Kavita Hosts a Special Mother’s Day Dinner

Here’s the thing about Mother’s Day meals: most of them stick to a script. Brunch, eggs, something sweet, home by noon. Nothing wrong with that. But if your mom is the kind of person who’d rather grab dinner, this one’s worth knowing about.

Chef Tushar Tondvalkar and Kiko Nakata are coming together at Kavita for a one-off menu that might be perfect. The idea is straightforward: cook the food that shaped them. As Tushar puts it, “food rooted in family, connection, and care… dishes shaped by our mothers and grandmothers, full of memory, warmth, and a true sense of home.”

It starts with snacks – chicken liver puffs, tuna chaat, pork tonkatsu, a warm shorba – before settling into something more deliberate. Egg custard with black pepper clam, chives, and lime oil. Masala shrimp onigiri with furikake. Turmeric congee with Japanese pickles and herbs. And at the centre of it: dry-aged beef with Japanese curry, naan, potato, and carrots. A yuzu and kokum sorbet arrives to reset things, clearing the way for mousse cake built around shrikhand, cardamom, and saffron, then petit fours, a whey barfi, and, finally, a raspberry shiso pâte de fruit.
It reads like a conversation between two people who cook from memory. Which is exactly what it is.

Kiko speaks to the timing: “Family has played such a huge part in both of our journeys… as my last pop-up before I focus on being a mum, Mother’s Day felt like the perfect time.” The collaboration itself has been a long time coming. “It’s something we’ve been talking about for many years… a joy and honour to cook alongside the team at Kavita.”

Two chefs, different backgrounds, same set of values. The kind of meal that is likely to spark conversation about family recipes, nostalgic dishes, and the people who first put a bowl in front of you. That’s a pretty good way to spend a Sunday evening with mom. Tickets are $136 for 9 courses.