trails and coastal kitchens.
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The menu closes in sweetness with The Chocolate Symphony — dark, decadent, and layered with textures of spice and surprise. A dessert that lingers like a memory, closing the journey on a bittersweet high.
“The Travelling Heart is about journeys that do not end — they live on as flavors, stories, and emotions,” says Chef Sarita Pereira. “Some of these plates are postcards from abroad, some are echoes of my team’s travels within India, and some are born from the inward patience of fermenting and preserving. Together, they are a map — and I invite diners to find their own journeys within it.”
With The Travelling Heart, The Lovefools once again push the boundaries of what dining can be — not just nourishment, but remembrance, a conversation across time and place, and an evening where every plate is a story waiting to be told.
Fact sheet:
Where: The Lovefools, C14, 525, Ranwar, Bandra West, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050
When: Monday Closed, Tuesday to Friday
Time: 8pm onwards
Reservation No: 919820203360
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