Upstairs - Italian Cuisine

Strolling through the street of Santa Cruz Basilica at Ft Kochi, at the turn of the street corner, one could get a whiff of olive oil and mozzarella, the evening breeze carrying it down through a narrow stairway, part of an old house, painted in simple blue and white, the windows decorated in devil's ivy, in old earthen pots.


You climb upstairs to reach Upstairs, a homely Italian twist to Fort Kochi, run by Fabio Batistatti, who was already a cook in Italy but wanted to bring some Italian flavor to the historic town. From the windows of the one room diner, you could clearly get a good view of the old Basilica just across the road, rosaries and hymns reaching you as a backdrop to the simple decor, reminding you of Italy, her alleys of hymns and old churches. The place Fabio chose to run his restaurant couldn't get more authentic than that.

It has a wide varying menu of original Italian food, from the Antipasto to the original yummy Affogato. They have various pastas and the lasagnas, and fresh thin crust Pizzas and breads baked daily. It must be really hard to run an Italian restaurant with the minimal availability of original Italian ingredients in Cochin. They import their Salamis and Mozzarella of course and Fabio visits Italy every year for couple of months.

(Those are just the specials for the day from their wide ranging menu)

I had ordered a simple Bruschetta with Salami and Mozzarella and a cup of cappuccino to wash it down. After Indian cuisines, I love Italian cuisine as obvious from my trip to Italy for a Pizza :), I would want more olive oil dripped into my bread, the Bruschetta grilled a tad harder. Other than that, it was Italy all over again! My cappuccino was perfect. It is a simple unpretentious place and they do mean food!

It cost me 180 Indian rupees for the Bruschetta and 50 rupees for the cappuccino. I inquired for the famous Italian gelatos and they didn't have that! (ah!)

This restaurant is in its fourth season, closed on the months of May and June.

Open for dinner from 6 to 10, 8-11 for breakfast and noon to 3 for lunch.

Buon appetito!

(Series Reading.
1. A Princess Story )

A Princess Story

Cochin is considered to be the Queen of Arabian Sea, then Ft. Kochi must be her darling little princess. (It has a Princess Street too).

If one more time I see a Kerala picture with green, with Chinese fishing nets, I would hit my head somewhere. I am exhausted telling people, Kerala is not all about greenery to die for, and coconuts to eat for, that we have much much more. The best place to really get the message across is of course my blog and there it is, me writing about Kerala -- the nongreen version, of course from a foodie stand point. And where else to start, other than about Cochin, and her little princess.


As you stroll down the quiet streets of Ft Kochi, you are amazed by the non hustle, the non bustle, which is so much Cochin. Keeping in mind of Kerala's infamous harthals, you would be wondering whether, it is another harthal day, for you see only very few people, most of them tourists, some from North India and most from Europe. You hear a lot of languages from Kashmiri to Swedish, people idling round like this is their last home, like they have reached the end of the World and have no plans to move out. Tourists with books lazing around on window sills are a constant sight you have to grow comfortable with. I mean don't they have to plane to catch?

Ft. Kochi is not for the tourists, but for the traveler. You don't click pictures, you just breathe in the culture. There are small strange alleys, green moss on old windows, peeled walls, and food!

Before I write about three cute restaurants I visited, Teapot, Kashi Art Cafe and Upstairs, as an introductory post, wanted to showcase a decent restaurant which kind of sits on the edge of Fort Cochin boundary.

Fort Queen is yet another touristy restaurant, all the bells and whistles intact, with the ever present traditional Kerala Menu and the continental breakfasts eying the European traveler, but what caught my eye was the price tag. Food was fresh, delicious and considering other restaurants in and around Cochin, the price was on the lower side.

Ah? Why? and the manager kinda said, We are new, trying to catch up on the market and then we would hike up the prices (Okez, I spiced it up on what he actually said, but that is what he meant) ;)

The food was a lunch buffet, with items like a delicious Travancore Fish Curry, Jodhpuri Okra and freshly made Appams/Naan/Roti. All for a low range price tag of 150 Indian Rupees.


The guy was so shy while I clicked a pic :). He was making delicious appams for us.